This paper will look at the following family by correlating Bowen’s Family Theory Transgenerational Model, and The Structural Model. The subjects of the case are Jan and John. The study describes the couple as Caucasians of Polish descent, both on their first marriage; they share three adult children who live in the same household. Their youngest child is a single mother with a four-year-old child. This couple is seeking marriage therapy for issues’ affecting their relationship, the roots of their problem extends deeply beyond the relationship and histories. Jan and John’s relationship issues involve direct emotional abuse and hostility. This is the first time this family sought marital and family therapy. Jan exhibits symptoms of abused wife syndrome while John blames Jan’s inattention to his needs for his hostility and control issues. The oldest child is Jennifer, the middle child is John, and the youngest child is Julie and her son’s name is Jaccob. The case study outlines key behavioral and social aspects influencing the relationship. The Martial and Family therapist will be taking a family systems approach to address the main issues the family is experiencing. For instance, John’s father was emotionally abusive, which is a factor for a biological predisposition to emotional abuse and hostility. Jan’s abused wife syndrome is not only due to her relationship with John, but is drawn to issues of low self-esteem because of the negativity she faces daily. However, Jan needs to learn more independence, self-respect to boost her self-esteem. She is so controlled by her husband and that she needs to learn that she is worthy of love and respect. Jan was a homemaker and raised her children, while her husband was a worka... ... middle of paper ... ...utting back on employees, he had no choice to retire. However, he was not financially ready to do so, now they are suffering in this economy. At the same time, it has been putting substantial amount of stress on him causing health problems, because of all the financial worries. The problem is that this family doesn’t stick together on anything, instead we all move our own separate ways. At this time, there are no strengths of this family, we need help coming closer with each other because we only have one family and we need to work things out, before we all lose each other. “Bringing in the whole family communicates the message that everyone has a part in the problem; the other family members, usually the parents, can be helped to take responsibility for their part in the process and no longer have to expiate guilt in a variety of ways” (Framo, 1979, p.991).
For Bowen, the family is the unit of observation and the emphasis is put on emotional forces that are common to all families, this helps to reduce the significance of which family member is causing the problem. Bowens approach to change is understood within the context of striving to understand life’s forces, the very principal that gives coherence to Bowens approach to therapy. (Friedman, 1991). When attempting to achieve change within a client the source of the issue is less important, but rather trying to locate the systematic forces within a family as well as those that are transmitted from generation...
Research of literature depends on the theory or topic one is researching. Research uncovers what the author knows about his or her discipline and its practices. Augustus Napier is a family therapist with vast experience in family therapeutic processes and experiential therapy with couples. In my research of his background, I reviewed his book “The Family Crucible.” In this text, Dr. Napier chronicles the therapeutic process of one fictitious family (which is a composite of real cases) experiencing marital discord. In reviewing the case studies in this book, I gained insight into his style of the therapeutic process, which exposed Dr. Napier’s framework which leads to his assumptions about marriage. The details of this case study coupled with Dr. Napier’s added paragraphs and chapters of analyses with his conclusions on the maladaptive reasons people marry other people make this resource of great qualitative value. Additionally, useful evaluative data revealing a deeper insight into Dr. Napier’s position on irreconcilable differences can be fo...
...termined roles of the family and how these roles are taken over when a family has or is dealing with a divorce. The roles are taken by the spouses where the father would take the mothers role or the mother would take the fathers role. Also, if the children are old enough they would have to mature up and help the family by taking a role and helping the family by working and providing money. The last family theory the paper focused on was the conflict theory and how it connects well with divorce. The conflict theory connect with divorce because there are many conflicts that happen during the time of the divorce and after the divorce whether it be between the spouses or between the parents and children. These conflicts can both leave the children or parents with stress and being emotional. Therefore, divorce has a huge toll on the family dynamic in many negative ways.
According to Murray Bowen’s family systems theory, the family subsists in a system where as the individuals are inseparable from their network of relationships, but continue to strive to be individualized. Consequently, various forms of these networks are grounded in the domestic structure and the “normal” or “ideal” family and development derives from the interaction of the family members when they remain differentiated, unease is minimal, and partners have beneficial emotional communication with their own family members (Nichols, 2014). The concept of achieving individuality while remaining in a cohesive family unit may cause stress. Concepts such as differentiation of self, triangulation, emotional cutoff, and anxious attachment may aid in the elucidation of the family system. This theoretical concept along with these coinciding terms will be explored through one episode of the television series The Goldbergs called Rush.
Fred, Wilma, and Rose present an interesting perspective when looking at their family through a Structural Family Systems Theory. When trying to work with the family a social worker will utilize Functional Family Therapy in order to understand their structure and maybe ameliorate some of the family’s problems. Using Rose and her family as the clients it will be able explain what interventions we can use when we learn the constructs of the theory.
This story shows how a family stuck together in hard times with faith and hard work that they would get through it. Sometimes people may have the same opportunities, but it is very likely all will have different outcomes. The risky nature of Walter may have put the family in a bind with his investment falling through, but what they did still have was each other. At least now, Walter especially, has the opportunity to learn from his
For example, the article written by Kress, Protivnak, and Sanlak (2008), suggest that 34 percent of females suffer from domestic violence at some point in their life. In these domestic violence situations 30-55 percent of female deaths are committed by intimate partners. According to Kress et. al., (2008), suggest that approximately 3.3 million children observed domestic violence situations inside of their home. According to the same authors numerous of these children have experienced long term effects. When individuals are suffering from domestic violence situations they could experience the following consequences mental health disorders, such as “depression, anxiety, and suicide” (Kress et. al., 2008 pg. 200). Kress et. al., (2008), suggest that individuals that suffer from domestic violence can suffer from other mental health disorders like “PTSD, depression symptoms, anxiety, psychosomatic complaints, substance abuse, and lowered self-esteem” (pg.
