For the week Monday September 24 to Friday September 28 we learned a lot about family theories. We first learned what a phenomenon is. We learned that phenomenon is an observable event. We also learned that a theory is an attempt to explain an phenomenon. Furthermore, we also learned that theories can help us better understand or predict a phenomenon. Theories require lots of assumptions and they help us predict. With the different Family Theories, different marriage and family councilors use these theories to help solve conflict and understand the family dynamics better. The different Family Theories that we learned is (1) Family System Theories, (2) Exchange Theories, (3) Symbolic Interaction Theory and, (4) Conflict Theory. First, the Family System Theories explains that family members play roles. We also learned that there are unspoken rules in families, which this theory explains. An example of how family members play roles is that there a sibling in the family that is the "tattle tale" or the peace maker, etc. The second is Exchange Theories. This explains that people want more than what they put into a relationship. Meaning, that people weigh out the costs and benefits when interacting with people. The third theory is Symbolic Interaction Theory. This theory means that there is symbolic interactions between people. This means that when people do a certain body language, such as giving someone a high-five that they are proud or accepting what someone has done. Symbolic Interaction theory is stating, that we have an interpretations of body language or a gesture. The Symbolic Interaction Theory also means that we have different perceptions of interactions. Often times we can misunderstand the symbolic interaction between two people. The last theory is Conflict Theory. The Conflict theory is making the assumption that some people have more power than others. Examples of conflict power can be in money, economic class, etc. Conflict theory can be viewed as competition between people. No one wins in the theory, because no one is ever happy with the outcome. People will always be competing in this conflict theory. These were some of the different theories that I learned in class that has helped me understand why people do things in marriage and in families.

For the week Monday September 17 to Friday September 21  we learned a lot about family trends. We learned that these trends have changed dramatically throughout the years. Also, it is important to know that many of these trends are correlated with each other. The first trend that we learned is people are getting married later in life. The second is birth rates have declined. The third, is that more people cohabit. We learned that around 60 to 80% of people cohabit before marriage which is very high number. That is a lot higher percentage than what used to be in years before. Further, the fourth trend is that working mother have increased. The fifth, more and more people are living alone. The sixth, Household size has decreased over years. The seventh, Premarital sex has increased. And eighth, unwed birth have increased. I thought it was very shocking learning about these trends. I had not really thought about how these trends are affecting the family and I have learned that it is important to be aware of these trends so that we can be aware how these trends can affect our own families if we are not aware of them. These were some of the things that I learned throughout this week.

For the week Monday November 12 to Friday November 16, I learned a lot about communication. One of the things that my teacher taught us that I found interesting is a diagram that he showed us. He drew it on the board and all of the different parts on this diagram had an arrow point to the next and to the next and it continued until all of the different parts made a circle back to the beginning. The first part of the diagram is (1) Thought/Feeling. When we have a thought or feeling we then use an (2) an Encode. Encode means that we use words, gestures, or body language to communicate what we are thinking. But then we use a form of (3) media to further portray what we are feeling. There are different forms of media that we use for communication. Some of the forms of media include words, tone and/or non-verbal communication. The next step in the diagram is (4) Decoding. And when we use decoding, that means that we are interpreting the medium or the forms of mediums (or "media") used by the person using the forms of media. We learned that often times we have to be careful not to decode a form a media too fast because that can cause conflict and misunderstanding. And I thought that was interesting. Furthermore, after a person decodes the form of media that someone used to express their feelings, the person decoding then has a thought or feeling and it goes back to start. And then it continues until the next person has gone through the process of encode, media, decoding and then back to thought/feeling. I thought this diagram was very useful in understanding how communication works and how communication is interrupted and how communication can affects people.

For the week Monday November 5 to Friday November 9, we learned a lot about family crisis. We learned how families respond to these different crisis, and how crisis affects the family. We learned that crisis necessitates change. Furthermore, we also learned that in a crisis, it creates stressors. We also learned about a trick to remember when we are talking about a crisis in a family and what a crisis does to a family. The little sign is ABC and X. A stands for stressor, (or it cant stand for Actual Event), B stands Resources, (or Both Resources and Responses), C stands for Perception of the stressor, (or it can stand for Cognition), and X stands for Total Experience. This ABC and X helped me understand how crisis affects a family. We learned that its not so much about the crisis itself, but we learned that its about how we respond to the crisis. And how we respond to crisis will result in the Total Experience. How we respond to the crisis will determine our outcome after the crisis. We will either grow and learn the crisis and grow stronger as a family, or we will remain about the same (meaning we didn't learn a lot but we made it out okay as a family and it didn't have a tremendous impact on the family too, but they didn't come out worse), or the last possible outcome is that we become worse. Meaning, that the crisis is very hard on a family and they didn't grow together as a family. They are more divided and they didn't learn much. The crisis had a negative impact on the family. These were some of the things that I learned about crisis and how crisis affects a family. I hope that when I face a crisis that I will learn and grow a lot from it and come out as a better person. I learned that it is not so much about the crisis, but how I respond to the crisis that makes the impact on my life. These were the things that I learned this week about crisis in a family.

