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A thesis submitted by Aissetu Barry to Addis Ababa University for her Master of Social Work degree. It explores the causes and consequences of 'empty shell' families, where parents continue to live together but have little communication or emotional support for each other. The research focuses on families in Addis Ababa and covers topics such as family and marriage counseling, spiritual approaches, and the role of religious leaders in reconciliation. The study aims to understand why couples choose to stay in such families and the implications for social work.
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Parents and Children in… (^) i
Running head: PARENTS AND CHILDREN IN ‘EMPTY SHELL’ FAMILIES
Parents and Children in ‘Empty Shell’ Families: A Case Study on Selected Families Residing In Addis Ababa By: Aissetu Barry A Thesis Submitted To the Research and Graduate Programs of Addis Ababa University In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Social Work Advisor: Prof. Sandhya Jhoshi June 2006 Addis Ababa
Parents and Children in… (^) i
Parents and Children in ‘Empty Shell’ Families: A Case Study on Selected Families Residing In Addis Ababa By: Aissetu Barry Graduate School of Social Work Addis Ababa University
Approval of board of examiners
Advisor _____________________Signature______________ Date______________
Examiner ___________________ Signature______________ Date______________
Parents and Children in… (^) i TABLE OF CONTENT
List of Tables ii Abstract iii PART I. BACKGROUND OF THE PROBLEM 1 Operational Definition ............................................................................................................ Purpose of the Research ...................................................................................................... Objective of the Research .................................................................................................... Research Methods................................................................................................................. Scope of the Study................................................................................................................. Limitation of the Study........................................................................................................... Ethical Concerns ....................................................................................................................
PART II: BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF FAMILIES UNDER STUDY 9 PART III: CAUSES AND CONSEQUENCES OF ‘EMPTY SHELL’ FAMILIES ON PARENTS AND THEIR CHILDREN 16 Overview................................................................................................................................ Underlying Causes That Create an ‘Empty Shell’ Family.............................................. Impacts of ‘Empty Shell’ Family on Parents and Children.............................................
PART IV- WHY DO PARENTS CHOOSE TO STAY IN ‘EMPTY SHELL’ FAMILIES? 39 Summary and Conclusion 44 PART V- SOCIAL WORK INTERVENTION TO IMPROVE THE LIVES OF ‘EMPTY SHELL’ FAMILIES 45 Family and Marriage Counseling....................................................................................... Family Conferencing............................................................................................................ Support Groups .................................................................................................................... Spiritual Approaches............................................................................................................ Reference Annex
Parents and Children in… (^) ii
List of Tables Table 1: Causes That Prompt Families to Be ‘Empty-Shell’………………………………... Table 2: Psychological and Emotional Hurts On Parents Living In ‘Empty-Shell’ Family… Table 3: Psychological and Emotional Hurts on Children Living in ‘Empty-Shell’ Family .. Table 4: Why Do Parents Stay in ‘Empty-Shell’ Family Settings?.........................................
The family is the crucible of character, implicitly "teaching" about virtues of honesty, loyalty, trust, self-sacrifice, personal responsibility, and respect for others. Inter-religious federation for world peace international (2004)
Family is the most important value of life, for almost all individuals. Children are procreated and socialized first in their family settings. They form their behaviors, and learn societal expectations from their families. Thus, families should be kept intact to have a healthy functioning future generation.
A family can be categorized as functional or dysfunctional based on the connectedness among family members and their wellbeing. Functional is used to describe the effectiveness of family patterns in achieving their collective goals. Whereas dysfunctional families represent family patterns that are unworkable and distressful (Walsh, 1993)
‘Empty shell family’ can be embraced under dysfunctional families. According to Granham ( 1994) ‘empty-shell’ family is defined as …a type of family organization whose members continue to reside together with little communication or interaction and fail to give emotional support to one another. Hence, it involves breaking of sexual relations and other relations (Granham, 1994).
Ideally, children grow up in family environments, which help them feel worthwhile and valuable. Yet, ‘empty-shell’ families may fail to provide for many of their children's emotional and physical needs since they will be taken up with their own problems. In addition, the communication patterns in the families may severely limit the child's expressions of feelings and needs. Children growing up in such families are likely to develop low self-esteem and feel that their needs are worthless (Craig, 2000).
According to Burgess, Locke and Thomes (1971), family has inner and external aspects. The inner aspect is illustrated as “… interaction and communication between family members which is friendly and congenial results in a fusion of attitudes, values, objectives so that the family will have we-feeling”. Moreover, the external structure is expressed as “… configuration of a man and a woman living together as a husband and a wife and with the addition of children living together as father, mother and children”. In this case, ‘empty shell’ family will only qualify to the assumptions in external structure since the inner ties are already broken. However, for a family to be ’family’ and to create a healthy functioning and productive generation, inner ties are very important and decisive.
‘Empty-shell’ families exist at the verge of divorce and share most of the experiences with divorced families. According to Bohannan (1970) cited in Morgan and Marliyn(2004), several overlapping stages and experiences of divorce are cited as emotional divorce , the economic divorce, the co-parental divorce, the community divorce and the psychic divorce.
social involvement. In this case, ‘empty-shell’ families seem to benefit, since they are still living together and are recognized as married in their neighborhood and community they don’t need to change their social environments (Morgan and Marliyn, 2004).
According to Bohannan (1970) as cited in Morgan and Marliyn (2004), the psychic divorce is the process of separating oneself from the spouse and developing autonomy. This situation is usually observed after divorce hence it is not commonly seen in spouses living in ‘empty-shell’ families.
