Examination of the family structures of families in lower and higher socio-economical levels with children attending first and third grades of primary schools and preschools

Abstract

Family, which is the smallest unit of the society, has an important place in human life. Relations and experiences within the family are determining factors of the relations with other individuals. Positive inter-family relationships and democratic attitude of parents are important particularly for the development of a basic feeling of being secure and psychological development of the child. In the present study, displaying the family structures of the families in lower and higher socio-economical levels with children attending first and third grades of primary education and nursery class was aimed at. Participants of the study consists of families of the children attending nursery classes and first and third grades of the state primary schools in sub provinces of Ankara Province. Çankaya sub province was selected from higher socio-economic level, and Yenimahalle sub province was selected from the lower socio-economic level. Total 2698 parents selected in layered sampling method, out of which 1220 from lower SEL and 1476 from higher SEL, of the children attending to 6 primary schools in first and third grades and 25 kindergarten classes constituted the sampling in these sub provinces. In the study, with the purpose of determining the demographic characteristics of the families, the Family Information Form prepared by the investigators, and with the purpose of displaying the family structures of the families, the Family Structure Evaluation Instrument (FSEI) were used. The scale consists of five sub dimensions, namely the communication, unity, management, competence, and sentimental contexts. When analyzing the data, t-test was used in independent groups to determine whether or not there are any differences between the FSEI scores of parents in lower and higher socio-economic levels. When scores of families in lower and higher socio-economic levels in FSEI scale were compared, it was found that there were significant differences in favor of higher socio-economic levels in the level of 0.01 in scores of communication, unity, and sentimental sub dimensions and in total FSEI scores.