▶ Your Answer :
What is the
definition of extended family? Extended family, unlike what is called family,
consists of group of members which include all the members of the family such
as grandparents and parents. A lot of controversy has arisen concerning about
the importance of extended family. Some might argue that as strong relationship
can bring about social ability to mingle with others, in current society
extended family itself is crucial. However, with regard to the concept of
individualism and conflict between family members, extended family should not
be considered as important now as before.
To begin with, the concept of
individualism has hindered the relationship between family members. Thanks to
the rapid technology development, the social trend has transformed from
cooperation to individualism. Unlike in the past, where family gathered
together and cooperated to solve important problems, nowadays, rather people
resolve problems independently. Independency has been a crucial norm that
defines our society. More and more people have become individualized concerning
only about their life matters. With such norm, extended family is not as
important as before, as individual ponders and acts by themselves. For
instance, in current society the norm “Individual eating” has become
popularized meaning rather than consuming food with others, people prefer to
eat food independently. Such notion demonstrates how society is defined these
days. Individualism has become the most important factor that comprises the
characteristics of individual beings. Instead of concentrating on family
collaborating each other to resolve certain problem, current trend is to work
independently to tackle issue that will form the life of individual human
being.
Furthermore, conflict might be
prominent when considering the extended family. Even if extended family is
comprised of family member, each individual has different personality and
preferences. As individual has distinctive characteristics, when they are
gathered, there will be dispute with each other regarding with different
opinions about certain matters. When conflicts are enlarged, there will be a
higher probability that eradication of relationship can be manifested. For
instance, in Korean society it has been a popularized norm attributing to the
conflict between mother in law and daughter in law. Traditionally, such
conflict engendered negative outcome within the family. As mother in law and
daughter in law, raised with different cultural and personal background, have
different perspective in certain matters, they confront with a lot of dispute
where daughter in law mostly must cope with such conflicts. When the process keeps
occur, in extreme cases, when the problems are exacerbated, daughter in law can
declare divorce. Since living with extended family causes a lot of problems
such as divorce, it is better for individuals not to live as extended family to
keep peace within the family society. Even if, the patriarchal society has been
changed, extended family relentlessly has problems that prevent people to cope
with.
To conclude, it is plausible to
state that extended family is as important as before due to its’ relationship
with family and help from family members, nothing can compare with the
disadvantage of extended family. Thanks to the social trend individualism and
possibility of conflict between extended family member, it is much preferable
to contend that extended family is not as important as before. If people want
to pursue individual lifestyle, it is better for them to live in small members
of family rater than extended family. |