中西方家庭观念差异的比较 英文文献资料

A Thorough Comparison of the Differences in the FamilyValues Between Chinese and Western CountriesI. The Definition and Function of Family ValuesII. A Comparison of Family Values2. 1 A Comparison of Marriage2. 1. 1 A Comparison of Marital Values between China and Western Countries2. 1. 2 The Contradiction in Marriage and Family Stability2. 2. The Comparison of Providing for the Old Folks2. 2. 1 A Comparison of Attitudes and Methods of Providing for the Old Folks2.2.2 The Function of Old People in Family and Society2. 3 The Comparison of Children’s Education2.3.1 .The Comparison of Methods of Children Education2.3.2 The Function of Young People in the Family and SocietyIII. The Comparison of Family Values in Different Social Classes3.1 A Comparison of the Family Value of the Bottom Class3.2 A Comparison of the Family Value of the Middle Class3.3 A Comparison of the Family Value of the Upper ClassIV. The Influence of Family Values in the SocietyA Thorough Comparison of the Differences in the Family Values Between Chinese and Western CountriesThe role of family is really important in the society; therefore, different conceptions of family would cause different social phenomena, which will have an impact on social stability and the national economy. The traditional concept is challenged by modernization. Through comparing the difference between the two, it depicts the perspectives of different people on family, helps see clearly the impact on the society stability and the national economic development and thus, to understand well the relationship between the person, the family and the nation, the individual, the collective body and the society.I. The Definition and Function of Family ValuesFamily is where one has the first experience of love, and of hate, of giving, and of denying, and of deep sadness... Here the first hopes are raised and met—or disappointed. Here is where one learns whom to trust and whom to fear. Above all, family is where people get their start in life. Therefore we focus our attention on family to illustrate cultural implications, more specifically on the importance, functions and types of families.As you see, families are important for a number of reasons. First, the family is charged with transforming a biological organism into a human being who must spend the rest of his or her life around other human beings. The family, say Nye and Berardo, "is the primary of basic institution of any society… The family is everywhere, it is universal". Second, although a culture's core values and world view derive primarily from its predominant religious views and cultural history, the family is the primary caretaker of these views and values and transmits them to new members of the culture. Finally, families are important because they supply all of us with part of our identity.The family gives children knowledge about their historical background, information regarding the permanent nature of their culture, and specific behaviors, customs traditions, and language associated with their ethnic or cultural group. In short, the family tells us, and others, who we are and what groups we are part of.II. A Comparison of Family Values2. 1 A Comparison of Marriage2. 1. 1 A Comparison of Marital Values Between China and Western CountriesIn China, when western sociologists speak of the family, they usually refer to the basic form of the family organization- the nuclear family of a husband, a wife, and their children. But in China the concept of a family is broader; it may refer to a nuclear family, or to an expanded grouping based on the nuclear family. Chinese families can generally be divided into four types:a. Incomplete families: In an incomplete family, one of the spouses has died or is otherwise absent, or orphaned children live together.b. Nuclear families: A nuclear family is made up of husband, wife, and unmarried children.c. Joint families: A joint family consists of two or more nuclear families. It is often a double-generation family, and can include the nuclear families of brothers or sisters who maintain a joint household.d. Enlarged families: An enlarged family is composed of a nuclear family plus satellites, usually widowed parents but sometimes more distant relatives or even unrelated persons.There is a wide-spread belief that the joint family was dominant in China. But according to investigations, that was not the case. The joint family was only limited to the well-off city-dwellers and rural landlords because in feudal society financial power was in the hands of the head of the family. Among urban workers and rural farmers, the proportion of nuclear families was higher. In fact, the enlarged family was also popular because family bonds, which form part of traditional Chinese culture,were very strong. For example, widows and widowers unable to live independently but lived with their parents, children, or even their brothers or sisters.Some changes in Chinese family structure have appeared following social changes which have taken place since the founding of new China. Most obvious are an increase in the proportion of nuclear families and a decline in the proportion of nuclear families and a decline in the proportion of incomplete families. In the third population censes in 1983, nuclear families accounted for 67 percent of all families in Beijing, Shanghai, Nanjing, Chengdu, and Tianjin cities. An investigation in 1988 found that nuclear families accounted for 73 percent of rural households in fourteen