Life cycle/span approach in

understanding family,
characteristics, goals, needs
task and problems in each
stage
 Family
 Family is a small social system made up of
individuals related to each other by reason
of strong reciprocal of affection and
loyalties compromising permanent
household or cluster of households that
persists over year and decades. Member
enter through birth, or marriage, and leave
only by death. (Berman, 1978)
 The developmental approach

 It emerged out of sociology, child

psychology and women development it
focuses on the stages of development as
the family moves through its life cycle.
 The Life cycle
 The emotional and intellectual stages you
pass through from childhood to your
retirement years as a member of a family
are called the family life cycle.
 In each stage, you face challenges in your
family life that cause you to develop or
gain new skills.
 The Life cycle
 It does not happen in isolation but it takes place
within the family life cycle which is primary
content of Human development.
 Family development is unique its capacity to
work over the natural history of
 Family formation
 Expansion
 Contraction
 Dissolution
 Why is it important to understand the
family life cycle?

 Mastering the skills and milestones of each

stage allows you to successfully move
from one stage of development to the next.
 If you don't master the skills, you may still
move on to the next phase of the cycle, but
you are more likely to have difficulty with
relationships and future transitions.
 Developing these skills helps you work
through the changes that nearly every
family goes through.
 Not everyone passes through these stages
smoothly. Situations such as severe illness,
financial problems, or the death of a loved
one can have an effect on how well you
pass through the stages.
 Family life cycle theory suggests that
successful transitioning may also help to
prevent disease and emotional or stress-
related disorders.
 The more you understand about the
challenges of each stage of the cycle, the
more likely you are to successfully move
on.
 Assumptions
 Family behaviour is the sum of past experience of
family members as incorporated in the present as
well as in their goals and expectations about the
future.
 Families develop and change over time in similar
and consistent way.
 Humans not only initiate actions as they mature
and interact with others but also they react to
environmental pressures.
 The family and its members must perform certain
time specific tasks set by themselves and by person
in the broader society.
 What can disrupt the normal cycle?

 The stress of daily living or coping with a

chronic medical condition or other crisis
disrupts the normal family cycle. A crisis
or ongoing stress can delay the transition to
the next phase of life, or you may move on
but without the necessary skills to succeed.
 The approach focuses mainly on the changing
role content in positions.
 It occurs in tandem with the changes in these
positions
 The change in role content of one specific
position is believed to bring about changes in
all role positions that contain roles reciprocal
to the changing positions.
 Each time there is marked change in the age,
role content of any one the several positions in
the family there is rearrangement of role
reciprocities.
 Duvall 1971, Eight Stages
 Stages I: Married couple without children
 Stage II: Child bearing Families
( 1st Child 0-30 months)
 Stage III: Family with pre-school children
(30 mths-6 yrs)
 Stage IV: Family with school age children
(6 yrs- 13yrs)
 Stage V: Family with teenagers
(13 yrs –20 yrs)
Duvall 1971, Eight Stages cont…

Stage VI : Family with launching young adults

Stage VII : Family with middle age parents

( empty nest to retirement)

Stage VIII : Ageing family

( Retirement to death of both spouse)
 Stage I: Married couple without
children
 Principle: Commitment to a New System

 TASK :
– Formation of Marital system
– Re-alignment of relationships with
Extended families and friends to include
spouse
– Establishing mutually satisfying marriage
– Adjusting to pregnancy
 Difficulties
 Inability to shift family status –defective
boundaries
 Implying in-laws may be too intrusive
 The new couples may be afraid to set limits
 Difficulty in forming adequate relationship
 Inability to formalize a couple relationship
 High expectations
 Entering into sexual life
 Change in the role
 Power arrangements
 Economic dependency
 Stage II: Child Bearing families
 Principle: Accepting new members into system

 TASKS:
 Adjusting marital system to make space for
children
 Taking parenting roles
 Re-alignment of relationships with Extended
families to include parenting and grand parenting
role.
 Difficulties
 Disengagements of parents
 Privacy affected after birth of child
 Financial problems
 Child Rearing problems
 Working women is affected
 Difficulty in taking responsibility
 Change in life style
 Recreational life affected
 Emotional changes
 Worry about 2nd child
Stage III: Family with pre-school
children
 TASKS:
 Adapting to needs of pre-school children
 Coping with energy depletion
 Lack of privacy
 Preparation of child to go school
 Pre-academic skill training
 Difficulties
 Planning the gap between the 2 children
 Financial difficulties
 Sleeping arrangement
 More attention,love and care to children
than husband (deprivation)
 Inadequate quality of time spent by working
parents
 Difficulty in understanding child behaviour
 Increased responsibilities
Stage IV: Family with school age
children
 TASKS:
 Fitting into community
 Encouraging children educational
achievement
 Searching good school
 Preparation of children to go to school
 Difficulties
 Financial difficulties
 Material needs of the child
 High expectations from child
 Change in family routine
 Additional responsibilities to parents
 Diff to maintain relationship between
diff. sub system
 Change in life style
 Child demands
 Stage V: Family with
Teenagers
 Principle: Increasing flexibility of boundaries
to include children’s independence.
 TASKS
– Shifting of parent- child relationship to
permit adolescents to move in and out of
system.
– Refocus on midlife marital and career
issues.
– Beginning shift toward concern for older
generation.
– Balancing freedom with responsibility
 Difficulties
 Transition
 Differences in opinion
 Anxiety about feature
 Frequent arguments
 Difficulty in understanding the Physical,
Social and psychological changes.
 Difficulty in giving orientation about sex
 High material demands
 Handling love affair
 Choosing career
 Stage VI: Family with
Launching young adults
 PRINCIPAL: A multitude of exit from and
entries into the family system
 TASK:
 Recognition of marital system as a dyad
 Development of adult to adult relationship
between growth children and their parents
Stage VI: cont…

 Realignment of relationship to include in-

laws and grandchildren
 Dealing with disabilities and death of
parents (grandparents)
 Maintaining a supportive home base
 Difficulties
 Sharing decision making with grown up
child
 Sexual life
 Decision about son’s/daughter’s marriage
 Adjustment with son in-laws/d-in-laws
 Preparation about grand parenthood
Stage VII: Family with middle
age parents

 Principal:
Accepting the shifting of generational role
TASKS
– Refocusing of marriage relationships
– Maintain kin ties with older and younger
generation
 Difficulties
 Child leaving home
 Children job
 Change in responsibilities toward child
 Changes in physical, social and sexual
relationships.
 increased medical expenses
 Expectation from married child
Stage VIII : Ageing family
( Retirement to death of both spouse)

 Principle: accepting shifting of generational

roles
 TASKS
– Maintain own couple functioning and interests in
face of physiological decline.
– Exploration of new familial and social role options
– Dealing with loss of spouse, siblings and other peers
– Preparation of own death
– Adjustment to retirement
– Life review and integration
 Difficulties
 Time spent with spouse
 Change in daily routine after retirement
 Adjustment to old age and problems
 Change in recreational activities.
 Adjust with loss of spouse
 Financial problem
 Dependence on children.
 Feeling loneliness