| This study explores the concept "ideal family" as perceived by adolescents. Ideals are goals, often unspoken, that motivate a person's actions. This dissertation reviews a variety of factors that influence an individual's concept of "ideal family," including influences from the media, psychological models of healthy and pathological families, culture and ethnicity, and impact of the individual's age or stage of development. A qualitative study was conducted with nine adolescents ranging in age from 14 to 18. Participants answered three questions about their perceptions of an ideal family as viewed by society ("an ideal family"), a family that they personally viewed as "ideal" ("my ideal family"), and their own family as it is now. Analysis of the data yielded twelve themes that constitute the concept of "ideal family" in this sample: Relationships, Roles, Imagery/Photo Moment, Environment, Family Composition, Individuality/Conformity, Economics, Support, Communication, Doing Activities, Ideals Come from Different Places, and Other. There were some differences between the prevalence of the themes mentioned as part of "an ideal family" and "my ideal family." Only one participant mentioned the theme Imagery/Photo Moment within "my ideal family," whereas many participants mentioned this theme within "an ideal family." There were also different dimensions to each theme as described under "an ideal family" and "my ideal family." Further, it was evident that many participants based their thoughts and images about "an ideal family" and especially "my ideal family" on their own family experience, either describing aspects of their family as ideal or not ideal. Based on the results of the study, it is clear that adolescents have a rich, detailed and personally meaningful perception of both their own and society's idea of "ideal family." The clinical and research implications of these findings are discussed. |