provinces.Several factors have caused the increase of nuclear families. As a result of political and economic changes, a family head is no longer the only one who has an income. Almost all adult members are breadwinners. Most young people, including women, have achieved complete economic independence. After marriage many of them like to move out of their parents' house and live and manage on their own. On the other hand, many elderly people like to spend their remaining years in peace and quiet. They may even refuse to take care of their grandchildren. In addition, young people's ideas and life-styles are quite different from their parents' ideas and life-styles. Thus, the generation gap is another factor promoting the nuclear families.Even though the nuclear family is in the ascendant, there are still a sizeable number of enlarged families and joint families. Many married young people remain with their parents, partly because of the housing shortage and the childcare problem in the urban areas. In cities where housing conditions are tight, many young couples cannot find another place to set up their own homes. Although the government has done much to improve childcare, there are not enough nurseries and kindergartens to meet social need, and it would be too expensive for low-income couples to hire domestic help. Thus, grandparents are the ideal people to look after children. At the same time, elderly people need their children's help in their daily life and when they are ill. The ties of blood between the members of a family and socialist ethics also play a part in keeping the members of joint families and enlarged families together. The political, economic, and social changes, including family planning, will no doubt cause further changes in family structure.In Britain, the concept of the English family is certainly an elastic one, for it is almost impossible to describe it in general. Everywhere differences in the people are emphasized by differences in their language. The Scot’s burr, the Welsh’s fathomless thicket of consonants, the fast and difficult London Cockney, the perplexity of the Somerset dialect and the special Yorkshire vocabulary may be familiar to everybody. Class differences should not be neglected. The upper classes (though the number is small) have their own way of life; the middle class (well-to-do businessmen, professional people of all kinds) have a rather different way of life from the upper class; so do the working class (chiefly manual and unskilled workers). Despite all this, we think that British society is based on family life and the family is a self-contained economic and social unit with mother, father and children living together in their ownhouse. So marriage signifies the beginning of a new and independent family and means a great deal in British life.Nowadays it is quite normal for a girl of 16 to go out with a boyfriend. Kisses and embraces between young men and women are now considered quite natural behavior. If they are together for a long time and know each other well, the girl will invite the young man to her house to meet her parents because she likes him. The young man will also invite the girl to his house to see his parents on the basis of "going steady". They will meet their parents to tell the joyful news, ask their permission and hope for their congratulations and encouragement. In fact, the original promise to marry is made privately by the young couple. The first step towards the wedding is an engagement ring which is placed on the third finger of the girl's left hand. The engagement ring given by the boy is just a public declaration to marry and a means of discouraging the attentions of other young men. Then the wedding follows within a few months or perhaps a year or two. If either the girl or the boy changes her or his mind in between, the girl usually returns the ring; if nothing happens in the meantime, the engagement ring on the third finger is replaced by the wedding ring of plain gold.For the wedding, many British couples go to church to have the ceremony, no matter whether they are religious or not. Other couples go to a "registry office", where the ceremony is less formal. For the church ceremony the girl is usually dressed in long white dress and attended by her close relatives and friends. The bride and bridegroom make considerable promises of loyalty to each other, but first of all the vicar will ask them whether each is willing to marry the other. Of course the answer is in the affirmative. The bride is given away by a close relative to her husband, usually by her father, which indicates that the bond of marriage is stronger than any previous family bond between the bride and her mother. After the wedding there is always a reception of a light meal to which all the relatives and friends are invited.A British marriage means the beginning of the third family quite distinct from the previous two. The newlyweds who have a lot of problems to solve, even before the wedding, live quite separately from them in complete financial independence. One of the essential problems of any British marriage is to find a place where the newly-married couple can live alone.In America, A remarkable characteristic of American society is the diversity of people. Different peoples came to America from different nations and places at different times.America is a country that has more emigrants than any other country tin the world.It is estimated that of the population of 250 million, more than 16 