Chapter 2 - Family, Social, Cultural, and Religious Influences on Child Health Promotion Flashcards
Children are taught the values of their culture through observation and feedback relative to their own behavior. In teaching a class on cultural competence, the nurse should be aware that which factor may be culturally determined?
a. Ethnicity
b. Racial variation
c. Status
d. Geographic boundaries
c. Status
Status is culturally determined and varies according to each culture. Some cultures ascribe higher status to age or socioeconomic position. Social roles also are influenced by the culture. Ethnicity is an affiliation of a set of persons who share a unique cultural, social, and linguistic heritage. It
is one component of culture. Race and culture are two distinct attributes. Whereas racial grouping describes transmissible traits, culture is determined by the pattern of assumptions, beliefs, and practices that unconsciously frames or guides the outlook and decisions of a group of
people. Cultural development may be limited by geographic boundaries, but the boundaries are not culturally determined.
The nurse is aware that if patients different cultures are implied to be inferior, the emotional attitude the nurse is displaying is what?
a. Acculturation
b. Ethnocentrism
c. Cultural shock
d. Cultural sensitivity
b. Ethnocentrism
Ethnocentrism is the belief that ones way of living and behaving is the best way. This includes the emotional attitude that the values, beliefs, and perceptions of ones ethnic group are superior to those of others. Acculturation is the gradual changes that are produced in a culture by the
influence of another culture that cause one or both cultures to become more similar. The minority culture is forced to learn the majority culture to survive. Cultural shock is the helpless feeling and state of disorientation felt by an outsider attempting to adapt to a different culture group.
Which term best describes the sharing of common characteristics that differentiates one group from other groups in a society?
a. Race
b. Culture
c. Ethnicity
d. Superiority
c. Ethnicity
Ethnicity is a classification aimed at grouping individuals who consider themselves, or are considered by others, to share common characteristics that differentiate them from the other collectivities in a society, and from which they develop their distinctive cultural behavior. Race is a term that groups together people by their outward physical appearance. Culture is a pattern of assumptions, beliefs, and practices that unconsciously frames or guides the outlook and
decisions of a group of people. A culture is composed of individuals who share a set of values, beliefs, and practices that serve as a frame of reference for individual perception and judgments. Superiority is the state or quality of being superior; it does not apply to ethnicity.
After the family, which has the greatest influence on providing continuity between generations?
a. Race
b. School
c. Social class
d. Government
b. School
Schools convey a tremendous amount of culture from the older members to the younger members of society. They prepare children to carry out the traditional social roles that will be expected of them as adults. Race is defined as a division of humankind possessing traits that are transmissible by descent and are sufficient to characterize race as a distinct human type; although race may have an influence on childrearing practices, its role is not as significant as that of schools. Social class refers to the familys economic and educational levels. The social class of a family may change between generations. The government establishes parameters for children, including amount of schooling, but this is usually at a local level. The school culture has the most significant influence on continuity besides family
The nurse is planning care for a patient with a different ethnic background. Which should be an appropriate goal?
a. Adapt, as necessary, ethnic practices to health needs.
b. Attempt, in a nonjudgmental way, to change ethnic beliefs.
c. Encourage continuation of ethnic practices in the hospital setting.
d. Strive to keep ethnic background from influencing health needs
a. Adapt, as necessary, ethnic practices to health needs.
Whenever possible, nurses should facilitate the integration of ethnic practices into health care provision. The ethnic background is part of the individual; it should be difficult to eliminate the influence of ethnic background. The ethnic practices need to be evaluated within the context of
the health care setting to determine whether they are conflicting.
The nurse discovers welts on the back of a Vietnamese child during a home health visit. The childs mother says she has rubbed the edge of a coin on her childs oiled skin. The nurse should recognize this as what?
a. Child abuse
b. Cultural practice to rid the body of disease
c. Cultural practice to treat enuresis or temper tantrums
d. Child discipline measure common in the Vietnamese culture
b. Cultural practice to rid the body of disease
This is descriptive of coining. The welts are created by repeatedly rubbing a coin on the childs oiled skin. The mother is attempting to rid the childs body of disease. Coining is a cultural healing practice. Coining is not specific for enuresis or temper tantrums. This is not child abuse
or discipline.
A Hispanic toddler has pneumonia. The nurse notices that the parent consistently feeds the child only the broth that comes on the clear liquid tray. Food items, such as Jell-O, Popsicles, and juices, are left. Which statement best explains this?
a. The parent is trying to feed the child only what the child likes most.
b. Hispanics believe the evil eye enters when a person gets cold.
c. The parent is trying to restore normal balance through appropriate hot remedies.
d. Hispanics believe an innate energy called chi is strengthened by eating soup
c. The parent is trying to restore normal balance through appropriate hot remedies.
In several cultures, including Filipino, Chinese, Arabic, and Hispanic, hot and cold describe certain properties completely unrelated to temperature. Respiratory conditions such as pneumonia are cold conditions and are treated with hot foods. The child may like broth but is unlikely to always prefer it to Jell-O, Popsicles, and juice. The evil eye applies to a state of imbalance of health, not curative actions. Chinese individuals, not Hispanic individuals, believe in chi as an innate energy.
