Chapter 2 Flashcards
Any persons biologically and or psychologically related, are connected by historical, emotional or economic bonds, and perceive themselves as a part of the household.
Family
Difficulty that arises from the demands of being a parent, involves characteristics of the child, the parent, and the context
Parenting stress
An interacting set of units, parts,or persons that together make up a whole arrangement or organization.
System = strong as weakest part
System is greater than parts
System
Focuses on the interconnected ness of elements within all living organisms especially family
Based on Ludwig von bertlanffy
General Systems Theory
Systemic interrelatedness governed by rules, sequences, and feedback
Introduced as a concept to family therapy by Gregory Bateson.
Cybernetics
The tendency to resist change and keep things as they are in a state of EQUILIBRIUM.
Homeostasis
The reinsertion of results of past performances back into the system.
POSITIVE F/B= SIGNALS A NEED TO MAKE A CHANGE IN SYSTEM
NEGATIVE F/B=MAINTAINS SYSTEM
Feedback
Loop that promotes a return to equilibrium and helps family stabilize and maintain homeostasis
Negative feedback loop
Promotes change in a system
Positive feedback loop
AKA
Amplifying FB loop
Predictable physical, mental, and social changes over life that occur in relationship to the environment
Development
The length of a time between a person’s birth —> death
*A Person’s personal achievements are often hi-lighted during this
EX: a person may have received teacher of the year award
Individual time
Characterized by landmark social events such as marriage, parenthood, and retirement.
*Family milestones are central focus during this perspective
Social Time
A time or era in which people live.
Includes forces that affect/shape humanity at a particular point in time
EX: Vietnam war, Great Depression,
Historical Time
Term used to describe events in an individual’s or family life
EX: all the way from birth to death
Life Cycle
Identifiable periods in an individual’s family life.
Stages
Times of change in the life span, often accompanied by turmoil and new opportunity.
Developmental crisis
A social/ cultural phenomenon that was first introduced by Duvall in 1956.
Developmental trends w/in the family over time.
Used to describe many types of families.
Family life cycle
A core unit of husband, wife, and their children.
Nuclear family
A phase of the life span between adolescence and full fledged adulthood (18-30)
Emerging adulthood
Developing a sense of one’s own beliefs and convictions that are not adaptive to others.
Can be difficult at best to achieve—> requires a person to have emotional maturity to achieve.
Solid self
Long term alternative for marriage.
Cohabitation or trial marriage
A risk factor of cohabitation before marriage, leads to lower marital quality by an increase in negative communication, less dedication and a greater risk of divorce
Cohabitation effect
Early stage in a couple relationship which both partners idealize each other. Report feeling that their spouse is better than they really are.
Idealization
major choices that couples deem emotionally significant
Ex: having kids, buying a house, choosing where to spend holidays.
Milestone decisions
Couples who have adolescents and their aging parents to take care of and are strained psychologically +physically.
Sandwich generation
Condition in which adolescents have a reasonable realistic understanding of their intellectual abilities, social skills, and personal emotional responses in relationship to others
Planful competence
When couples have launched their children and now find themselves without child rearing responsibilities.
Empty nest
Adult children who return to live with their parents after being on their own due to financial problems, unemployment, or have an inability/ reluctance to grow up.
Boomerang Children
A gradual physical decline of individuals related to age. It begins after overall growth stops and varies greatly from person to person.
Senescence
What are three ways in which the life cycles of a family therapist and family can combine?
- Therapist has not experienced the family’s stage
- Thx. Is currently experiencing the same stage of the life cycle as family
- Thx. Has already experienced stage of life cycle.
What are the four stages of chronic illness?
- Crisis
- Stabilization
- Resolution
- Integration
Basic task associated with dealing with the immediate symptoms, pain, or trauma as a result of an onset of an illness.
Crisis
Basic task is to restructure life patterns and perceptions after the onset of an illness.
Stabilization
A task of dealing with the onset of a new disability or illness, Develop a new sense of self and to seek a personally meaningful philosophy of life and spirituality consistent with illness or disability
Resolution
What are three different time dimensions that affect personal and family life?
Individual time
Social time
Historical time
What is a life cycle and how does it relate to family life development?
It can be used to describe both personal and family life development.
Intertwined together
Is impossible to address one without the other.
What do Erikson’s first five stages of development focus on?
The formation of the person as a competent individual
What do Erikson’s last THREE stages focus on?
More interpersonally based
What are the six stages of a Nuclear, middle class, family life cycle?
- Single young adult
- The New Couple
- Families with young children
- Families with adolescents
- Families launching children and moving on
- Families in later life
______- tasks: to develop personal autonomy, leave home, establish a career and develop a support group.
Single young adults
____- tasks: to adjust and adapt, and learn with partner.
The new couple
____- tasks: to adjust time, energy, and personal schedules to take care of child/ children, self, and other relationships.
Families with young children
____- tasks: to physically and psychologically take care of self, the couple relationship, child/children, and aging parents and successfully handle increased family tension and conflict.
Families with adolescents
____- tasks: to rediscover each other as a couple, deal with midlife events, and encourage their children to be independent.
Families launching children and moving on
____- tasks: to adjust to aging, loss of a spouse, and decreased energy.
Families in later life.
What are three factors in which the individual and family life cycles are characterized by?
- Growth and development
- Systemic interconnected ness of people
- Complementary and competitive experiences occurring within a societal context.
In what ways can life cycles impact family therapy?
- Matching or fitting of thx. Life stage with that family.
- Understanding/ lack of btw. Thx. Ethnic background and that of family
- Influence of unexpected acute or chronic illness
- Effects of family having special- needs children
- Uniqueness poverty/ degree of professionalism on the rate of recovery and resources of the family as therapy progresses.
How can family thx. Overcome developmental or systemic handicaps in regards to working with families?
- Education
- Supervision
- Consultation
- Experience