percent were born in other countries or are the children of at least one foreign-born parent. Three hundred years ago, Europeans, especially the English people, came to America in increasing numbers because of religious persecution. Later, people from Canada, Mexico, and other Latin American nations came to settle down in the New World. Some people fromAsia, such as Japanese, Chinese and Filipinos also crossed the pacific to look for a new life in America. Blacks came mainly from Africa. There are about 29million black people in America. The American Indians were the only local people who had lived there long before America was discovered.Since people in the USA are from different parts of the world, they have different social customs and personal habits. They have different beliefs and some people even speak their own languages in their communities. They are offered different jobs and get different wages. Income distribution ranges rather widely. More than 22 percent of allAmerican families have annual incomes of $ 20,000 or more. But almost 20 percent receive less than $ 5,000.When coming to retirement age, most American workers can leave their regular jobs and live on social security payments in addition to other pensions and their personal saving. The poor and the old are offered aid under federal and state assistance programs.About three-fifths of all American families can afford the basic family needs-food, shelter, and clothing-and also many of the comforts of modem living.Though most Americans are immigrants from different countries, American families have certain characteristics in common. The average annual income of a middle class family is about $ 30,700. The family has a car, a TV set, a washing machine, a refrigerator, a telephone, and a house of their own. This is a typical one of the most American families.The "nucleus family" is another characteristic of American families. In America, a family is usually composed of a father, mother and two children. It is seldom seen that a family have more than four or five members, or parents live together with their children who have got new married. Relatives-such as grandparents, uncles, aunts, cousins and in-laws usually live separately. This family structure is the so-called "nucleus family". Though they still have close relationships among the relatives or the whole family group, the "nucleus family" is economically independent of the rest of the family. Parents and children often visit each other and the same applies to the married brothers and sisters when they live quite near. Loneliness usually comes to the aged men and women who really suffer greatly for they can not be well looked after or usually do not have enough retirement incomes. Some of the widows, widowers, and lonely elderly couples often go hungry and homeless.Marriage is a matter of individual responsibility and decision for the young. They have their own right to deal with their marriages and are independent of their parents.They often fall in love with each other in spite of the disapproval of their parents.American young people are generally more affectionate and they usually regard love as more important than social class, education, money or religion. They like to have romantic love. Young people can get married with each other even if they have different religious beliefs or backgrounds. But marriages between blacks and whites are still rare.Because of the social prejudices probably less than I percent of all the marriages each year are between blacks and whites.Before marriage, young people date each other, i.e., they often go out together.Casual dating usually begins in the early teens and in the late teens a pattern of steady dating develops. There is great possibility that one goes to a dance with one person, to a football game with another and a picnic with a third. Sometimes two couples go out together. This is known as "double dating". Group dating is also popular among the youth. Large groups of boys and girls may go around together. They are almost free in physical contact such as holding hands or putting their arms around each other. But some are very strict in their codes of behavior, and some act according to their religion.Young people may go out together for some length, which is in effect, a public statement of the intention to marry. Broken engagements are freely performed if the engaged couple change their minds.Men and women go out together a great deal especially those in cities. This is "adult dating". They ski together, work together, and dine together either at restaurants or in each other’s apartments.The American dating system is a rather casual one. Very often young Americans who hardly know each other go out on dates. It is also acceptable for them to arrange a "blind date", that is, a date between two young people who have not met before.Most American young people live independently after marriage. According to statistics, in the early 1970s, only 1.5 percent of all married couples were not living on their own. Most newly married couples set up their own household immediately, and begin to perform the family plans in the future. Most married couples practice some kind of birth control. They plan the number of children they are going to have and the time when their children will be born. In most states, birth control information is easily available and birth rate has been declining steadily in recent years.Most American live in apartments or individual houses which are provided