Study of extended families helps demonstrate how people in families help
and support each other to enhance each person's sense of well-being. In
developing better mental health services, it is vital to have knowledge
of how people actually deal with personal, family and collective problems
and crises. Ultimately, the consequence of supporting existing extended
family networks or of helping to restructure those that have become weak
is to make people and communities better able to deal with ongoing problems
and change through their own collective efforts. Hopefully, as a result,
they will utilize professional expertise in a more selective and effective
way.
Many different racial/ethnic groups have an extended family system. However,
how that system works and the extent to which it has survived in the United
States varies among the different groups. One group which is indigenous to
the southwest is the Mexican American or Chicano. They have been viewed
historically as an ethnic group which is characterized by a familistic
orientation toward life. This includes a tendency to have large, integrated
extended families (Ramirez, 1981). Anglo families and, to a lesser degree,
Black families are generally seen as having more nuclear-oriented than
extended families.
Keefe, Padilla and Carlos (1978) compared the nature of emotional systems
among Chicanos and Anglos. They interviewed Mexican Americans and Anglo
Americans in Southern California. They found that Anglos who do not have
relatives in town go to friends for help more often than Anglos who have
relatives nearby. Those with relatives in town were found to rely on
relatives more than those without relatives nearby. Mexican Americans, on
the other hand, were found to consult with relatives whether or not they
had relatives in town.
"Thus, Mexican Americans consistently rely on relatives most often for
emotional support regardless of their geographic accessibility, while
Anglos turn to friends more often than to relatives when kin are
inaccessible and equally as often when kin are present.... Anglos lack
a preference for familial support." (Keefe, et al., 1978, p. 39).
Wagner and Schaffer (1980) obtained similar results in a report on two
research projects on the social networks and survival strategies of
Mexican American, Black and Anglo female family heads in San Jose,
California. In the first project, Wagner and Schaffer studied the role
of the kinship network. They found that "the proximity of the barrios
offered social and economic resources, primarily family members of the
Mexican American women who were not available to the same extent for the
Anglo and Black single women" (p. 180). They reported that 10% of the
Mexican American women had no relatives living in San Jose. This contrasts
sharply with a figure of 60% or more among the Anglos and Blacks sampled.
Mexican American women averaged eleven relatives living in the city.
Anglos and Blacks averaged only about four. Black and Anglo women had been
forced to rely on non-kin sources of aid to a greater extent than the
Chicanos. This was because they did not have comparably large kinship
networks in the community. The authors pointed out that cultural
differences may be a factor. This was because the Anglo and Black women
didn't choose to live as close to their relatives to the same extent as
did the Chicanos.
The second project reported by Wagner and Schaffer (1980) dealt with a
group of female family heads whose length of residence in San Jose was
less than three years. They reported that "for emotional and social
support, Mexican Americans reported turning to relatives, even though
they lived in an environment that provided an unusually high proportion
of single parent friends" (p. 186). Black mothers, in contrast, were
highly dependent on the friendship networks developed within the apartment
complex in which they lived.
Mindel (1980) supports the findings of the above studies. His work, based
on data collected in 1974, reported on a comparative study of extended
familism among urban Mexican Americans, Anglos and Blacks in Kansas City,
Missouri. His findings on extended family integration confirm the findings
of Keefe et al. (1978). That is, Chicanos exhibit the highest levels of
extended familism and Anglos the lowest, with Blacks falling between. Blacxks
were found to maintain the most functional relationships with their kin.
They were followed closely by Chicanos, with Anglos trailing far behind.
Mindel analyzed the effects of urban migration and found that:
"...Anglos who have migrated to this urban area have few kin present,
indicating movement away from their relatives. In the case of Mexican
Americans, migration appears to be toward areas where kin already are
present; the migration process is carried on within the context of the
kinship network. Blacks, as before, appear to fall somewhere in between,
not as separate from their relatives as Anglos, but not as immersed into
the kinship network as the Mexican Americans" (p. 29).
There is a fundamental difference in the local kinship structures of
Chicanos and Anglos. If they have any at all, Anglos tend to have a very
limited local extended family. However, Chicanos tend to have kin groups
which are comprised of large numbers of local households which are well
integrated and encompass three or more generations. Blacks tend to fall
somewhere between the Anglo and Chicano groups.
Chicanos consistently prefer and receive substantial familial support over
alternative sources of support. In order to do this, they choose to live
near relatives. Anglos, on the other hand, lack a preference for familial
support. They tend to have a very limited local extended kin group available.
The implications of the above to U.S. society are speculative at present.
