Family is a basic unit social unit that enables a child to experience everything for the first time. Parents thus play a vital role in promoting the development and maturation of their child. Throughout history, the institution family has changed, and so have the roles of motherhood and fatherhood. Traditionally, the mother took care of the home and housework, whereas the father was the authority and the breadwinner. With time, these roles started shifting and the mother was allowed to get a job and provide for the family as well. Today, fathers are increasingly involved in the upbringing of their children, also helping their partners with housekeeping. Both the mother and father must play a part in a child's upbringing to allow for the optimal development of the child across all areas.
In the theoretical part of my thesis, I first explained the notion of family by providing different definitions and briefly describing different types of families. In continuation, I compared a traditional family to a contemporary one, and explained how the institution of family has changed throughout history. I also compared the traditional roles of the mother, father, and child to their contemporary counterparts. Lastly, I explored how upbringing has changed throughout history.
In the empirical part, I presented my qualitative research, namely six semi-structured interviews, which I conducted with mothers and fathers of different ages. The objective of my thesis was to explore the major changes in the institution of family, pinpoint the differences between the roles of the mother and the father, and find how child upbringing has changed throughout history.
The results of my research indicate that the roles of the mother, father, and child have in fact changed. Fathers are increasingly involved in childcare and tend to help their partners to a greater extent; mothers are employed and no longer rely financially on their partners; and children have rights that must be respected. Upbringing is no longer repressive and strict, children now have more liberties, and parents tend to listen to them and take their feelings and opinions into account.
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