Reflective Writing 2.

Throughout this paper a concept that I have found is important and has really interested me and had a big impact on me is families and communities. Families can be described as a ‘social construction,’ that is made of family members who have a relationship that they share whether it be biological, social or emotional. Within a family each member has a role to play and all members engage with each other whether negative or positive. People’s perception of “family” sometimes changes over time. Age and culture changes our experiences of family. Different generations also affect people’s experiences of a family and so comes about the idea that different generations have different expectations of the make-up and roles within families. With this changing perception of families also comes the idea that Families are becoming more ethnically diverse.

Sometimes it is hard for a person to define the function of a family possibly because they don’t have a stable family or they do not understand the concept of what a family is. The Families and Whānau Status Report 2014 identified four key functions for families, these are to promote social and human capital, to manage resources and to support, to provide identity and sense of belonging and to nurture and care, and provide socialisation, however sometimes these functions are not met and this is when a family can fall apart (Unit, 2014). Without thinking about it directly when a family breaks down it affects the community around them. A community can be defined as a group of people who share things that bind them together, whether it is their physical location or socio-cultural issues such as heritage, common experience or common visions, values and expectations (Chile, 2004).

In terms of social and cultural diversity issues surrounding New Zealand society, a theme that I have commonly thought about throughout this paper is the idea of migration and in terms of families and communities and the way they work and function, migration has a big impact. In New Zealand the ‘typical’ family is described as two happy parents, a few kids and a household that is financially stable as the two parents work and have to juggle their children’s lives also. However, with Migration becoming more common the households of New Zealand are becoming more diverse and thus the issue is discussed how should a family live? and what is the perfect family? For example, when families come over from China they usually come over with 3 generations of their families and they all live in the one house, so the idea of the ‘New Zealand typical family’ is no more. Because of these 3 generations, the parents usually go to work and the grandparents usually part take in school meetings and events with the children, this causes some confusion for members of the community because of everyone’s own family experience this may be a foreign concept to them, however for the Asian community it is normal.

Also throughout this paper I feel that I have gained a better understanding of Human Rights and in terms of families and communities. Success to a healthy community is individual and community well-being which is good quality of life (Chile, 2004). This idea highlights the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, and Good quality of life is described to consist of basic human needs such as, food, shelter, clothing and a basic income. When thinking about how many people in New Zealand and internationally that are without these basic human needs because for example there was a breakdown of their family or they were disowned by their family it brings to mind the amount of homeless people that are present in today’s society. From a human rights perspective by not providing them with these basic human needs their human rights that they are entitled to are not being met. Article 23 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights states that “everyone has the right to work, to free choice of employment. Everyone, without any discrimination, has the right to equal pay for equal work” (htt). The main Article that is addressed in terms of people who are without a family or home is Article 25 which states that “everyone has the right to a standard of living adequate for the health and well-being of himself and of his family, including food, clothing, housing and medical care and necessary social services, and the right to security in the event of unemployment, sickness, disability, widowhood, old age or other lack of livelihood in circumstances beyond his control” (htt). This article especially interests me because I feel the idea of Homeless people should be addressed in today’s society as it is a topic that is often ignored however it addresses so many of the Human Rights Articles. Most people who are homeless have untreated mental health issues, this may be true however they are often homeless because as addressed above they are entitled to medical care and necessary social services however most of the people who are homeless with mental health issues are often neglected by social services and their families which sometimes puts them in the position they are in. I can’t help but wonder if their human rights were met and if they were accepted by society would they still be in the same position?

When addressing the issue of families and communities it makes me think about my own values, beliefs and my own identity. Within my family it has always been a common belief that we give back to services and charities, for example, my family and I give to 26 charities in total because we believe that it is important to support our community and often other families within the community. I personally value my own community and my family and my family has helped me to create my own identity, they have shown me different characteristics of a person who I believe I want to be. I personally believe that families and healthy communities are important in shaping a person and a person’s attitude, and that is why I think it is important that everyone is supported by a family or even their community.

In some recent discussions I came to the conclusion that Families and Communities can not only be applied in my discipline through the idea that Families and Communities make up society through a diverse range based on people's experiences of families and communities in modern day society. My discipline also focuses on the relationships and the construct of a family within society and the impact on society if there is a break down of a family or community. The idea of families and communities can also be applied in the hospitality discipline. From a Hospitality discipline perspective hospitality is “Welcoming a stranger, making a stranger known” in terms of families and communities, communities are not only housing communities but also people who share common hobbies and experiences, welcoming a stranger in this sense would be inviting someone into a group of people and making them feel a part of the group, the more interaction a person has with a community the less of a stranger they become. For example, when my family and I first moved to our present day neighbourhood, the first day we moved in a lady approached us and invited us to a neighbourhood watch meeting, the more we interacted with the neighbourhood the less we felt like strangers. An important idea that I have learnt throughout this paper is that although each discipline applies families and communities in a different way, the idea and direction is still the same and each is equally important within the idea of culture and society.

References

(eng). Retrieved from http://www.ohchr.org/EN/UDHR/Documents/UDHR_Translations/eng.pdf

Chile, D. L. (2004). Community Development Pratice In New Zealand. Social Work Review XVI (3) , 20-25.

Cribb, J. (June 2009). Focus on families: New Zealand families of yesterday, today and tomorrow. Social Policy Journal Of New Zealand, 4-16.

Unit, S. P. (2014). Families and Whanau Status Report 2014. Wellington : Families Commission / SuPERU.