Experiences of Families Transmitting Values in a Rapidly Changing Society: Implications for Family Therapists

• Author: Kevin Lyness,Anne Prouty,Yudum Akyil,Amy Blanchard
• Date: 01 June 2016
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/famp.12163
• Published date: 01 June 2016

Experiences of Families Transmitting Values in a

Rapidly Changing Society: Implications for Family

Therapists

YUDUM AKYIL*

ANNE PROUTY

†

AMY BLANCHARD

‡

KEVIN LYNESS

§

Intergenerational value transmission affects parent–child relationships and necessitates

constant negotiation in families. Families with adolescents from rapidly changing societies

face unique challenges in balancing the traditional collectivistic family values that pro-

mote harmony with emerging values that promote autonomy. Using modern Turkey as an

example of such a culture, the authors examine the transmission process in families that

hold more traditional and collectivistic values than their adolescent children. Special con-

sideration is given to generational and cultural differences in the autonomy and related-

ness dimensions.

Keywords: Intergenerational value transmission; family values; social change;

adolescence; parenting; culture; family therapy; Turkish families

Fam Proc 55:368–381, 2015

Intergenerational value transmission is the process of one generation, either intention-

ally or unintentionally, influencing the values and behaviors of the next generation

(Van IJzendoorn, 1992). This is a bidirectional process between parents and children in

which they negotiate their preferred values and, thus, simultaneously maintain and

change the culture in which they live (Pinquart & Silbereisen, 2004). The transmission

process gets more complicated when it takes place in times of rapid change, as parents

may feel stuck between adopting new values and maintaining those from the past. This

review focuses on the possible challenges of adolescent families in Turkey experiencing

two such rapid changes, cultural and developmental, simultaneously.

Turkey, located at the intersection of Europe and Asia, exists in a region that has been

a mosaic of ethnically and culturally distinct groups with differing lifestyles and familial

values. It is a prime example of a rapidly developing country with a high growth and

urbanization rate (S€

umer, 1998). The founding of the Turkish Republic in the early 1920s

has led to significant transformations in the culture (Fis

ßek & Kagitc

ßibasi, 1999)—that is,

industrialization, urbanization, increased educational opportunity, and increased employ-

ment for women—that affect family values and structure.

*Istanbul Bilgi University, Istanbul, Turkey.

†

Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX.

‡

Concord Family Therapy, Concord, NH.

§

Antioch University New England, Keene, NH.

Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Yudum Akyıl, Istanbul Bilgi University,

Kazım Karabekir cad. No:2/13 Eyup Istanbul, Turkey. E-mail: YudumAkyil@gmail.com

368

Family Process, Vol. 55, No. 2, 2016 ©2015 Family Process Institute

doi: 10.1111/famp.12163