Structural Family Therapy offers a framework that provides order and meaning within the family connections (Nichols, 2013). Divorce for a family is considered a significant transition for all parties involved. When counseling a family going through divorce the structural family therapist’s job is to build an alliance with the family and obtain information about the structure. The structure of the family consists of the roles, interactions, organization, and hierarchy. Family therapy yields the belief that changing the organization of the family leads to change in the individual members. The structural family therapist often will try to become part of the family to gain a perspective of their issues as whole so not to place the focus on one individual. Joining is an empathetic approach in helping families explain and break down their individual stories without uncomfortable challenge or unnecessary confrontation (Nichols, 2013). It is important to note that family dysfunction that often leads to divorce is not attributed to one individual, but the entire family system. In structural family therapy, part of dealing with the issue of divorce in the family is to focus on the interactions between all the family members both positive and negative. Through these interactions the therapist can discover where the conflicts arise, which will in turn help the therapist understand how these negative interaction affect the family. Family therapy in these cases allows for repair of long-standing interactional patterns in which divorce is just one of a series of ongoing transactions that are disruptive to the child’s development (Kaplan, 1977, p.75). The structural family therapist often has the family play out these family interactions via enactments so that he can get a firsthand look at maladaptive patterns, roles, and
Adult development is crucial to the success of an individual and their quality of life. But there are many factors that can delay a person from reaching certain milestones. When accessing a person who has experienced child abuse, these delays become prominent. Because individuals have to suffer trauma during childhood development, these events can cause lifelong issues. One of the major issues that develop is that of mental health disorders. These disorders ultimately have both lasting results and can correlate to other major issues. From the beginning, because of the lack of establishing healthy emotional bonds with adults, it can often cause mental health disorders. These mental health and attachment disorders can continue to affect the developmental process in adulthood in the areas of maintaining maintaining healthy relationships. Gainful
Kurland, Morton L. Coping With Family Violence. New York, NY: The Rosen Publishing Group Inc., 1986.
Each family unit exhibits concepts and themes found within Bowen’s Family System Theory. In my family unit, I see the following concepts and themes from a family system theory perspective exhibited through my genogram; boundaries, levels of differentiation, family projection process, and emotional cutoff. Each of these will be expanded on further below:
Moreover, the foundational approach to structural family therapy are that families’ are views as psychosocial systems, attached within social systems, which operate in a transactional patters. The transaction patterns are how, when and whom to relate, and reinforce systems. As a result each family duty are carried ou...
"A family is a small social group of people related by ancestry or affection, who share common values and goals, who may live together in the same dwelling, and who may participate in the bearing and raising of children. They have a physical or emotional connection with each other that is ongoing" (Vissing, 2011) and is the foundation of all societies. They can be formed by a grouping of father-mother-children or even more complicated combination of relatives. In the primary stage of family life in the United States, everyone from every generation lived together in one house. Subsequently, the idea of traditional family evolved and a married couple with children is at present, often called the traditional family. There are many types of families; however, this paper will focus on the traditional family. It will describe how the functionalist perspective, conflict perspective, and the interactionism theory apply to the sociological institution known as a family. It will explain some of the similarities and differences between the sociological theories in regards to families and how they affect the family members.
This paper will discuss a thirty-two year old pregnant woman named Regina, who was brought into the emergency room with many superficial injuries. She is accompanied by her five year-old son. Later in the conversation, Regina discloses that she is a victim in intimate partner violence. Violence is a very common occurrence in partner relationships. According to McHugh and Frieze (2006), it is estimated that more than a quarter of relationships involve at least one violent incident. Partner violence can include anything from a heated argument or yelling, to physical attacks or threats such as hitting, slapping, or pushing (McHugh & Frieze, 2006). Often, the women in relationships are the victims of the abuse, posing the simple question, “why doesn’t she just leave.” For most women, it is near impossible to remove themselves from the relationship because of psychological factors. She may be worried that her partner will abuse her worse should he ever find her. She may fear the guilt that she could experience for leaving the relationship, or she may be concerned about money situations, had he been the sole provider (McHugh & Frieze, 2006). There are many reasons why a woman may feel ‘stuck’ in an abusive relationship, which is why support groups and therapeutic communication are important. The purpose of this paper is to create a therapeutic conversation with Regina and her son, in order to build an appropriate intervention for intimate partner violence using the psychoanalytical theory.
Sociologists look at society from either a macro or micro view and the theories that define their work are based on those perspectives. There are several family theories that we learned about this semester. Briefly, Structural-Functionalism and Conflict Theory are “macro” theories in sociology. Structural-Functionalism sees society as a living machine made up of different parts which work together for the good of society. Individuals, as well as Institutions work together, and the family is the key to the well-functioning machine. Emile Durkheim, considered the Father of Sociology argues social solidarity, where people do the right thing, create harmony and have shared values. According to Durkheim the nuclear family is the only type of institution that can achieve that. Conflict Theory sees society as a pyramid with those at the top having more power and influence than those at the bottom. Males in society have more power than females. There is a power imbalance, which could lead to oppression o...