Why are families a focus of attention for government policy? Critically discuss the role governments play in providing support for families.

The Role of Governments Play in Providing Support for Families
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The Role of Governments Play in Providing Support for Families
Introduction
Family serves as the most important institution in society. The family organization is crucial in the cultivation of well-developed children who determine the strength of society. Children and adults gain massive knowledge on the sense of relationships because, at the very least, this is the only supportive relationship that is guaranteed to last for the long-term. It formulates the beliefs and values uphold while also offering cultural capital, social capital, and emotional support. The importance of the family can never be disregarded justifying the government’s continuous efforts to strengthen this unit. Families face their share of predicaments compelling the input of authorities in mitigating their dangers.
There are significant factors that would entice attention for government policies. Domestic abuse is among them. Any member of the family can be abused regardless of their gender or age. Many people regard families as mainly patriarchal signifying that men are unlikely to be abused. However, men and the elderly are at times victims of family violence. Families are social institutions whereby intimate relationships exist. Power is thus, imminent meaning that families possess much influence in the direction of the entire community. One finds that dysfunctional families increase social costs. Interventions are necessary to halt the escalation of adverse consequences as well as parental separation and divorces. On the other hand, the government plays significant roles such as supporting disabled children and ensuring the protection of children's rights.
Families as a Focus of Attention for Government Policy
In an ordinary family setting, children, as well as adults, exhibit a smooth-sailing relationship where children are raised in the right way. Parents bear the highest responsibility of ensuring that their kids attain the best character and traits that position them to become excellent adults. However, life offers many probabilities implying that this is not the usual occasion in every family. Bronfenbrenner's ecological systems theory states it best when he asserts that children will find themselves under various external influences that offer varied interactions (Harkonen 2007). It this predisposition that compels an analysis of the factors that call for attention from governmental agencies on families. The theory (also known as bio-ecological systems theory) is widely used in psychology and pedagogy and more so when it comes to early childhood education and development.
Domestic Abuse
From a governmental position, domestic violence and abuse refer to “any incident or pattern of incidents of controlling, coercive, threatening behavior, violence or abuse between those aged 16 or over who are, or have been, intimate partner or family members regardless of the gender of sexuality" (Lloyd 2018, p. 5). It encapsulates various aspects of abuse including but not limited to emotional, financial, sexual, physical, and psychological abuses. The existence of relevant actions deviates from the widely held phenomenon that they are a "haven in the heartless world." Family institutions provide their members with a safety net against the ills of the world. In acknowledging that family relationships are power relationships, one begins to understand the beginning of domestic violence.
Domestic violence has a significant impact on physical, physiological, emotional, and social development on the child who witnesses domestic violence. It destabilizes their minds and affects their behavioral regulations including mental activities and intellectual abilities. Such children are more likely to elicit adverse behavioral and emotional outcomes compared to their peers who never experienced related circumstances. Their most frequent symptoms include an elevated level of aggressiveness towards their peers, fearfulness, and hyperarousal. Children perceive their caregivers including parents as sources of safety and people who they model for self-regulation. They are more inclined to love, support, as well as nurture, but then a violent environment curtails this development for them. Health problems such as problems eating, poor concentration, language development, immaturity, fear of loneliness, sleep problems, and irritability are other adverse consequences (Astbury et al. 2000). School-going kids perform poorly than their peers. Girls elicit disobedience and aggressiveness while for the boys, they become more depressed and anxious.
Pregnant women are also part of the family unit and could be caught amid related chaos. Such women are more likely to terminate their pregnancies. Besides, most domestic violence targets the abdomen meaning that such women are at a heightened risk of receiving severe injuries. Most pregnant admit that there was a prior history of abuse even before the pregnancy. Regardless, the behavior is bound to continue in the postpartum period. These people are very much unlikely to receive any antenatal care or else, it could be minimal. Women in these situations are likely to conceive other problems such as postnatal depression, low birth weight infant, preterm labor, infections, anemia, and poor weight gain. Besides, they are more susceptible to adopting harmful behaviors such as substance misuse, drinking an excessive amount of alcohol, and smoking (Astbury et al. 2000).
