WJEC GCSE Home Eco - Child Development

Residential care Children without families or whose families are unable or unwilling to look after them may have to live in a residential home that is run by the Local Authority. Children who are ‘at risk’ and vulnerable are given professional care, including when a court order to remove a child from the care of their family is issued or the child needs sudden immediate care. Residential homes provide a safe place for children who may find the rules and regulations of the homes different from what they were used to in their own home. Some may experience problems in following those rules, or become unhappy. The physical and emotional bonding with parents will also not be experienced in this sort of home. Revision Tips • You should be able to name each different type of family. • Make sure you can describe how the different family structures support or affect the upbringing of children. Include consideration of all aspects such as positive and negative issues. • When you are asked to de- scribe in an essay you must provide a detailed account about the issue in question. P r o v e i t ! 1. Describe how a nuclear family is different from an extended family. 2. List four ways in which members of an extended family can help and support each other. 3. Give three advantages of both parents sharing responsibilities within the family. 4. State four reasons why a child may be brought up by only one parent. 5. What disadvantages could there be for a child in being part of a step-family? 6. Suggest why a child may need to be placed in foster care. Watch some TV programmes on any one night and try to identify the different types of families shown in these programmes. Activity Summary • In a nuclear family contact with other family members is limited compared with an extended family where there are more people to offer advice, help and emotional support in times of distress. • Reconstituted families have children living with one natural parent and a step-parent. • In one parent families there is only one parent and the child/children. • Foster carers have no legal responsibility for the child; the local authority becomes the child’s legal guardian. • An adoptive family provides stability, a permanent home and gives a child a sense of belonging. • Residential care homes provide basic and secure care for children in difficult circumstances within the local community. Child Study Describe the type of family your study child is part of, e.g. nuclear, extended. 5 Topic 1: Family and Child Types of family