Development and the family.

Development and the family

Drawing on the findings of United Nations studies and the recommendations of the Interregional Seminar on Changing Families: Relevant Social Welfare Strategies, held in Moscow in October 1984, the report examines the impact of modernization, industrialization and urbanization on the structure and functioning of the family. National policies, it concludes, must give greater attention to bringing about changes in families' environments to provide better living conditions and prevent behaviours inimical to familial well-being.

"Especially in developing countries," the report stresses, "policies and programmes explicitly for benefiting families should address the wider structural deficiencies in areas of employment, education, nutrition and housing rather than giving primary attention to familial dysfunction or the shortcomings of particular family members."

Following are highlights of the report.

Development affects families in both positive and negative ways. On the positive side, it improves health, sanitation and nutrition, reduces mortality and morbidity, and increases income, living standards, educational levels, employment opportunities, housing and transportation. On the negative side, it can lead to the "impoverishment of families", inequalities between the sexes, and efforts to promote innovations with no consideration for their effect on family life.

But positive or negative, the effects of development on families to date have been "largely unintentional". Few development activities seem to have been oriented explicity towards families, whether to improve their well-being or minimize negative effects.

Modernization: Modernization has been found to affect families in a number of ways. Individuals or couples rather than outside influences tend to control fertility. There is increased separation between the family of orientation and family of procreation. Intra-familial relationships are less authoritarian than in the past. And as the State assumes more and more responsibility for education, health and welfare services, there is a tendency to devalue the family's contributions, particularly in those areas.

Associated with the shifts in roles and responsibilities resulting from modernization are shifts in values, including greater emphasis on individuality, equality between the sexes, and pressures to adopt the viewpoints of the dominant group. "The emphasis on individualism is probably pre-eminent among the...