Alternative Family Roles

The Roles and Influences in Alternative Families

Kathleen Sauber

Wichita State University

The Roles and Influences in Alternative Families

Problem Statement Alternative families are becoming a more common concept all over the world today. There are many different types of alternative families in today’s society, with the most obvious including gay, lesbian, transgender, and bisexual. Clarke and Demetriou outline that one clear problem LGT parented families have is the struggle children often have about confusion over their sexuality. There is a presupposed negative outcome on children’s psychosexual development and social wellbeing caused by growing up with LGBT parents. In addition to this, the children also typically downplay or shrug off the bullying and hardships caused from being different during their early years (Clarke, V. & Demetriou, E. 2016). Another problem faced by alternative families, which especially impacted the gay community, was the outbreak of AIDS. AIDS has affected the gay community and their relationships and friendships on every level (Patterson, C. J. 1994). Yet another key predicament in alternative families is the custody arrangements, which often can cause parents to be dissatisfied (Wyers, N. L. 1987).

Literature Review Discussion Clarke and Demetriou’s research focuses on the

This includes small social groups, rather than a larger outlook on society, as a whole unit. This can be applied to the small groups formed by the LGBT community, as well as alternative families. Parents are the biggest influence in a child’s life. Growing up in alternative family gives parents the ability to shape and form how their child views and interacts with society. Exposing children to an alternative family, may make this child grow up more open and accepting of LGBT individuals than they would be growing up in a traditional