with electric lights, central heating, hot and could running water and inside toilets. In 1980, there were about 88 million housing units-compared with 58 million in 1960. Old rundown houses are being repaired or rebuilt in many large cities. Many housing projects, designed for people with low incomes, are built with public funds.Baby sitting is commonly seen in America. A baby sitter is someone who is employed to take care of children for a specific length of time-usually relatively short-while the parents are out for an evening, going to a party or a course of study.In the American family, equal rights are often exercised between the husband and wife when they make a decision. The children also can have a say in family affairs when they are old enough. The old rule "children should be seen and not heard" is generally broken, and they are often allowed to do things independently. Parents do not interfere with what they wish to do, and children are encouraged to be independent at an early age.Another subject is also interesting, that is, the position of women in the United States. Since the 1960s the women’s liberation movement began, and many people now support it. They want women to achieve equality with men. Their major concernsare economic and social. Owing to the struggle of women and their supporters, the gap between the average earnings of men and women has narrowed, but it is still much wider than the racial gap.One interesting difference between black and white families of all economic levels is the attitude toward their kinship. Kinship relations seem to be considerably stronger among blacks than among whites, and black families take relatives, both children and older people, into their households more frequently than white families do.2. 1. 2 The Contradiction in Marriage and Family StabilityIn terms of marriage no child can marry below the age of sixteen, whether with or without the parents' consent. Between sixteen and eighteen the parents' consent is necessary. But over the age of eighteen the parents' consent is unnecessary. Actually most girls and nearly all men are well over eighteen when they get married. Marriage marks the beginning of a new and independent family, which means leaving one's parents and starting one's own life for both the man and the woman. They are loyal to each other, which is their duty. The man used to be entirely responsible for her financial support and the woman for the management of the new home. Often nowadays, the wife works, so the husband helps in the home. Their relations, such as their parents, brothers or sisters, have no hand in their affairs. They are their own masters. Marriages have direct influence on social stability.2. 2 The Comparison of Providing for the Old Folks2. 2. 1 A Comparison of Attitudes and Methods of Providing for the Old FolksChina's goals for the development care for the aged can be described as follows: All elderly people are to be provided for and enjoy proper medical care. They are to be given opportunities to pass on their experience as well as to learn new things. They should be given the opportunity to do what they can for the society, while enjoying their latter years. In recent years, the Chinese Government has worked positively toward these goals. It has strengthened formulation of laws, regulations and policies regarding elderly people, worked out development plans for care of the aged, perfected the work system for care of the elderly, encouraged the extensive involvement of the whole society in efforts to care for the aged, and conducted international exchanges and cooperation in this regard.In America, old age normally being sometime after reaching the age of 65. At this age, people begin to retire from their jobs, become less active in their communities, and start to receive their Social Security benefits. They are now ready to begin their "second life" with free time and hobbies, travel and friends, gardens and grandchildren. On the other hand, some older people as they become less and less involved with people and community life begin to live a more colorless existence and end up feeling lonely and miserable. Each person's circumstances and options differ.Older Americans who are still healthy maintain their own independent style of life.Some continue to live where they have always lived; others sell their homes and buy or rent town houses or condominiums; and still others decide to live in retirementcommunities where they can enjoy the companionship of other older people and the convenience of recreational and social activities. A few even decide to live with their families, while the less fortunate are forced, because of illness or inability to care for themselves, to live in nursing or old people's homes. Nursing homes, even the most expensive and exclusive ones, are usually sad places to visit. Perhaps the saddest time to visit is during the holidays when the staff is often concerned more about their own family reunions than about the older people whom they take care of. In the worst homes, conditions are unpleasant: food is tasteless and poorly prepared, sheets and blankets are old and full of holes, and there are always odors that sicken the visitor. Yet one old man in a nursing home told me, "Well, at least I have a place to stay; I have to be grateful for that."Most foreigners, especially people from Asia and Latin America, believe thatAmericans do not treat their parents fairly. They think of the older people whom they knew at home; most of