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FAMILY DEVELOPMENT SCENARIO FORUMS INSTRUCTIONS
Purpose:
The Family Development Scenario Forums are designed to give you the opportunity to interact
with real-life examples/scenarios affecting the family and its development. You will read and
interact with course texts and articles supplied with the course materials using the Discussion
Board Forum tool and addressing the prescribed questions associated with each scenario.
You will create a thread in response to the provided prompt for each forum. Each thread must be
at least 400 words, demonstrate course-related knowledge, and include at least 2 scholarly
references. In addition to the thread, you are required to reply to a minimum of 2 other
classmates’ threads. Each reply must be at least 250 words and include at least 1 scholarly
reference in current APA format.
Instructions:
Respond to the following for each family development scenario:
Present your initial impressions.
What are the concerns in this scenario?
What are the tensions in this scenario?
What are the implications for family development?
What is your response in this scenario?
What is the most important take-away?
Submit your thread by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Sunday of Modules/Weeks 2, 4, and 7.
Submit your replies by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Sunday of Modules/Weeks 3 and 5 and by 11:59 p.m.
(ET) on Friday of Module/Week 8.
FAMILY DEVELOPMENT SCENARIO FORUMS INSTRUCTIONS
Purpose:
The Family Development Scenario Forums are designed to give you the opportunity to interact
with real-life examples/scenarios affecting the family and its development. You will read and
interact with course texts and articles supplied with the course materials using the Discussion
Board Forum tool and addressing the prescribed questions associated with each scenario.
Relying upon Carter and McGoldrick, Chapter 14, discuss how your proposed definition for
family (from Family Development Scenario Forum 1) agrees or disagrees with Carter and
McGoldrick’s presentation of “Becoming a Family.” Highlight areas addressed by Carter and
McGoldrick that should have been incorporated in your working definition from Module/Week
3.
Group work: Post a modified working definition for family in Module/Week 4.
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You will create a thread in response to the provided prompt for each forum. Each thread must be
at least 400 words, demonstrate course-related knowledge, and include at least 2 scholarly
references. In addition to the thread, you are required to reply to a minimum of 2 other
classmates’ threads. Each reply must be at least 250 words and include at least 1 scholarly
reference in current APA format.
Instructions:
Respond to the following for each family development scenario:
Present your initial impressions.
What are the concerns in this scenario?
What are the tensions in this scenario?
What are the implications for family development?
What is your response in this scenario?
What is the most important take-away?
Submit your thread by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Sunday of Modules/Weeks 2, 4, and 7.
Submit your replies by 11:59 p.m. (ET) on Sunday of Modules/Weeks 3 and 5 and by 11:59 p.m.
(ET) on Friday of Module/Week 8.
Paragraph Reflection
Present your initial impressions.
“A Christian marriage is a marriage which has been instituted and functions according to
biblical principles” {(Genesis 2:24, Matthew 19:4,5) Visser, E. 2020}. Per Margaret Mead “I
have been married three times… and each time I married the right person” (Carter &
McGoldrick, 2016, pg. 259). Marriage means different things to different people. Yarhouse &
Sells state “there is much discussion today about the family – about what makes up a family, who
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counts as family…” (2017, ch. 1, pg. 8). One client was heard to have said “I have been married
5 times and each of my husbands treated me the same, they all cheated on me and were abusive”.
This could be true but when ask by her therapist if she thought she had chosen the same type of
men all 5 times, she was offended and got mad, then calmed up. Both the client and Margaret
Mead looked at divorce as an option. Garland, D. states that prior to the mid 1970’s divorce
required a bonified reason for divorce such as “an act incompatible with marriage, such as
infidelity, abuse or cruelty” (2012, ch. 8 pg. 50). Preceding to the mid 1970’s there was no such
thing as a divorce without blame or an amicable divorce. Whereas now in the 21st century,
divorce is as common as eating at a fast food place.
What are the concerns in this scenario?
