Model Kim Dacuba

AB Political Science 2

FAMILY DISINTEGRATION
In a modern society where almost everything, such as norms, trend
and lifestyles change, there are still values that the society must continue to
uphold, like the sanctity of family life. It is known to all that the family is the
bedrock of the society and that the kind of community that people will have
greatly depends on the kind of families that it has. Unfortunately, in third
world context, particularly in the Philippines, Family Disintegration had been
a long standing problem. Throughout this paper, there will be words that will
be used and repeated to substantially explain the topic. These words are the
following:
Family- a group of individuals living under one roof and usually under
one head: household
Disintegration- to lose unity or integrity by or as if by breaking into
parts
Social institutions- a system of behavioral and relationship patterns
that are densely interwoven and enduring, and function across an
entire society. They order and structure the behavior of individuals by
means of their normative character.
THE NATURE AND CAUSES OF FAMILY DISINTEGRATION
The Society, throughout history, had witnessed so many social and
cultural problems. Even up to the present times, there are still problems that

threaten the growth and development of the society. One of these problems
is the disintegration of some Filipino families. This issue is not only real in the
Philippines but also in all parts of the world. It can be seen for example, in
statistics that show the growing number of annulment, divorce or separation.
It is therefore fundamental to find out the reason behind the breakdown of
families in order to come up with a solution or remedy, if not preventive
measures that will address this problem.
Statistics show that happier and intact families have higher
probabilities of being successful, and have shown to be psychologically,
emotionally and economically stable. Some people may not share the same
idea. Others believe that it is because of the nature of social division that
families have tendencies of falling out. While this is not entirely wrong, this is
still debatable. It is because even in the third world context, a number of
families were still able to raise responsible and educated individuals despite
their poverty. I would like to argue in support of this contention. To start, it is
important to understand the nature of the family disintegration. Basically, it
is the destruction of the family life, where parents or children separate from
each other. It is when the family members no longer feel secured and happy
with the family. It is when the members no longer finds the family or
household a place where they can be loved, happy and grow as an ethical
individual. These are examples of instances where we can say that the family
has disintegrated.
To have an in-depth understanding of the nature of family
disintegration, it is therefore essential to identify the causes of this problem.
In reality, there are a lot of factors which could be associated to this problem.
To name a few, lets take the number of unwanted marriages and
pregnancies, absence of parental attention and unemployment as examples.
These are some of the causes of family disintegration that we will explain in
this paper. Unwanted marriages and pregnancies are problems usually faced

by teenagers. For unwanted marriages, this happens when either of the

couple does not love the other but is forced or obliged to marry them. It can
also be when initially, the couple love each other but eventually fall out
because of reasons such as coercion or violence, but cannot get out of that
marriage. As for unwanted pregnancies, this happens when a woman or
soon-to-be parents are not fully ready to have an offspring yet. It can also be
when the pregnancy is due to other taboo reasons such as rape. Absence of
parental attention is a very commonly identified cause of family
disintegration. It is when the parents become more focused in earning a
living, or pursuing their career and investing very little time in
communicating with their family members. It is also when parents try to
control their children in a way that their kids no longer have an avenue
where they can express themselves. This often leads to delinquency. Lastly,
for unemployment, this is considered cause to family breakdown because
unemployment can be very depressing and leads to lower self-esteem.
When this happens, a parent or a person may less likely interact with family
members and wallow in self-pity.

IMPACT AND ROLE OF SOCIAL INSTITUTIONS IN THE FAMILY LIFE

It is unjust to place all the blame on the factors of family disintegration
without looking into the role of the society and its agents in the family life
and how they shape households. This paper will also attempt to explain the
logical links of this topic using the theory of Functionalism.
Social institutions come in many forms such as media, educational
institution, church and even government. Although they have their specific
functions in the society, they play a great role in shaping the family life.

Medias nature is vast and accessible. It contains messages which may

be or may not be suitable for minor audiences. This is basically why the
parents must see to it that they guide their children so they can help filter
information that their kids are going to take. However this is difficult to
achieve given that technology has provided the society various means of
accessing the media, and it is not all the time that parents are with their
children. Educational institutions play a big role in the family life too. It can
be said that children who are loved at home come to school happy, while
children who cant feel love at home come to school to be loved and seek
happiness with peers or classmates. The kind of upbringing a child has will
be reflected in the way he behaves in school and that the kind of treatment
he receives at home will affect his performance in school. The church also
plays a part in the family life. It preaches about the family values that must
be upheld and that the sanctity of family life should be protected. There are
times when the churchs messages reach the family but there are times
when it doesnt. Not all families are church goers, so not everybody hears
the message of the church. Lastly, the role of the government is important.
The laws it creates the regulations if implements and the services it renders
greatly affect the family. Whenever there are irregularities or fraudulent
activities that the government is involved with, it negatively affects the
households.
Using sociologys functionalist approach, this paper aims to explain
that the society is very much interconnected and interdependent. The
performance of one institution may positively or negatively affect the other.
For this matter, the family disintegration is a result of the dysfunctional and
negative performance of the social institutions in general. This same theory
will be used in the proposal of a preventive measure or remedy for the
problem of family disintegration.

THE REMEDY, THE PROPOSAL

In strengthening the social fabric, it is of high premium to empower the
family first. The society, to prevent it from seeing future family
disintegrations, must work changes that will promote happy marriages,
uphold family values and secured family life.
To address the problem of family disintegration, I think that improved
family planning and frequent family counselling should be done. Family
planning in this sense does not only pertain to birth control but more
specifically refers to couples planning their marriage and family life
thoroughly and ahead of time. It is because it is important that both parties
should be physically, emotionally, psychologically and economically ready
before creating a family. As for families which are already formed, frequent if
not timely family counselling should be sought. This is to create an avenue
where the family can raise concerns and ask for advice without fear of
judgment and intimidation. This is also an avenue where communication is
highly valued and encouraged so this, in a way, prevents family
disintegration because of lack of communication.
I believe that this proposal is practicable and feasible because of the
existence of social institutions whose natures are protective of the family life.
Lets take a look back at our mentioned social institution; the media can
create advertisements that support the family. The school can start
liberalizing up a bit, by teaching the students what is really happening with
some families, how they can possibly solve it and not just by merely sugar
coating things. The church, before celebrating and solemnizing marriages,
may see to it that the parties contracting marriage would undergo family
planning first. The government may conduct free and frequent family
counselling at local government unit levels, so as to make it available to

everyone. These mechanisms I believe, will lessen if not eradicate family

disintegration.