Because the family is the first institution that sends messages to a person about his or her identity, its role in helping a person develop is crucial. These messages may be a precursor to the formation of other aspects of that person’s identity (Samovar, 2009.) There are so many aspects to belonging to a family that assist in the formation of a personality: adopting the family’s name, being a son, daughter, or sibling, and being a member of that family unit are all steps that contribute to the formation of a social identity. The contributions of the family to the formation of a person are many, especially involving information about their historical background, cultural identity, and behaviors that are linked with their specific ethnic background.
Language is an extremely crucial aspect of identity formation that begins with the family of origin, who introduce the cultural language to a child as well as instructing him or her about how that language is used for observation, imitation and practice (Samovar, 2009.) In addition, the family is the primary vehicle to instruct a child about how to form and maintain relationships, communicate through expression, both verbal and nonverbal, how to demonstrate affection, and how to make choices about what type of conversation is appropriate for different groups of people. It is in the family unit that children are able to try out their ideas about the world on an audience in which it is safe to express all types of opinions, ideally, and to receive feedback about how he or she is being experienced. Because children learn so frequently by imitation, often they are extremely likely to adopt the opinions and ideas about gender, race, and ethnicity from their parents, and when they are older, they may reject those ideas and formulate their own views about the outside world that may be in contradiction with those of their parents.
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"Communication and Globalization: Impact on Families".
There is a strong relationship between the way that people interact with their family members and the way that they relate to people outside of their families. Interaction patterns within the family offer clues as to the communication patterns outside of the family (Samovar, 2009.) This is certainly the case when it comes to gender identity and roles, as ideas about what it means to be a male or a female begin before a child is born, when parents announced that they have had a boy baby or a girl baby. In the United States, for example, there are specific gender expectations that begin as soon as the child is born, such as messages that males are supposed to be strong, aggressive, and independent while females are expected to be nurturing, sensitive, and interdependent. In more recent times, some parents have made an effort to convey gender-neutral messages to their children involving role expectations, mode of dress, and appearance but there are still many traditional families in which the long-held stereotypes about gender are the norm.
Globalization has been the foundation of economic progress globally for the last several decades, and in some ways trade combined with migration, communication, and dissemination of scientific and technical knowledge has helped to break the cycle of poverty and misery that has characterized many parts of the world (Pais, 2006.) However, in spite of the progress made the quality of life is still extremely harsh, brutal, and much too short for a significant portion of the global population. There have been many rewards resulting from globalization, but they have been experienced by only some people while others have not been as lucky.
Globalization has resulted in rapid and substantial changes to the lives of people: people have relocated from rural to urban centers at an increasing pace, with the resulting growth in urban areas that have led to a substandard quality of life for large groups of people. Many social problems such as family disruption as well as social and domestic violence have been on the increase (Pais, 2006.) Ideas regarding national identity as well as perceptions of families, jobs, and traditions are also changing at accelerated rates in substantial ways so that many people are concerned that competitiveness that is a result of globalization is causing societies to be more individualistic.
These changes in family units and socioeconomic data have been linked to family stress, negative behavior among adolescents, and interpersonal conflict (Conger, 2010.) Certainly, the impact of globalization and advances in anthology on the family unit has been mixed: for those who have been able to benefit from financial stability, residing in stable communities where there are job opportunities, and living in areas where there are adequate infrastructure developments, the quality of life has been improving to an unparalleled degree. However, for those families who were suffering before the advent of globalization and continue to do so, these modern changes have not resulted in positive changes for families. In addition, when circumstances change rapidly, fundamentalism may be the result, leading to a desire to return to the past, and a decrease in tolerance for religious and cultural differences. Some nations are losing influence because of globalization and its economic pressures, and others are experiencing a failure or hesitation to create social policies (Pais, 2006.) These developments increase the chances that people who are vulnerable may be exploited, and may also be more likely to experience threats to their basic human rights.
Another problematic aspect of globalization includes the psychological effect that may occur. These include development of a hybrid identity, or an identity that is derived from both local forces as well as the awareness that one is a member of the global community; identity confusion, which may result from difficulty adapting to globalization’s impact on their changing society; self-selected identity, in which people choose to form groups with like-minded persons who wish to have an identity that is not contaminated by globalization; and the spread of emerging adulthood, in which the timing of changes to adult roles such as careers, marriage and becoming parents are happening later on in most parts of the world, so that it becomes necessary to prepare for highly technological jobs beginning in the late teens to mid 20s (Pais, 2006.) Globalization has had a complex effect on families and individuals in many parts of the world, and those difficulties must be taken into account when all of the widely acknowledged benefits of it.
- Conger, R., Conger K., & Martin, M. (2010). Socioeconomics Status, Family Processes, and Individual Development. Journal of Marriage and Family, 685-704.
- Pais, S. (2006). Globalization and Its Impact on Families. Bildungsmanagement (pp. 1-6). Vienna: Viennese Conference on Mediation.
- Samovar, L. , Porter, R., & McDaniel, E. (2009). Communication between Cultures. Boston: Wadsworth.
