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THEORITICAL FRAMEWORK

This study was anchored on different theories formulated by experts about

behavior and impact of a family’s situation to the child specifically, in his academic

performance. As such, the theories utilized in these study serves as its backbone and

paves the way towards the researcher’s goal.

Bowen’s Family Systems Theory (Kerr, 2000) views human behavior as an

emotional unit and uses systems thinking to describe the complex interactions in the unit.

It is the nature of the family that its members are intensely interconnected emotionally.

Families so profoundly affect their members’ thoughts, feelings, and actions that it often

seems as if people are living under the same “emotional skin.” People solicit each other’s

attention, approval, and support and react to each other’s needs, expectations, and

upsets. Families somewhat differs in the degree of interdependence, but it is always,

somewhat present.

The emotional interdependence of each member of the family is presumably to

promote cohesiveness and cooperation require to protect, and provide for basic needs.

However, heightened tensions can challenge the strength of a family requiring cooperation

and teamwork or, if not solve, may lead to greater conflict. Moreover, unresolved conflicts

often lead to a family member/s leaving the household. Anxiousness exhibited by a family

member as well as loss can be felt throughout the whole family as the connectedness

becomes stressful rather than comforting.

Often, the perceivable relationship of the family corresponds to how a child

responds emotionally to circumstances. The immediate connection of the family to the

child shapes him on how to react, interprets and appraise situations. The presence of any
stressful situation has greater impact on the child rather than the adult as they experience

stronger emotions (Smith, 2018).

Similarly, as the behavior of the child is affected by his family setting, his fervor in

doing task is also greatly influenced by the family’s situation. An absence of a family

member greatly reduces its capacity to provide financial and emotional support to the

child. Alderfer (Furnham, 2008) proposed in his ERG: Existence needs, Relatedness

needs, and Growth Needs Theory that failure to satisfy basic material necessities will

hamper the child’s ability to move on to the next stage. Physiological and physical needs

falls under existence needs.

Sequentially, in the event where a child met the needs of the first stage, move on

to Relatedness needs stage and secure relationship with family, peers, love and

belongingness, they strive to achieve public fame and recognition. In retrospect, failure to

fulfill the second stage will leave the child unmotivated and sloppy in his actions. This

can be directly linked to the performances exhibited by children in school.

Aldefer’s ERG Theory provides a foothold on understanding the roots of certain

behaviors exhibited by children from dissimilar family backgrounds. Commonly, failure to

fulfill such needs stated in the two stages is associated to the family’s status of being intact

or broken. Children living with a broken family is more susceptible to instability in home

environment, inadequate financial resources and inconsistent routines. On the other hand,

children living in an intact or complete family has a larger chance of evading such

problems.

Walberg’s (1981) Theory of Educational Productivity, one of the most empirically

tested theories of school learning regarding variables with the most potential to

significantly and positively affect student outcomes, stated that of the 11 most influential

domains of variables, 8 involved social-emotional influences: classroom management,

parental support, student- teacher interactions, social- behavioral attributes, motivational-


effective attributes, the peer group, school culture, and classroom climate (Greenberg et

al., 2003). TEP highlights the importance of education-stimulating conditions at home as

significant contributor affecting the performance of any student in school as it lies beneath

the wings of three most influential domains; (1.) parental support, (2.) social -behavior

attributes, (3.) motivational effective attributes.

Sluggish academic development is a common way that a loss of a parent or both

parents by separation, death or other causes affects the child. The emotional distress

brought by such circumstances are strong enough to stunt academic progress. Other than

that, the economic instability and lifestyle changes contributes to poor educational

outcomes.

The theories presented by the researcher; Bowen’s Family Systems Theory,

Aldefer’s ERG Theory and Walberg’s Theory of Educational Productivity outlines the

interconnection of family, behavior and academic performance in general. The effect of

each member of the family to the child is clearly explicated by the first theory while the

second theory provides the framework of how satisfaction of physical and emotional needs

affects the child’s behavior. Lastly, Walberg’s TEP supports the idea of the other two

regarding the impact of living in a broken family compared to living in an intact one, its

differences and perquisites.

Kolitz, 09/10/18, do kids feel stronger emotons than adults?,Gizmodo, 2018

www.thenews.com.pk/magazine/you/76974-the-effect-of-a-broken-family

McGrew (2008), A Model of Academic Competence and Motivation (MACM), Institute of


applied Psychometrics, Illinois

Kerr, Michael E. “One Family’s Story: A Primer on Bowen Theory.” The Bowen Center for
the Study of the Family. 2000. http://www.thebowencenter.org
Graue(1999), Representing Relationships Between Parents and School: Making Visible

the Force of Theory, University of Wisconsin-Madison, USA

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