them were cared for well by their sons and daughters. Most adult children at home wouldn't think of sending their parents to a nursing home to live among strangers.Many people from foreign countries have only known life as part of an extended family and don't understand the operation of the typical American-style nuclear family which consists of a father, mother, and children. Maids and other servants are rarely found in the United States. Therefore, all of the burden of household chores falls on the immediate family members.Foreigners would be less critical about how Americans treat their elderly if they could experience life firsthand as an American. Self-sufficiency and independence from one's family are important personal goals in the United States. Most people in America are busy with their careers, their families, and their own lives. Nobody has enough time to take care other needs, let alone the needs of elderly people who require a lot of attention. The older people themselves prefer to live alone and to depend not on their families, but on themselves and their own Social Security and retirement funds. It is for these reasons, then, that people end up in nursing homes where they will be cared for on a daily basis and get the medical attention that they need.Family members usually try to visit which are often depressing, and the younger people don't always feel comfortable. Maybe it reminds them of their own eventual old age and the possibility that they, too, will one day be confined to such a residence.2.2.2 The Function of Old People in Family and SocietyNo one wants to grow old in America. Most Americans view growing old as a negative experience, a time when people lose their usefulness and value as fully productive members' of society. In Asian countries, people generally look forward to growing old because they will become the patriarchs and matriarchs of their societies, loved and respected by all. They expect to be well taken care of by their sons and daughters, who as children were well taken care of by them. Of course, this is the ideal and, even in Asian countries, it isn't always so wonderful to grow old. Yet nowhere else in the world, perhaps, do people fear the loneliness and decrepitude of old age as much as the Americans do.From the inheritance of Chinese traditional filial piety, most of elderly people are used to be supported by their children or relatives who know they have the responsibility of taking care of the elders due to firstly they have consanguineous relationship, in addition to this, they were brought up by those elders, they should try their best to keep them happy as a return.But now it has changed. Chinese farmers traditionally rely on their children for support in old age. Nearly 94 percent of them still do. However, as millions of young farmers joined the mass migration to the urbanized east in the past decade, old people were left behind. At least half of the young farmers they surveyed were apathetic to their parents, said Zhai. Young people are increasingly enamored with what they perceive as a Western lifestyle.2. 3 The Comparison of Children’s Education2.3. 1 The Comparison of Methods of Children EducationThe later Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping once said, "The country's modernization is based on the talent; the talent is based on education and education is based on the family." Home education is a kind of education practice for human beings, as people from all countries and nationalities consider the family as a person's first school, and parents as first teachers. Whether in China or in Western countries, no matter in ancient or modem times, home education plays a fundamental role in the learning process. In recent years, Western education concepts have spread into China. Facing the traditional as well as modem educational thoughts, many Chinese parents are at a losing end.a. Modem society's requisition for family education is not only confined to parents controlling their children, so the all-round and multilevel development model is required. Home education should also keep pace with the times, and, as Ms Luo Hui,a senior middle school teacher and director of the planning office of Hunan Academy of Educational Sciences points out "Compared with traditional home education, modem home education has seen five main changes." The role of parents changes from the educator to the common learner. Looking from the traditional idea, parents are educators while children receive education and this kind of relationship is changeless. However, according to the modern home education idea, parents and children are equal on personality, and which "partner" is educator and which is recipient is uncertain.Parents are sometimes educators while sometimes children are. Parents and children should form a relationship of learning from and helping each other. Especially today, with the knowledge explosion and rapid high-tech development to learn from their children, rather than posing only as educators.b. The parent-child relationship transits from commanding to equal and "democratic"The traditional "non-democratic" view of te parent-child relationship makes it difficult for parents to become friends with their children, respect children's personalities, learn from their children, understand, listen attentively to and encourage children and carry on the equal exchange and communication with the children. The children only have obedient rights and have no freedom to talk with parents.。