RESOURCES AND DECISION MAKING               

SUB-TOPIC:         STEPS IN DECISION MAKING

DEFINITION OF FAMILY RESOURCES

Family resources are those things that the families can use to meet their needs and reach their goals.

CLASSIFICATION OF RESOURCES

•         Human Resources:  These are resources that exist within an individual.  They are personal to each other.  They include;

•         Knowledge: this includes everything a person has observed, learned, and remembers. An example is knowledge of how to launder the family clothes.

•         Skill: these are special sets of abilities that allow a person to perform certain tasks well. Examples are drawing, sewing, cooking, writing, cleaning and baking.

•         Imagination: this is the ability of the mind to be creative and resourceful. The mind forms images that are not present to the senses. By working through a problem in your imagination, you can think through a situation before you act.

•   Energy: this is the power that helps you get things done. Energy comes from the food you eat. Energy is used to do work.

•  Time: time is used with other resources to reach goals. Everyone has the same amount of time, that is, 24 hours each day.

• Non-human or material Resources:  These are resources that exist outside people but can be controlled, owned, or used by the family.  The two main types of material resources are family possessions such as furniture, cars, houses, appliances, food, clothes, paper, pens, etc.. and money which can be used to buy most things including other resources.

Other resources the family can use include:

Community resources such as schools, libraries, government agencies, hospitals, parks, etc.

Natural resources such as air, water, land, plants, animals and minerals

 DECISION MAKING IN THE FAMILY

MEANING OF DECISION-MAKING

Decision-making is the act of choosing from alternative courses of action or things. Decision-making can only take place when there are two things to choose from. When you are faced with only one course of action, there will be no decision-making.

 STEPS IN DECISION-MAKING

The steps in decision-making are:

•         Identify the decision to be made: this involves defining a decision. For example, your problem could be to buy a new pair of shoes, you have to decide on what you will use the shoe for, the type of shoes, the colour, where to buy the shoes, etc. then you have to consider your other needs and the money available.

•         List the alternatives: alternatives are different ways of doing a thing. Using the example in step 1, the alternatives could be to buy from second-hand shops, from the market, shopping malls, or from a boutique. You also have to list the alternative colours of shoes, types of shoes, etc.

•         Choose the best alternatives. To do this, you have to think about your values, goals, wants, money available, and needs.

•         Act on your decision: carry out your decision to the best of your ability. This means going to buy the shoes.

•         Evaluate your decision: this involves judging the quality of the decision made or how well it works for you. For instance does the pair of shoes you selected go well with many of the dresses in your wardrobe? Sometimes, if the outcome of a decision is not what you expected or hoped for, you may have to make a new decision.

SIMPLE PERSONAL DECISION-MAKING

Some areas of simple personal decisions are:

• Food-related decisions

• Clothing-related decisions

• Housing-related decisions

• Choosing friends

• Educational decisions