Family Role

 We all play a role in life: the Executive, the secretary, the teacher, the student, the retail worker, the manager, the President, etc. What role do we play in our families or what role do we choose to play in our families?

In Family Theory systems all family members take on roles. Family roles are defined as recurring patterns of behavior developed through interaction that family members use to fulfill family functions. Studies have shown that how we are born are the roles that we take on in our families.

The firstborn is the protector and helps the other children with problems at home even when they must deal with the same problems. The second child is the troublemaker who does poorly in school and promises to do better but can never achieve. The third child is the quiet one, who stays out of the way, and does not want to be noticed.  The fourth child is the clown, who does everything to make everyone laugh to make the family problem less brash.

When I think about my life and what role I choose to play in my family I did not get the chance to play a role because I was in so many different families when I was younger my role didn’t form until I was about 14.  When I turned 14, I finally had a home that was stable and sure.  My role was to make sure that I did nothing wrong for me to be taken to another family. 

I recognized myself in all the children except the firstborn.  I was the second born but in each household that I lived in most of the time, I was the last born.  What was my role just trying to survive each household I lived in. 

What role are you?