Some family therapists (Kerr, 1974; Bowen, 1978) believe that nuclear
families who have attempted to isolate themselves from the family of origin
by means of physical distance are like pressure cookers with no outlet
valves.
"It is as if the emotional energy that was once invested in the extended
family now all goes into the nuclear family with a corresponding increase
in conflict, symptoms, or vulnerability to stress in the nuclear family
unit" (Kerr, 1974, p. 52).
Bowen (1978) views the geographical distribution of extended kin as a
potentially important factor in the effectiveness of a family support
system in serving its emotional support function. Ramirez (1981) suggests
that there is a relationship between having an integrated extended family
available and the mental health of individual members. More specifically,
Ramirez believes that the larger and geographically closer is the extended
family, the better is a person's mental health (as measured by a three-item
symptom score).
The family (extended or nuclear) may be an endangered species in the future
in the United States. Attitudes toward family life are undergoing significant
changes. The 1980 White House Conference on Families reported a U.S. Department
of Labor survey that revealed that only 10% of all American families fit the
traditional picture of a bread-earning father, a home-making mother and two
children.
In 1900, only five million American women were employed. Today, more than
38 million women are employed and 14% of them, almost 5.5 million, have
children under the age of 6. It has been estimated that, in less than 10
years, two-thirds of all married women under 55 will be employed and the
traditional image of a mother as a woman who stays home to look after her
children will apply to only one-quarter of the estimated 44.4 million
married mothers (White House Conference on Families, 1980). The impact of
this alone, not to mention other societal changes, will have a tremendous
effect on the extended family. If, indeed, the mental health of the individual
is increased by the presence of an extended familial support system, then
what effect will changes in society in general and the work force in
particular have on this system? What are the characteristics of rural vs
urban-oriented families and what is the prognosis for their future? What
stressors in the environment threaten the security of the extended family
and how can they be alleviated? How do families cope with the conflicting
demands of work and family responsibilities? What are some of the difficulties
encountered by working mothers? Does the extended family have a future? How
do different racial/ethnic groups cope with our changing society?
These and other questions need empirical answers and practical suggestions.
More research is needed in these areas, especially regarding the differences
and changes in stressors affecting rural and urban families and different
racial/ethnic groups who are just beginning to experience what the United
States is to them.
Bowen, M. Family therapy in clinical practice. New York: Jason Aronson, 1978.
Gallup Survey Data: White House Conference on Families, 1980. American
Research Corporation, Box 7849, New Port Beach, California 92660.
Keefe, E., Padilla, M. and Carlos, L. Emotional support systems in two
cultures: A comparison of Mexican Americans and Anglo Americans. Los Angeles:
Spanish Speaking Mental Health Research Center, UCLA, Occasional Paper
No. 7, 1978.
Kerr, E. The importance of the extended family. In F.D. Andres and J.P. Lorio
(Eds.) Georgetown Family Symposia, Volume I (1971-1972): A collection of
selected papers. Washington, D.C.: Georgetown University Medical Center,
Department of Psychiatry, Family Section, 1974.
Mindel, H. Extended familism among urban Mexican Americans, Anglos and
Blacks. Hispanic Journal of Behavioral Sciences, 1980, 2, (1), 21-34.
Ramirez, O. Chicano, Anglo and Black extended families. Texas Psychologist,
1981, 33 (2), 5-8.
Ramirez, O. Extended family phenomena and mental health among urban Mexican
Americans. Reston, Virginia: Latino Institute, Monograph No. 3, 1981.
Wagner, R.M. and Schaffer, D.M. Social networks and survival strategies:
An exploratory study of Mexican American, Black and Anglo female family
heads in San Jose, California. In M.B. Melville (Ed.) Twice a minority:
Mexican American Women. St. Louis: C.V. Mosby, 1980.
Work and Families: The White House Conference on Families: A report to
Corporate leaders on the White House Conference on Families. Prepared by
the J.C. Penney Company, Inc. Public Affairs Department for the White House
Conference on Families, 1980.
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George W. Doherty, M.S., LPC
Until recently, extended family systems have not been the focus of as
much empirical research as has the nuclear family. There has been a
growing tendency to view the nuclear family as merely a fragment of the
extended family system. The implication has been that in order to fully
understand, evaluate and treat a nuclear family unit, it is necessary to
know something about the extended family system. The focus is on the
extended family as a structural phenomenon in its own right. It is
important to know if this structure provides a mechanism of social/emotional
support. It is also important to know if there are differences in this
regard between different cultural groups. As used here, "extended family
system" refers to that network of relatives including grandparents, aunts
and uncles, married sisters and brothers and their children.
*** REFERENCES ***
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