What is the influence of contemporary social issues on the Caribbean family life?

Answer 1

KARATeKA is searching for the same answer :D lucky he found it ;)

Our Caribbean society is plagued with social issues, most of which the governments are having great difficulty attending to. These issues have surfaced on account of individual's refusal to conform to or abide by the laws of society.

A social issue can be best described as any condition that is widespread and conflicts with the norms and values of the society that affects a large number of people directly or indirectly.

The characteristics of a Social Issue are:

• It conflicts with the norms and valuesof society

• It affects a large number of people both directly and indirectly

• It is difficult to solve and therefore requires collective effort to solve it

The following are examples of social issues that penetrate our Caribbean society:

1. Child abuse

2. Domestic violence

3. Incest

4. Juvenile delinquency

5. Poverty

6. Sexual transmitted diseases

7. Street children

8. Substance abuse

9. Suicide

10. Teenage pregnancy

Some of the issues identified have been in existence for a very long time. Governments have made attempt at solving them but they lack the human and financial resources needed to deal with it effectively.

One cannot down play the efforts of government in trying to rid the area of these social issues. With the limited resources, the governments have:

1. Created employment opportunities to alleviate the scourge of poverty

2. Run advertisement in an effort to educate and sensitize the citizens on the casual factors that have contributed to the wide spread of certain social issues

3. Call on international agencies to assist financially and technically in dealing with social ills

4. Put in place laws that punish people who engage themselves in social issues which are of an unlawful nature.

5. Offer direct help and assistance to victims through various funds

These are just a few of the governments' responses to the social issues that permeate our society.

The family and social issues

The family is heavily affected by the social issues. Every individual who is involved in the social ills of the society are apart of a family which therefore means that a family will be affected. The following are common effects on the family:

1. The family relationship will be affected - the issue may cause conflict between family members as they grapple to deal with it.

2. Alienation by other members of the society - if a member of the family suffers from a communicable disease, society might assume that the entire family is suffering from like disease and alienate them. This act of alienation leads to devaluing of oneself

3. Some families may lose important members such as parents (bread winners), big brother/sister etc through the hands of crime, desertion, imprisonment or even death.

4. Family may be forced into financial depression because of excess money spent on trying to rehabilitate one of its member

5. Younger Family members may model the behaviour of those senior members who enroll themselves in undesirable behaviours

Answer 2

Contemporary social issues such as migration, economic instability, and changing gender roles have influenced Caribbean family life by altering traditional family structures, creating transnational families, and affecting the roles and responsibilities of family members. These issues have led to challenges in maintaining family cohesion, passing on cultural heritage, and coping with changing dynamics within the family unit.