Term 2- Families

Welcome back to another round of intellectual discourse. In this post we will look at functional and dysfunctional families. What are the apparent actors of a dysfunctional family? What sets them apart?

Functional family: In The village by the sea, one functional family is Biju's family. Biju fulfills his father role by going out to sea to catch fish to earn a living for the family. His wife fulfills the mother role by staying at home and maintaining the household. A family is functional and strong when the roles are met, e.g. The father-figure, mother-figure, child-role as a student, descendant of the family. I will be talking on the roles as we move on.

Father role: The father takes care of the cash flow and the teaching of the children. Responsible for the monetary needs of the family, or the "structure" of the family.

Mother role: The mother maintains the household and uses the earnings to provide for the family. She uses it to buy groceries, school bags, books, food or for any other family needs. She must also spend time with the children, to teach them and help them through their journey in life.

Child role: The child plays many little roles. One would be as a filial child, as a student, to study hard and build a foundation to prepare for the workforce, and as a descendant of the family, to continue the lineage although this is of little importance of our topic.

If these roles are fulfilled then the family is complete and functional. Now, if one role is not fulfilled, like the father role, the family cannot be fully supported, the child has a lack of fatherly love and guidance.

Now, what is a dysfunctional family? A family whereby roles are not fulfilled and there is a mix up. For example, in The village by the sea, Hari's family is dysfunctional. His father is a drunkard who wastes away at the toddy(alcoholic drink)shop, his mother is down with disease and cannot do anything, Hari's sister has to take over the roles of the mother, and Hari has to work in the fields. The elder children have to stop schooling, which is detrimental to their future, if they have it.

Also, in B.B, B.B's father is always travelling, thus the family is not too strong, but B.B's father still provides for the family, so the role is satisfactorily completed. B.B's parents' marriage is strained, because they do not communicate often enough. Thus, their family is not so functional.

Families can be functional or dysfunctional. For it to be functional, the members must fulfil their roles well so that the children can study hard to contribute back to the society, and the parents must fully commit to prevent any strains.