“Roughly 50 percent of all first marriages end in divorce and the rate for second
marriages is even higher at around 67 percent” (Carter & McGoldrick, 2016). The concept five
decades ago of marriage is very different than the concept of marriage today. When women got
pregnant five decades ago, they typically hurried and got married before anyone else knew she
was pregnant or she was sent off to an aunt’s house until the baby was born and either given up
for adoption or the mom was given the baby and she acted like it was her baby.
Being unmarried is no longer an exception but has become a significant portion of
the lives of most adults and the path for many persons all of their lives. At any
given times, almost half (43%) of Americans age 18 and above are unmarried
(Garland, 2012, ch.13 pg 165).
Unlike today where women have babies without regard to being married or not. Some
young people chose to get married after having several children together while others never
chose to get married. As many people are aware the Census is currently being conducted to
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collect the most up to date information on where individuals live, who they live with and how
they are related to those they live with. 2010 Census records report that individuals who were
25-34 years old had for the first time since records have been collected, outnumbered first time
marriages (Garland, 2012, ch.13, pg. 169).
What are the tensions in this scenario?
The tensions regarding the fact that less young people are getting married than in the past,
that more young people are having babies outside of marriage and that families are not
necessarily a husband, wife and their biological offspring, has changed during the last several
decades. When our grandparents were young, childbirth outside of marriage was looked upon as
a disgrace to the family, while young adults today often make the choice to not get married and
plan to have children outside of marriage, this is still looked down on by many elderly but is
becoming more socially acceptable by the younger generations.
What are the implications for family development?
Garland states that “being unmarried is no longer an exception but has become a
significant portion of the lives of most adults and the path for many persons all of their lives”
(2012, ch.13, pg. 165). According to Census records in 2012; 112 million people over the age of
18 are unmarried (home, n.d.). Families, as a whole, have significantly changed from when our
grandparents were young adults, till the time when those who are in their 50’s now were young
adults, and finally looking at our current young adults.
What is your response in this scenario?
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Currently many children are being raised in single parent households or by family
members such as grandparents rather than by their parents. Whereas, Koatenberger states “single
parenting was not part of God’s intended purpose in the beginning (2010, ch. 8 pg. 155). If things
continue at this rate one might hypothesis that in another couple decades there will be fewer
young adults who marry than those who do not. Meaning more children will grow up in single
parent households or in households of unmarried adults. Fundamentally, children who are raised
by one parent will continue moving towards what is considered a “social norm” (Garland, 2012,
ch. 14, pg. 26).
What is the most important take-away?
Time and social acceptance have significantly changed over the last century. As the
social norms continue to change, so will the concept of family. Before same sex marriages were
made legal, same sex relationships were often looked at as being deviant and unmoral by the vast
majority of people. Whereas now, less people give same sex marriages a second thought. Four
to five decades ago, less children were raised by grandparents, other family members or foster
families than now. Many children are now being raised in less socially accepted families. As the
views of what is socially acceptable and what the social norms continue to change over the
coming decades what a family looks like, and the make-up of these families will continue to
change.
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Reference
Balswick, J. O. (2014). The family: A Christian perspective on the contemporary home, 4th ed.
Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic. ISBN: 9780801049347.
Carter & McGoldrick. (2016). The expanded family life cycle: Individual, family, and social
perspectives, 5th ed. Columbus, OH: Allyn and Bacon. ISBN: 9780205968060.
Garland, D. (2012). Family ministry: A comprehensive guide, 2nd ed. Downers Grove, IL: IVP
Academic. ISBN: 9780830839711.
Home (n.d.) Retrieved March 27, 2020, from https://www.unmarried.org/statistics/.
Kostenberger, A. J. (2010). God, marriage, and family: Rebuilding the biblical foundation, 2nd
ed. Wheaton, IL: Crossway. ISBN: 9781433503641.
Visser, E. (2020, January 28). What does it mean to have a Christian marriage? Retrieved March
27, 2020, from https://www.biblword.net/a-christian-marriage/.
Yarhouse, M. A. & Sells. (2017). Family therapies: A comprehensive Christian appraisal.
Downers Grove, IL: IVP Academic. ISBN: 9780830828548.
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