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Challenges faced in family life cycles
Family Life Cycle Theory
Reflections on family life cycle stages
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In each situation, the sibling is frustrated that Arnie has not been watch properly, but their main focus is on getting Arnie down to safety. Once that occurs then the family goes on with their activities of daily living and it is not a source of tension until the next event. Another example occurs when Gilbert breaks down and hits Arnie right before his birthday party. Gilbert flees the home after this incident occurs, but when he returns home and apologizes to Arnie, he easily forgives him and all is right with the world. They instantly fall into their routine of playing the where’s Arnie game. This shows that Gilbert and Arnie have a good line of communication, and an understanding of one another love for each other. Although, the family lives in a rural environment there are many strengths that stem from being a part of a small community. The Grape family and Arnie in particular are well known in the community of Endora. This familiarity plays a huge role in Bonnie being able to get Arnie …show more content…
33). In each family system, the members are interconnected. This interconnectedness means ever interaction or behavior affects another member or all members of the family system. In family systems, patterns will emerge and become evident over time. According to the multigenerational family life cycle perspective, the family history and patterns of relationships have the ability to influence future generations in terms of their outlook, hopes, and future opportunities (Brandell, 2011, p. 154). These generational patterns can be negative or positive. In the Grape family there are several circular patterns of behavior that are evident such as Arnie’s continued adventures with the water tower, Bonnie’s obesity which is enabled by her children, the daughters blaming Gilbert and expecting him to fix, and the male pattern of leaving in the
The family dynamics of the household changed throughout the years of Dominic’s childhood. When Dominic was born, we lived in a rural neighborhood apartment that was not completely safe (My Virtual Child). Once Dominic’s sister Alexandra was born, we began saving more money and purchased a house in a safe rural neighborhood. At the end of Dominic’s childhood the household consisted of both parents and two children, Dominic and Alexandra. Throughout his childhood, his uncle stayed a summer and on another occasion a different uncle stayed for a few weeks. Both parents were employed throughout the entire childhood which resulted in placing Dominic in child-care as soon as possible (My Virtual Child).
The development that reminded me more of my family is the maturity stage. I can see that my grandmother is part of the maturity stage. In this specific stage older adults at one point look back on their life. My dear old grandma at times reflects on her fulfillments with her success. Her reflection on her success at this stage leads to feeling either wisdom or in failure to end up in regret or despair. Besides her reflection stage, she has a similar situation compared to Norman and Chelsea’s relationship. My grandmother daughter was in the same stage as Chelsea in young adulthood. In this stage, both the individuals weren’t able to build a relationship with one another in results to this she isolated herself. There was no relationship able to be constructed due to the lack of loving, and intimate relationship with people. At the end, they resolved their problems and were able to ease the tension by proving her mother wrong and making her finally approve of
Sometimes, an alcoholic can be abusive. In Arnold Josephs case, it is nonetheless. When Arnold realizes that he accidentally starts a fire that kills Thomas’s parents, alcoholism seems as the only thing in which he can turn to and try to resolve his problems. After a few years, Arnold’s alcoholism takes a toll on the household. Victor’s attitude toward alcohol is greatly affected as he sees what it did to his father. Arnold eventually left the reservation due to him not being able to manage his emotions. Even though it may seem that Arnold was being selfish, in reality, it was quite the opposite. Arnold saves the two by not submitting them to a life of fear by leaving town. In the end, alcohol rescues Victor from living in fear.
Nothing much ever happens in Endora, Iowa. The Grape family is one of several that inhabit this town. Gilbert is the eldest brother of 4 children, of whom all but one, still live at home with their Momma. Arnie is 6 days away from being 18 years old. Doctors told the family that they would be lucky if he could live until the age of 10. The movie begins with Arnie and Gilbert watching the trailers pass by, an annual tradition before Arnie’s birthday. After the trailers have all come and gone, they go into town and head to Gilbert’s work. Shortly after arriving, he is called out for a delivery to Mrs. Carver’s. He leaves Arnie alone in the truck, when he exits the home, Gilbert realizes that Arnie is missing. At that same time, the sheriff goes flying by; it can only mean one thing. Upon driving into the middle of town, it is then that Gilbert sees Arnie. He has once again climbed up the water tower. It is at this time you see the true connection between Gilbert and his brother Arnie. As Arnie continues to climb higher, his brother takes the loud speaker and begins singing to him. He is able to coax him down through song, assuring the sheriff it won’t happen again, he is able to then take him home. Being the main caretaker for his brother, Gilbert is responsible for bathing and getting Arnie ready for bed.
The movie begins with the family and parenting styles concept of child development by introducing the audience to the main character James and his parents. James lives in a two-parent household with his authoritative parents who are providing him with warmth, love, and encouragement (Levine & Munsch, pp. 521-522). This concept of parenting styles is shown as the movie begins and James is seen spending time with his parents. Then suddenly, James’ world changes and he is abandoned as a result of his parents being killed. This causes James to become orphaned and forced to live with his authoritarian aunts, Spiker and Sponge. Aunt Spiker and Aunt Sponge are very controlling towards James and expect him to obey their rules without allowing him to express his feelings. This authoritarian behavior is seen throughout the movie. Aunt Spiker and Aunt Sponge are also uninvolved, neglectful, and abusive, using verbal and physical punishment on James when they feel it’s necessary, which is also seen throughout the movie (Levine & Munsch, p. 522). These behaviors cause James to develop lower self-esteem, show less intellectual curiosity, and feel lonely and afraid, which are typical outcomes of an authoritarian parenting approach (Levine & Munsch, pp. 521-523). Although James’ aunts’ authoritative parenting style has an effect on his emotional and social behaviors, it is his parents authoritative parenting that plays a...
