Page 98 - Health, Population and Environment Education 9

5.3 Needs of the Family

Introduction
People live in the family in home. There are certain members in the family. People need
food, clothes for their proper growth, development and safety. Home provides security
and shelter for the family members. Children go to school to achieve education. Parents
manage health care services to all the family members whenever required. Parents love their
children and in return they respect them. Father and mother have mutual understanding
and fulfill their responsibilities cheerfully. All the family members are strongly attached
emotionally and have sense of unity among each other. They have freedom for religion,
culture, education, communication, information. All the family members are encouraged
to have self confidence and self actualization for happiness and satisfaction in life.
Actually people need basic and additional needs in life for proper growth,
development, survival as well as for happiness and satisfaction. In 1954 A.D. an American
psychologist, Abraham Maslow explained a motivational theory in psychology in which
he explained about a five tier model of human needs regarded as hierarchical levels of
needs within a pyramid.

Self
Actualaization Additional needs
needs
Esteem needs
Love and belonging
needs
Safety needs Basic needs
Fig: 18 Physiological needs

According to Maslow, the basic needs are very important in our life and people need to
give priority for fulfillment of basic needs. Even among the basic needs, physiological
needs like food, water, sex, rest, etc. are most important in our life. They are followed
by safety needs. After the basic needs are fulfilled, people expect to achieve additional
needs which include love and belonging needs, esteem need and self actualization need.
Actually, people must satisfy the lower level before progressing on to meet the higher
level of needs.
Basic needs
The prime needs which are essential for our proper growth, development and survival
are called basic needs. Basic needs are most essential part of our life. There is no existence
of our life without fulfillment of basic needs. The following chart shows the classification
of basic needs:

98 GREEN Environment Population and Health Education Book-9