1. Laura Garcia
Instructor: Paul S Randak
PSY 1010
12/4/2012
Family Structure
The meaning of family structure is the legal and genetic relationships among
relatives living in the same home; including nuclear family, extended family or
stepfamily. The structure family in the U.S. is divided into three types, the two- parent
family, the one-parent family, and other family types which are special cases. However,
each type of structure is subdivided into several categories. A family provides stability
and harmony to a child as well as providing help to learn and develop themselves.
Therefore, at this time I will be talking about my family structure, how this structure
affected my life, and the changes that I can see on a daily bases.
My mom came from a dysfunctional family with several problems and abuse from
her father. When my mom was 16 years old she found out she was pregnant, which
brought many problems to her life. My grandfather kicked her out of the house, and for
the first time she had to live in the real world by herself. Moreover, my dad being an
adolescent too, was afraid to leave his house, and his normal life, and so he left my
mom alone throughout her pregnancy.
When I was born my dad finally decided to move in with my mom, but after a few
months my mom started experiencing physical and emotional abuse from my dad, but
my mother felt that she had to keep strong throughout the abuse, because that was a
lifestyle she had lived since she was little and was something normal to her, and for the

2. same reason I experienced for the first nine years of my life, my father abusing my
mother, and even though I was really young those memories have stuck with me, but on
the other hand my mother and I were really close with my uncle and aunt; as well as,
my grandmother, and that always helped us to keep ourselves strong during rough
times . This explains that whatever the family situation, it will have tremendous influence
upon the person’s happiness, development, and future.
When I was seven years old my brother was born and a few months after his
birth my mom and dad decided to get married, but it only lasted for two years, and they
got divorced. After a divorce it is important to maintain a relationship with the ex-spouse
to coordinate visitation, also it is important not to say anything negative about the ex-
spouse to the kids, so they can create a strong relationship with both parents. However,
it was hard to keep a relationship with my dad; because the communication between my
mom and my dad was short, and I really didn’t feel the impact of not having my father
around until a couple of years later when my mom moved in with a new person.
This new stage in my mother’s life changed my life completely; although, he
didn’t abuse my mom, he abused me emotionally. For example, he used to buy gifts for
my brother and not for me, during dinner time I couldn’t eat at the table with everyone
and had to eat in the kitchen by myself, and they used to go on trips and would leave
me home with a babysitter, and therefore this emotional abuse changed my attitude in a
very negative way. I was a completely different person after being a sweet nice little girl;
I became aggressive, a rebel, and my grades at school went down, and because of
those changes that this new man brought, my mom started punishing me physically,
which resulted in the end of our relationship.

3. Children with structured families tend to have greater academic achievement and
are less likely to have problems in school, but children with divorced parents all under
“the greatest risk” because of the bad results ether at school or later on in life. As well,
moving to a several places, changing of schools, and having a new born at home can
cause instability and confusion in the child. Moreover, when I started my adolescent
stage, life got even worse, and even though my mom had a new relationship my attitude
never changed back to normal, and I got worse with time which made my mom even
stricter and the physical abuse even more severe.
In addition, throughout my teenage years, I did really badly in school, so bad that
I got expelled from two schools. I also started smoking and drinking and with this, left
my brother and my family a side, I had this same attitude for a couple of years until my
family and I got threatened by terrorists, and we had to run away from my country and
leave our my life’s, my friends, and my family; since, that day I decided to change my
life, by getting a job, getting a college education, and taking responsibility for my life and
my family specially my brother, I stopped drinking and smoking so I could be a good
example for him. As well I started expending more time with my family, and gave them
more importance including my dad’s side of the family.
Five years after this big change I can definitely see the difference in my personal
like, I bought a house, I have a stable job, I am going to college to finish my education,
and I got married to wonderful person, my home is full of love and happiness; moreover,
the relationship with my mom got better, and my brother and I became really close. Now
I can say that I wouldn’t change my life because even if I have hard times those thought

4. me to be a better person, and I try not to make the same mistakes my mom did. So I
could be an example not just for my family, but for my future generations.

5. Citations:
Meyerhoff, Michael. "Understanding Family Structures and Dynamics" 27 July
2006. HowStuffWorks.com. <http://health.howstuffworks.com/pregnancy-and-
parenting/parenting/understanding-family-structures-and-dynamics-ga.htm> 30
November 2012.
Caring for Your School-Age Child: Ages 5 to 12 (Copyright © 2003 American
Academy of Pediatrics)
William H. Jeynes, “The Effects of Several of the Most Common Family
Structures on the Academic Achievement of Eighth Graders,” Marriage and
Family Review, Vol. 30 (2000), pp. 73–97.
Nan M. Astone and Sara S. McLanahan, “Family Structure, Parental Practices,
and High School Completion,” American Sociological Review, Vol. 56 (1991), pp.
309–320
Donna K. Ginther, “Family Structure and Children’s Educational Outcomes:
Blended Families, Stylized Facts, and Descriptive Regressions,” Demography,
Vol. 41, No. 4 (November 2004), pp. 671–696.
Invitation to the life spans 2010 by worth publisher.