Keeping all the above things in mind, this research will assess the impacts of ‘empty-shell’ families on couples and their children. In addition, it will study the causes that prompt a family to be an ‘empty-shell’ and why the couples choose to stay in ‘empty-shell’ family settings rather than being separated. This paper also assessed the implications of the problems in ‘empty-shell’ families for social work.
Operational Definition
In this research paper a couple of terms that are linked to ‘empty-shell’ families and that characterize such families are used. In order to have a common understanding, these terms are defined as follows:
A Family: is a fundamental social unit consisting of a group of two or more individuals related by marriage.
‘Empty-shell’ families: ‘ Empty-shell’ family is a type of family setting in which the couple- usually parents, have no more emotional and sexual attachment while
they are living together in the same household. In ‘Empty-shell’ families, the couples may share different household utilities and resources.
Purpose of the Research
This research will provide a brief description of the advantages and limitations of being in ‘empty shell’ families for both parents and their children. In line with this, this paper will also assess why couples choose to stay in ‘empty shell’ families rather than to divorce. Moreover, the implication of ‘empty-shell’ families to social work is highlighted.
Objective of the Research
General objective
The major objective of this thesis is to study the psychosocial and economic impacts of ‘empty-shell’ family on the couples and their children.
Specific Objectives
were the last or the immediate elder who are currently living with their parents. In general, the interview included the view of fifteen respondents.
Method of Data Collection
This research was a case study. Thus, it has relied on qualitative information obtained from respondents. In-depth interviews were held with parents and children guided by a semi-structured interview questionnaire.
The researcher visited the houses of the identified families before the time of interview in order to determine their willingness to take part in the interview. Furthermore, the pre-interview visit helped to establish rapport with the respondents and to create a friendly environment- especially with the mother and the children who were the first contacts.
Settings
In-depth interviews were held in the houses of the respondents. To carry out the interview without bias and ensure privacy, all the interviewees were interviewed at different times. As a result, the researcher had a chance to visit the families more than three times. During this time, the families provided refreshments that enhanced the formation of a friendly environment.
The pre-interview visits to the respondents’ households provided the researcher adequate time to clarify the purpose of the research and ensure confidentiality for the interviewees. In addition, visiting the families in their household
several times has created multiple opportunities to observe the general household settings and the way the different household activities are carried out.
Scope of the Study
In this study, ten parents and five children who are living in ‘empty-shell’ family settings at present, and dwelling in different parts of Addis Ababa were interviewed.
Limitation of the Study
Ethical Concerns
children-five sons and two daughters. One of their sons is dead. The mother had basic education hence, she can read and write. She is now is a housewife. The father was a high school drop out. He used to work as a driver and retired. However, he is still working as a personal driver.
The first child of Family One, who is their daughter, is married and living in London at present while, their second child, who is their first son, has a degree in computer science and is an instructor in a computer school. He is now 42 years old and preparing himself for marriage. There is another son who is 40 years old. He has a diploma in filming and photography and now, a photographer. Unfortunately, the fourth child died 10 years ago when he was in his twenties. The fifth child is a General Mechanic. He got married three years ago. He has a four years old son who lives with his grandparents, while; the sixth, who is the second daughter, has a diploma in typing and computer science and learning hardware. She has three children that are born out of wedlock and live with their grandparents. The last son∗^ is 25 years old. He is a computer hardware technician and works in a Private Company.
Family One has their own house filled with all the necessary household utensils. Almost all of the household expenses are covered by the monthly remittance from their eldest daughter who is living in London. Right now, the parents live with their last two children and four grandchildren. The father has his own bedroom and the mother shares a room with her daughter and grandsons.
∗ (^) The child interviewed for the study
Family Two
Family Two resides in Kolefe Keraniyo Sub- City. They are farmers. They have been married for about 43 years. And during these years they had eight children-four daughters and four sons, one of whom died recently. Both of the spouses are from the Oromo ethnic background. The couple got married through customary marriage arranged by their families. At the time of their marriage the bride was in her early adolescence and the man was in his late twenties. Both of them have basic education and can read and write.
Family Two has a son who developed mental disorders beginning from the last four years. The other children are all school dropouts except one who is a high school student now. The first child, a son, is a farmer who lives around Sebeta. He was an elementary school dropout who got married six years ago and has three sons. Their second child is dead and the third child, who is female, is a day laborer and sometimes engage in petty trading. She lives alone around Sebeta. The fourth child, who is their second daughter, works in a factory and she got married eight years ago while the fifth son is mentally ill. The sixth child is a son who is married and has a son. He works as a guard, while the seventh is a daughter who works in a factory. And the eighth∗, who is their last daughter, is a high school student.
At present, Family Two has the parents, their two last daughters, and their mentally ill brother. The father has his own bedroom and the mother shares a room with her daughters. This family lives in deteriorated housing with a huge problem.
∗ (^) The child interviewed for the study
management position. He was married twelve years ago and has four children- one son, the eldest, and three daughters
Family Four
The fourth family inhabits in Arada Sub-City. This family has seven children, four daughters and three sons. The parents got married when the mother was thirteen and the father twenty six years old, through customary marriage that was arranged by their parents. Both of the spouses are from the Amhara ethnic group. They have been married for more than 36 years. The mother is a housewife and the father was a driver but is now a retiree. The couple has basic education so they can read and write.
The first daughter died recently, and the second daughter works in the bank and she has gotten married recently. The third child is a son, who is a mechanic, working in a Garage. He is a widower and has one daughter. The fourth∗^ daughter
∗ ∗ (^) The child interviewed for the study The child interviewed for the study
