The article focuses on the role and impact of several key elements of a family unit – the hierarchy, parenting style, value of communication, conflict resolution and negotiation within the family. It presents elements of the concept of a family as a system, which includes a closed or open family dynamic, the setting and maintaining of clear limits and the adjustment thereof as the child grows older, the transfer of family patterns through upbringing, and the strong influence of parents on the formation of values and identity. The empirical segment contains an overview of the biographies of three adolescents. The first exemplifies a positive family influence which has contributed to a balanced psychosocial development of the adolescent in these tumultuous times. The second reveals a series of traumatizing experiences which have impeded normal development and have resulted in a level of stress that the adolescent cannot cope with. The third displays the effects of growing up without being constrained by limits and of lesser parental involvement which have resulted in the adolescent’s engaging in a string of dissocial experiences and actions which conflict with his social environment. These conflicts stem from a lack of internalized limits and boundaries, and a deviant value system. The second and third biographies include elements of growing up which are typical of youths whose malfunctioning family relations contribute to difficulties and anomalies in emotional responses and consequently result in deviant behavior.
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