How is family systems theory best described?
a. The family is viewed as the sum of individual members.
b. A change in one family member cannot create a change in other members.
c. Individual family members are readily identified as the source of a problem.
d. When the family system is disrupted, change can occur at any point in the system
d. When the family system is disrupted, change can occur at any point in the system
Family systems theory describes an interactional model. Any change in one member will create change in others. Although the family is the sum of the individual members, family systems theory focuses on the number of dyad interactions that can occur. The interactions, not the
individual members, are considered to be the problem
Which family theory is described as a series of tasks for the family throughout its life span?
a. Exchange theory
b. Developmental theory
c. Structural-functional theory
d. Symbolic interactional theory
b. Developmental theory
In developmental systems theory, the family is described as a small group, a semiclosed system of personalities that interact with the larger cultural system. Changes do not occur in one part of the family without changes in others. Exchange theory assumes that humans, families, and
groups seek rewarding statuses so that rewards are maximized while costs are minimized. Structural-functional theory states that the family performs at least one societal function while also meeting family needs. Symbolic interactional theory describes the family as a unit of
interacting persons with each occupying a position within the family.
Which family theory explains how families react to stressful events and suggests factors that promote adaptation to these events?
a. Interactional theory
b. Family stress theory
c. Eriksons psychosocial theory
d. Developmental systems theory
b. Family stress theory
Family stress theory explains the reaction of families to stressful events. In addition, the theory helps suggest factors that promote adaptation to the stress. Stressors, both positive and negative, are cumulative and affect the family. Adaptation requires a change in family structure or
interaction. Interactional theory is not a family theory. Interactions are the basis of general systems theory. Eriksons theory applies to individual growth and development, not families. Developmental systems theory is an outgrowth of Duvalls theory. The family is described as a
small group, a semiclosed system of personalities that interact with the larger cultural system. Changes do not occur in one part of the family without changes in others.
Which type of family should the nurse recognize when the paternal grandmother, the parents, and two minor children live together?
a. Blended
b. Nuclear
c. Extended
d. Binuclear
c. Extended
An extended family contains at least one parent, one or more children, and one or more members (related or unrelated) other than a parent or sibling. A blended family contains at least one stepparent, stepsibling, or half-sibling. A nuclear family consists of two parents and their children. No other relatives or nonrelatives are present in the household. In binuclear families, parents continue the parenting role while terminating the spousal unit. For example, when joint custody is assigned by the court, each parent has equal rights and responsibilities for the minor
child or children.
Which type of family should the nurse recognize when a mother, her children, and a stepfather live together?
a. Traditional nuclear
b. Blended
c. Extended
d. Binuclear
b. Blended
A blended family contains at least one stepparent, stepsibling, or half-sibling. A traditional nuclear family consists of a married couple and their biologic children. No other relatives or nonrelatives are present in the household. An extended family contains at least one parent, one or
more children, and one or more members (related or unrelated) other than a parent or sibling. In binuclear families, parents continue the parenting role while terminating the spousal unit. For example, when joint custody is assigned by the court, each parent has equal rights and responsibilities for the minor child or children.
Which is an accurate description of homosexual (or gay-lesbian) families?
a. A nurturing environment is lacking.
b. The children become homosexual like their parents.
c. The stability needed to raise healthy children is lacking.
d. The quality of parenting is equivalent to that of nongay parents.
d. The quality of parenting is equivalent to that of nongay parents.
Although gay or lesbian families may be different from heterosexual families, the environment can be as healthy as any other. Lacking a nurturing environment and stability is reflective on the parents and family, not the type of family. There is little evidence to support that children become homosexual like their parents.
The nurse is teaching a group of new nursing graduates about identifiable qualities of strong families that help them function effectively. Which quality should be included in the teaching?
a. Lack of congruence among family members
b. Clear set of family values, rules, and beliefs
c. Adoption of one coping strategy that always promotes positive functioning in dealing with life events
d. Sense of commitment toward growth of individual family members as opposed to that of the family unit
b. Clear set of family values, rules, and beliefs
A clear set of family rules, values, and beliefs that establish expectations about acceptable and desired behavior is one of the qualities of strong families that help them function effectively. Strong families have a sense of congruence among family members regarding the value and importance of assigning time and energy to meet needs. Varied coping strategies are used by strong families. The sense of commitment is toward the growth and well-being of individual family members, as well as the family unit.
When assessing a family, the nurse determines that the parents exert little or no control over their children. This style of parenting is called which?
a. Permissive
b. Dictatorial
c. Democratic
d. Authoritarian
a. Permissive
Permissive parents avoid imposing their own standards of conduct and allow their children to regulate their own activity as much as possible. The parents exert little or no control over their childrens actions. Dictatorial or authoritarian parents attempt to control their childrens behavior and attitudes through unquestioned mandates. They establish rules and regulations or standards
of conduct that they expect to be followed rigidly and unquestioningly. Democratic parents combine permissive and dictatorial styles. They direct their childrens behavior and attitudes by emphasizing the reasons for rules and negatively reinforcing deviations. They respect their
childrens individual natures.