For the week Monday November 19 to Friday November 23 we learned a lot about fathers and the roles that fathers play. One thing that my teacher pointed out during class is a very intriguing statistic that I think is very important for all people to know. My teacher has said that research has proven that the number one way to prevent poverty is to have a father in the home. And I think that is so interesting. We learned that some people think that fathers are only good for bringing money for the family and that is the only purpose that they serve. We have learned that fathers serve many purposes in a family that are essential, especially for their children. When I did research to write my paper on fatherhood for this class I especially learned a lot about the impact that involved fathers have on the lives' of their children. As I was doing research I came across an article titled, "The Importance of Fathers in the Healthy Development of Children," and the article was found on the website from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Service and the Administration for Children and Families. It talked about how fathers have a tremendous impact on the overall well-being of their children. Furthermore, it mentioned how the connection between a father and his child is linked to the child's (1) cognitive ability, (2) educational achievement, (3) psychological well-being, (4) social behavior, and also (5) the tremendous influence that a father and mother's relationship have on the state of their children's well being. It was interesting reading this article because I learned so much. I never had any idea that a father's connection with his child could affect his child in so many regards. I learned that a father's connection with his child will influence and impact his child's life forever.

As I was reviewing my notes and the homework that I completed for the week Monday November 26 to Friday November 30, we learned a lot about parenting. One of the things that we talked about in our class discussion about parenting that I found interesting is the different styles of parenting. The three different styles of parenting include, (1) Authoritarian, (2) Permissive, and (3) Authoritive. The Authoritarian parenting style is where parents are too harsh on their children. This parenting style may cause resentment towards the parents in the hearts of the children. This parenting style may get the job done but the children obey their parents out of fear towards their parents. The children strictly obey their parents not to make their parents happy or because they want to make their parents proud, but rather, it is because they are afraid of their parents. This parenting style is not the most efficient parenting style. It is not the best approach. There are better ways to parent. The second parenting style is a Permissive approach. This parenting style is also not the best approach. The Permissive parenting style is where the children hold the reins in the parent-child relationship. The parents do not have any rules for their children. They children sort of make up their own rules in a way because the parents allow them to do whatever they want. This approach, likewise, is not the best parenting style. The last parenting style is Authorative. This parenting style is where the parents have good boundaries and rules for their children but they are not too harsh, or too permissive. In this parenting style the parents know when to be strict and when to show love towards their children. For Authorative parenting style, when the parents need to make correction with their child, or discipline their child, they show an increased amount of love after they discipline. This way, their child knows they are loved by their parents and that they care about them. The three different parenting styles were some of the things that I learned this week that I found interesting. When I become a parent one day, I want to strive to take an Authoritive parenting style. By doing so, this will provide the best parenting style to meet my future children's needs. This was one of the most important things that I learned this week that I found very interesting and very applicable, as I one day will become a parent.

For this past week, Monday December 3 to Friday December 7, we have learned a lot blended families. We learned how blended families are impacted and we compared them to families that are not blended. We learned that blended families have particular challenges compared to families to families not blended. One of the challenges that blended families face, that we talked about, is that most often times it can be very challenging for the children to have one of their parents get remarried. One thing that I learned that I thought was interesting is that it takes about 2 or more years for a just blended or remarried family to come to terms of "normalcy." Thus, the remarried parents should be aware of this and the impact it can have on their children. I thought that was very interesting. Furthermore, we also learned that when a parent has just remarried, the birth parent should handle all of the discipline. This is easier for the child and they are used to having their birth parent discipline them. For the child it is harder when the step parent disciplines in the first stages of the remarriage. It can cause conflict and complications. We learned that it is easier for the step parent to act as if they are an uncle or an aunt. I thought that was a good comparison. These were some of the things that I learned this week about blended families that I thought was really interesting.