Dimensions of Human Behavior: Person and Environment Chapter 10 Families

Dimensions of Human Behavior: Person and Environment

Chapter 10

Families

KEY POINTS ADDRESSED

Chapter 10: Families

Defining “Family” Trends in Family Life Charting Theoretical Perspectives by:

KEY CONCEPT; NAME OF THEORY; THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE; ASSOCIATED AUTHOR; DESCRIPTION of THEORY; CHANGE TARGET; ASSESSMENT TOOLS

Psychodynamic Social Behavioral Family Systems and Life Cycle Stress Models Multilevel Family Practice Strengths Based

Diversity in Family Life:What We Need to Know About Social Class, Immigrant Families, Gay/Lesbian Families

Defining Family: How do you know a “normal” family when you see one?

Identify the members of Junior’s family. What characteristics or relationships helped

you decide that these individuals were members of Junior’s family?

In what ways does Junior’s family represent changing trends in today’s family life?

The Family is a social institution that carries out certain obligations in meeting

the needs of the society:•Socialization •Procreation

•Mutual support


Trends in U.S. Family Life

From a unit for economic production to a unit of economic consumption

From reliance on kinship supports to individual self-sufficiency

From a basis of economic support to basis of emotional support

From a culturally deviant to a culturally variant perspective


Trends in U.S. Family Life

Medical advances and court rulings have made childbearing discretionary

Unmarried cohabitation is no longer legally prohibited

Divorce and remarriage have increased dramatically

Number of stepfamilies and complexity of family live have increased

Large numbers of women entered the paid labor force

More families consist of at least two wage earners


Trends in U.S. Family Life (cont)

Average life expectancy has increased

Care needs for elderly family members has increased

Racial, ethnic, and cultural diversity have increased

Autonomy and self direction, as opposed to obedience and conformity, in children holds greater value

Power between men and women has been equalizing


Charting Theoretical Perspectives: Family Systems, Task Centered

KEY CONCEPTS NAME OF THEORY

THEORETICAL PERSPECTIVE

ASSOCIATED AUTHOR

DESCRIPTION of THEORY

CHANGE TARGET

ASSESSMENT TOOLS

Differentiation of self;

Triangulation family of origin

Bowan’s Family Systems Model

Psychodynamic Murray Bowen Family members must be able to: differentiate their feelings from their thoughts; their actions and beliefs from other members of the family; how we are connected to family of origin helps us understand and develop healthy relationships in adult life

Individual’s thoughts and feelings

Genogram

Patterns of rewards, communications, family rules;

Conflict management

Task-Centered Approach To Family

Social behavioral perspective

William Reid Interaction among family members identified as both problem and solution to problems in the family

Individual learned behaviors; Family interactions between individual and other family

Review of learned behavior patterns

Charting Theoretical Perspectives: Family Life Cycle, ABCX Stress Model



ASSOCIATED AUTHOR


CHANGE TARGET

ASSESSMENT TOOLS

Six stages of life Shared beliefs and

family roles

Family Life Cycle

Systems Carter & McGoldrick

Family members affect and are affected by each other. Individuals need to understand family roles and behave appropriately at different times in the family life cycle.

Improved relationships and interactions among all family members

Multi generational genogram; Family time line

Family transition process

Maladaption/bonadaption

Normative/non-normative stressors

Stress pile up

ABCX Model Of Family Stress And Coping

Systems; Psychodynamic

Hill and McCubbin

Understanding family resources and how the family interprets events is key to understanding whether an event becomes a ‘crisis’

Individual response to crisis situations and family stressors; Family access to resources

Ecomap Family time line

Charting Theoretical Perspectives: Multi-level Family Practice, Strengths



ASSOCIATED AUTHOR


CHANGE TARGET

ASSESSMENT TOOLS

Developmental social construction view

Religious, political, economic, etc. factors

Basic social structures

Multi-level family practice model

Systems; Conflict

Nancy Vosler Considers the larger systems in which the family is embedded; distribution of resources (policies, economic benefits, etc.) impacts family functioning

Families’ access to resources

List of monthly household expenses; geographic data map; Home visit

Cultural assets Resource

strengths Support systems Positive

relationships

Strengths Perspective

Humanistic Harriet McAdoo Froma Walsh

Identifying the strengths in non-traditional families; appreciation of how family meets challenges

Identification and exploitation of previous successful individual and family coping strategies

Focus on past accomplishments

Test Your Knowledge:

Explain why each of the family theories are associated with a particular theoretical perspective… i.e. Why do we designate the Task Centered Approach within the Social Behavioral Perspective?

Explain why traditional family therapy, which focuses on family-level change alone, is less effective with “isolated, impoverished, single-parent families” than with non-poor families.


Diversity in Family Life

Four dimensions to consider for describing and comparing similarities and differences among cultural groups:

1. Migration experience

2. Ecological context of family

3. Family organization

4. Family life cycle


Diversity in Family Life:What We Need to Know About Social Class

Children raised in a single-parent or remarried families:

Can grow up physically, mentally, and psychologically healthy

Are at higher risk for poverty and stress

Tend to live more complex lives and often must cope with a variety of internal stressors


Diversity in Family Life:What We Need to Know about Immigrant Families

There are different patterns of immigration in different regions of the United States.

By 2040, one in four residents of the United States will be immigrant (first generation) or the child of immigrants (second generation.

The migration experience includes changes in social networks, socioeconomic status, and culture that result from migration.

It is important to understand families’ countries of origin, settlement patterns, and immigration policy—including eligibility for mainstream or special education, health and mental health services, and other financial and social services and resources.


Diversity in Family Life:What We Need to Know About Gay and Lesbian Families

Lesbians and gays are bicultural. They have been reared and socialized in the dominant heterosexual culture and have internalized the norms, values, and beliefs learned in that culture.

Gays and lesbians are part of a complex multigenerational family system consisting of a family of origin, a multigenerational lesbian/gay community, and/or a family of choice that consists of friends, partners, and/or children.


Documents

Dimensions of Human Behavior: Person and Environment Chapter 10 Families