Family systems have been studied since psychologists began studying people and their behaviors. The family is a dynamic system—a self-organizing system that adapts itself to changes in its members and to changes in its environment (as cited in Sigelman & Rider, 2009). Allowing the focus of a family system to grow beyond the mother and child relationship did not happen overnight. For many years, there was no connection made between other members of the family and the developmental issues of the children involved.
Napier notes the influence the strief in David and Carolyn 's relationship has had on the structure of the family. The roles and structure of the family has been tacitly agreed upon by all members as a way to help the parents avoid confronting their marital problems. In addition to Claudia 's role as a surrogate to the parents fighting, Don is placed as a supportive and therapeutic role in the family. He serves as the calming influence in the family and frequently defuses intense situations. The structure of the family is both an outcome of the parents dysfunction and the source of the problems that have led the family to
Showcasing a strong tie between plot and character background strengthened the foundation of each character and made them more relatable to the reader. The portrayal of the families and their dysfunction shows that not every family is a picture-perfect example of what a typical family is but its unrealistic to believe that every family doesn’t have their own troubles and rocky patches but it’s the family’s dysfunction that in all builds the characters to who they are and what moved the plot forward in many ways and can be related to ones own
There are so many dysfunctional cycles that are continuous throughout generations within families. Some are worse than others but just as detrimental. Family members should recognize the repetitious cycle that may cause damaging consequences. There are positive traits like love, compassion, courage, leadership and genetic skills. These traits produce people who are driven to succeed and may become leaders of our future as an inspiration to others. The negative traits may consist of drugs, alcohol, mental disorders, teen pregnancy, gambling, gluttony, and even shopping which can result in financial burdens, greed, anger, complacency and fear. The way to break dysfunctional generational cycles in families is to confront the source of negativity.
In the film “What’s Eating Gilbert Grape”, Arnie Grape, played by Leonardo DiCaprio, is practically raised and watched by older brother Gilbert. Gilbert takes
The frame narrative in Charles W. Chesnutt's The Goophered Grapevine creates a hidden tension between the viewpoints of the internal narrator's voice and the voice of the external narrator. Uncle Julius McAdoo is Chesnutt's internal narrator, and serves a storyteller in the story. He exemplifies the characteristics of a former slave such as being uneducated and unable to speak Standard English. Julius is old, poor, and uneducated. These characteristics set him up as being a person that lacks credibility. However, early on in the story Julius claims his credibility as a storyteller by saying "Day ain' na'er a man in dis settlement w' at won' tell you ole Julius McAdoo' uz bawn en raise on dis yer same plantation", (N: pg. 526). This statement informs the external narrator of Julius' history with the plantation. The external narrator is John whom plans to buy the vineyard. His characteristics include being young, wealthy, and educated.
Parental influences can negatively impact a child’s life. An example of this is in the novel
This theory views the family as a system containing interrelated and interacting parts. Whether something is affecting a family member positively or negatively, all family members are affected by these factors (Mitrani,Feaster, McCabe, Czaja, Szapocznik, 2004). In this case, the Howland family must cope with the vast changes in the cognitive function of their mother Alice. Throughout the film, we see how the impact of Alzheimer’s disease affects the family as a whole. Lydia who lives in California must move back home so that she can take care of her mother while her father is away at his new job. This is an example of how Alice’s Alzheimer’s diagnoses does not only affect her, but also affects Lydia’s life. Another example of how the disease affects the family system is when John and Alice are about to go for a run; Alice advises John that first she must use the bathroom before they part. Sadly Alice does not remember where the bathroom is in the house and she urinates in her
Collins, Jordan & Coleman (2012) stated that dysfunctional intergenerational boundaries are commonly present in divorced and in conflict families where one or more children go against one parent. Due to the existence of multiple subsystems in this family, it is evident that the boundaries between the family members are rigid and that the family is disengaged. An example of the specific behavior that demonstrated the existence of disengaged boundary with grandma E, was the relinquishment of her caretaking role as a mother to her first born child to her parents so she could pursue her interests in finding a husband.
The Family Systems Theory, a brain child of Murray Bowen is designed around the idea that no human exists alone, ether as a person or biological entity (McCune, 2009). The basis of the theory is that relationships are triangular. When this system is within equilibria limits two lines on the sides of each triangle are in harmony and one line is in conflict. This is the basis for what Fine and Fincham refer to as the triadic relationship. The triadic relationship, most commonly involves a father, mother, and child, with traditional division of labor roles. In this type of relationship interaction is at the most, but equilibrium is not achievable when one member is removed and the relationship becomes dyadic. In the normal family systems theory, the triadic relationship often exists at equilibrium when the mother and father are in conflict with each other, so