A certain perceived level of inequality has developed to the extent that men’s issues are unattended or given less attention. This assertion arises because of the patriarchal concept that men are the more dominating gender. In this case, men are at times victims of circumstances. A study conducted in the United States of America (U.S.A.) indicates that 834,700 men are physically assaulted by their partners annually. Therefore, the case for men can never be discounted. Such situations result in divorce, which drains them emotionally (Devaraj 2018). Elderly people are also victims of domestic violence. The elderly become victims because of several reasons including but not limited to a long history of family violence, psychopathology in the abuser, or their dependence on others. These results indicate that almost every person in the family institution is a victim of these adverse situations. At the very end of it, the broader community becomes ineffective in modeling people to become citizens calling for attention from the authorities.
The Family Institution in Social Policy
A family faces many issues, which are closely linked to social policy. Even though it is not a demarcated discipline in most parts of the world, family social policy impacts many of these institutions either directly or indirectly. In essence, many policies have a major influence on families. However, many of the associated efforts are directed towards the environment or economy, very few are attached to the ‘family lens’ leaving it a less topic of interest. Nevertheless, there is no doubt about the importance of policies on families.
At the very hindsight, families establish the presence of intimate relationships, which are of high importance to individuals' wellbeing. Consequently, policies created possess the potential for enhancing or impeding the creation and sustenance of positive family relationships. According to Bronfenbrenner (1986), “the family is the most powerful, the most humane, and by far the most economical system for building competence and character.”
This position is further enhanced by the fact that well-functioning family institutions are central to developing socially engaged and successful young persons who play a significant role in contributing to the entire society’s wellbeing. Such a notion illustrates the responsibility that the family structure has to the wider society. Similarly, dysfunctional families are a major expense to the overall social costs. These costs arise in the form of providing benefit support, paying for mental health services, and supporting distressed children.
A third reason as to why much concern ought to be directed to policies on families is the fact that flourishing workplaces and the resultant economic productivity are inextricably linked to well-functioning families. Families in this privileged position elicit healthy intimate relationships. Consequently, adults become more productive in their workplaces while at the same time, there is a great parent-child bond ensues. These are trickle-down benefits that stressed family relationships cannot provide. Further, this justifies the role of the family in the broader society.
The ever-changing family dynamic in the western world in both shape and engagement proves that it is a daunting ask in reaching and supporting all families. However, it is one task that has to be faced to minimize the limitations based on the nuclear family form only. Moreover, a keen person will come to terms with the increasing level of individualisms in most western societies. Individualism means that the individual is far much focused on themselves than the relatively equivalent effort directed to their family. On the other hand, individualism has arisen because of the fragility at the center of modern families. Individualism is also predicated on external factors and more so, those that come from the economic domain including taxes and wages (Pryor, 2009). Another element that promotes individualism is the health sector where the system focuses on the person only neglecting the fact that they are embedded in the family grouping. Family members affect each other’s health status.
Such situations insinuate the need for the intervention of the government and related agencies to institute appropriate policies. These regulations ought to extend beyond the individual to a group focus implying that families need to be supported properly. There is an overarching opinion that families are essentially private thereby nullifying government efforts. However, the dynamics today have change and functions such as health care and education are sought externally. In this regard, there is a need for the government to maintain an intricate balance between supporting and enabling families and controlling and dictating them.
Family Dynamics (Parental Separation and Divorce)
In contemporary society, the family institution has witnessed several changes including stepfamily formation, cohabitation, single parenthood, separation rates, and divorces. A keen analysis illustrates that all these factors have been relatively on the rise. They have raised an unrivaled interest from both an academic and administrative viewpoints. Stakeholders are concerned about the kids; well-being and life chances presented to them. Related studies conducted in this sphere indicate that children living with non-biological have worse upbringing compared to their counterparts with biological parents. This assertion arises concerning their "psychological well-being, health, schooling, and later labor market attainment (Harkonen, Bernardi, & Boertien 2017, p. 164." It is worthwhile noting that their entire life is predicated on their younger years and relevant consequences are apparent even in their adulthood.
Parental separation is among the most prevalent issues of concern in modernity. Children experience this rather nasty situation convoluting their foundation on the primal importance on the family unit. For in...