Jennifer M Harris, Ramon Zabriskie and Dr. Brian Hill, Recreation Management and Youth Leadership
When President Hinckley introduced The Family: A Proclamation to the World, he explained why such emphasis on the importance of the family was needed: “The family is under attack. All across the world families are falling apart. The place to begin to improve society is in the home…We are trying to make the world better by making the family stronger” (Dew, 1997, p. 209). One researcher posed the question: “What is the state of the American family today and how well do these families function?” (Kugath, 1997, p. 1)). In the United States in 1998, 1,135,000 divorces were granted (World Almanac, 2001). Divorce and its ugly side effects force families to reorganize themselves- to readjust to and redevelop new family structures. Zabriskie (2000) has stated that “Today’s families have become increasingly complex and multifaceted in our ever changing society” (p. 1).
After addressing the question of how the American family is functioning, the next logical question seems to be, “How do we help families become better at adapting to new circumstances and change (Adaptability), and to increase their ability to form stronger emotional bonds (Cohesion)?” The Canadian Parks/ Recreation Association has suggested that participation in family leisure is the single most important force in a family’s development of cohesive, healthy family relationships (Couchman, 1988). Orthner and Mancini (1991) have stated that “leisure experiences foster system adaptation to new inputs” (p.297) because the nature of many leisure experiences is often challenging and unpredictable. Thus, participation in leisure is a major proponent of a family’s development of cohesion and adaptability, two hallmarks of a healthy family (Olson & McCubbin, 1983). Successful marriages and families can be established and maintained on the principle of wholesome recreation (The Family: A Proclamation to the World, 1995).
An integral part in the development of a family is how the family is involved in leisure. Positive relationships have consistently been found between family recreation involvement and aspects of family functioning (Orthner & Mancini, 1990; Orthner, 1976; Bahr, 1991; Zabriskie, 2000; Zabriskie, 2001). The nature of this relationship, however, needs to be better understood (Zabriskie, 2000). Therefore, as it is already known that a positive relationship exits between family functioning and family leisure involvement, my research focused on describing specific ways in which family leisure involvement and family functioning interact by administering a questionnaire to BYU students. The purpose of my study was to describe the relationship between the family leisure involvement of families with a history of divorce and families without a history of divorce. My hypothesis was that there is no difference in the family leisure involvement of families with a history of divorce and families without a history of divorce.
The Family Leisure Activity Profile (FLAP) includes 16 items requesting information regarding the participant’s perception/ recall of activities they did with family members. The FLAP is based on the Core and Balance Model of Family Leisure Functioning (Zabriskie, 2000), which includes a description of two different family leisure patterns: Core and Balance. Questions #1-6 refer to the Core Family Leisure Pattern, which includes questions about eating dinner at home, participating in home-based activities, games, crafts, hobbies, and home-based outdoor or sports activities. Questions #7-16 refer to the Balance Family Leisure Pattern, and ask about attending religious activities, spectator activities, outdoor activities, tourism, adventure activities, and water-based activities. A Satisfaction with Family Life scale was also included.
In addition to the FLAP, the last thirty items of the questionnaire were from FACES II (Olson,1986) which measures the adaptability and cohesion of a family. Participants are asked to use a scale ranging from 1 (almost never) to 5 (almost always) to make the statement fit their family. Some statements indicative of cohesion are: family members are supportive of each other during difficult times, family gathers together in the same room, family members feel closer to people outside the family then to other family members. Some statements indicative of adaptability are: family tries new ways of dealing with problems, it is difficult to get a rule changed in our family, and in solving problems the children’s suggestions are followed.
This sample consisted of 75 subjects who were students at Brigham Young University. There were 57 students from a family without a history of divorce and 18 students from a family with a history of divorce who participated in the study. Two of the subjects were not students, but were college-age individuals. The sample was collected at random on two separate occasions in the Wilkinson Student Center and by using a snowball effect throughout the data collection period. An effort was made to make the sample as representative as possible by distributing the survey in the Wilkinson Center where the student body is the most varied.
Descriptives of univariate analyses and hypothesis tests were performed. These statistical procedures yielded the following significant results: there is no difference in the family leisure involvement of families with a history of divorce and families without a history of divorce; families with a history of divorce have lower satisfaction with family life than families without a history of divorce; and families with a history of divorce have less cohesion than families without a history of divorce.
My speculation as to families with a history of divorce and families without a history of divorce having no difference in their family leisure involvement is manifold. Either the subjects did not have accurate recall of their families leisure involvement, or a family with a history of divorce is not indicative of poor family leisure involvement, or the sample population was too small to yield viable statistics. It is encouraging that previous research has proved leisure to be the single most important force in a family’s development of cohesion (Couchman, 1988); therefore, leisure professionals dealing with family populations should make sure to get the whole family involved in some type of leisure in order to increase their cohesion. More research focusing on the relationship between family leisure involvement and family functioning is needed to determine the specific ways in which these variables interact. Further research should include a larger sample group, specifically with more subjects coming from a family with a history of divorce.
References
- Bahr, S. J. (1991). Trends and needs in family research. In S. J. Bahr (Ed.). Family Research: A Sixty Tear Review, 1930-1990, 377-386.
- Couchman, R. (1982). Family recreation: A new dynamic in family life. Journal of Leisureability, 9 (4).
- Dew, S. L. (1997). Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley. Deseret Book: Salt Lake City.
- Kugath, S. (1997). The effects of family participation in outdoor adventure programs. Dissertation from School of Health, Physical Education, and Recreation, Indiana University.
National Center for Health Statistics. (2001). World Almanac and Book of Facts - Olson, D.H. (1986). Circumplex model VII: Validation studies and FACES II. Family Processes, 25.
- Olson, D. H., McCubbin, H. I., & Barnes, H. L. (1983). Families: What makes them work.
- Orthner, D. (1976). Patterns of leisure and marital satisfaction over the marital career. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 37, 91-102.
- Orthner, D. K., & Mancini, J. A. (1991). Benefits of leisure for family bonding. In B.L. Driver, P.J. Brown, & G. L. Peterson (Eds.). Benefits of Leisure, (pp.215-301). State College, PA: Venture Publishing.
- The Family: A Proclamation to the World. (1995, November). Ensign, 25.
- Zabriskie, R.B. (2000). An examination of family and leisure behavior among families with middle school aged children. Dissertation from School of Philosophy, Indiana University.
- Zabriskie, R. B. (2001). Family leisure functioning grant proposal: leisure functioning of families with youth in treatment programs. Grant Proposal submitted to BYU I.R.B.