Working With family System Midterm

Traditional Nuclear Family

core unit of husband, wife and their children

Multigenerational Family

households that include at least 3 generations such as children, parent(s), and grandparents. Sometimes includes unmarried relatives

Blended Family

Created when two people marry and at least one of them has been previously married and has children

Dual career family

both martial partners are engaged in work that is developmental in sequence and to which they have high commitment

Childless family

Couple who decide to not have children

Aging family

head(s) of household are 65 and above

gay and lesbian families

same-sex partners living together, may or may not include children

Multicultual/ multiracial family

Individuals from two different cultures unite and form a household that may or may not have children

Stages of the Family Life Cycle

unattached adult, newly married adults, childbearing, preschool-age child, school-age child, teenage child, launching center, middle-age adults, retirement

unattached adult

A new generation emerges, the single young adult must separate from their family of origin without cutting off or fleeing

Tasks for the unattached adult

a. Differentiation from family origin
b. Development of peer relations
c. Initiation of Career Choices

Newly married

The foundation for a new family, referred to as second order change

Tasks for the newly married stage

a. Formation of martial system separate and distinct from families of origin
b. Making room for spouse with family and friends
c. Adjusting career demands

Tasks for the childbearing stage

a. Adjusting marriage to make room for child
b. Taking on parenting roles
c. Making room for grandparents

Preschool age child

Looking to establish connections with other families, groups with similar family systems to compare

Tasks for preschool age child stage

a. Adjusting family to the needs of specific child(ren)
b. Coping with energy drain and lack of privacy.
c. Taking time out to be a couple

Tasks for School age child

a. Extending family/ society interactions
b. Encouraging the child's education
c. Dealing with increased activities and time demands

Teenage child tasks

a. Shifting flexibility of family boundaries to allow independence
b. Refocusing on mid-life career and marital issues
c. Dealing with increased concerns for older generation

launching center

Adapt to the exits and entries to the family system

Tasks for the launching center

a. Releasing adult children into work, college, marriage
b. Maintaining supportive home base
c. Accepting occasional returns of adult children

Middle Age Adult Tasks

a. Rebuilding of marriage
b. Welcoming children's spouses, grandchildren into the family
c. Dealing with aging of one's own parents

Retirement Tasks

a. Maintaining individual and couple functioning
b. Supporting middle generation
c. Coping with death of parents/ spouses
d. Closing or adpating family home

Basic family functions

Stability and safety, health and education, and emotional competence

Stability and safety for the child and the family

- Families provide a continuous caring and nurturing environment for children to develop family identity and a sense of belonging
- Children must feel and be safe in the family environment
- Families must have adequate financial resources to continually secure food and shelter

Health and education

- Families maintain health and provide nutrition for healthy growth and learning
- Families teach morality, respect, public acceptability, self care, socialization and social roles

Emotional competence

- Families provide emotional support so that social and emotional competence of its members can emerge
- Family is a source of self-esteem, motivation, achievement and work orientation
- Provides religious and spiritual orientation

Nurturance Strategies

Support, warmth, acceptance, encouragement

Types of parents who fail to teach their children emotional intelligence

1. Dismissive parents
2. Disapproving parents
3. Laissez faire parent

Authoritarian parenting

Highly controlling, lacking warmth

authoritative parenting

Nurturing and sets clear guidelines for child's behaviour

permissive indulgent parenting

Lacks control and can be either indulgent or neglectful

helicopter parents

overly involved and concerned parents

3 Factors that determine a parent's parenting style

1. Parents' developmental history
2. Child's qualities
3. Contextual sources of stress and support available

Family of origin

The family a person is born and raised in

8 interlocking concepts of bowen theory

1 - differentiation of self
2 - triangle
3 - nuclear family emotional system
4 - family projection process
5 - multigenerational transmission process
6 - sibling position
7 - emotional cutoff
8 - societal emotional process

Homeostasis

A tendency to maintain a balanced or constant internal state; the regulation of any aspect of body chemistry, such as blood glucose, around a particular level

Triangles

3 way relationship

Two purposes of coalitions

Reduce anxiety
Control the third point of the triangle

Triangulation

Triangulation refers to a situation in which another family member is brought into a conflict that actually exists only between two members

Four basic relationship patterns

Martial conflict
Dysfunction in one spouse
Impairment of one or more children
emotional distance

Martial Conflict

Each spouse focuses on what is wrong with the other, tries to control the other and each resists the other's efforts at control

Dysfunction in one spouse

one spouse pressures the other to behave in certain ways

Impairment of one or more children

Parents focus their anxieties on one or more of the children

Emotional Distance

People distance from each other to reduce the intensity of the relationship but risk becoming too isolated

Family Projection Process

The process by which parents project (displace) part of their own unresolved emotional attachments or conflicts onto one or more of their children.

Projection Process Steps

1. Parent focuses on a child out of fear that there is something wrong with the child
2. The parent interprets the child's behaviour as confirming the fear
3. The parent treats the child as if something is really wrong with them

Rigid Families

a family with an inflexible set of rules, roles, and leadership structures that do not change to fit personal growth among members

Loose Families

Boundaries are not respected/ very open

Internal boundaries

Boundaries between different subsystems that exist in families

Three types of subsystems

Spousal, Parental, sibling

Spousal Subsystem

a family subsystem made up of the two spouses

parental subsystem

Interactions among parents or caregivers and their children

sibling subsystem

interactions among children in a family

Enmeshment

the over involvement of all family members in the affairs of any one member

Disengagement

Not to get too close emotionally or socially

Fusion

People know each other as well as they know themselves

Negative Feedback

Corrective and helps family go back to the same level of homeostasis

Positive Feedback

Change will occur

Pursuer

wants more closeness

Distancer

Wants more space

Blamer

Finds fault

Placater

peacemaker

Over-functioner

takes on excessive responsibilities

parent

Nurtures and takes care of tasks

Martyr

over responsible, guilt inducing

enabler

allows for dysfunctional behaviours

child

irresponsible/ carefree

Peacemaker

referee

Underfunctioner

takes minimum responsibility

advocate

defends others

scapegoat

person carrying the blame for others

victims

appear to be powerless but are the most powerful one in the family

persecutors

anxious and insecure people however they appear to be confident

Family Rules

The implicit and explicit agreements in the family

Family myths

A set of beliefs based on a distortion, shape interactions

Family rituals

repetitive activities that have special meaning for a family