Chapter 3 Flashcards
A core family unit of husband, wife, and their child/children.
Traditional view of family system
Nuclear family
A family that includes one parent, either biological or adoptive who is solely responsible for care of self and child or children
Single-parent family
A family created when two people marry and at least one of them was married previously and has a child or children
Blended Family
Both husband and wife in the labor force
Dual-career family
When participation in one area of a person’s life affects another part.
Spillover
Couples who consciously decide over time to not have children or remain child free as a result of chance or biology.
Child free family
A family with a child that has a disability that may face more stress than the average family system and may need to devote a greater adjustment to their work and daily schedule.
Special needs or dev. Disabled child family
A type of family that is made up of a same-sex couple without children or with children from a previous marriage, adoption, or as a result of artificial insemination.
LGBT Family
A family system in which it is headed by someone 65 years or older
Aging Famiy
A type of family made up of households that include a child, a parent, and a grandparent.
Multigenerational Family
Grandparents taking care of their children’s children as a result of a variety of reasons.
Grandparent Headed family
A type of family who may be married or may have children that are enlisted in the military.
Military Family
An interactive process associated with positive relationships and outcomes
Health
Involves staying loyal to the family and its members through both good and adverse life events
Commitment
An event that is predictable and actually occurs
EX: finding employment, leaving home, getting married
Expected Life Stressors
Things that occur which are passive and are events that do not happen as envisioned or expected
Ex: failure of a couple to have healthy children or don’t reach financial goals in life.
Nonevents
- When a person is physically absent yet psychologically present
Ex: child given up for adoption, divorced father no longer lives at home - Someone being physically present but psychologically absent
Ex: a parent with Alzheimer’s, family member w/ sub. Use D/O
Ambiguous Losses
Members from different generations, such as a mother and daughter, colluding as a team
Intergenerational coalitions
Two individuals, such as a mother and father, arguing over and interacting in regard to a third person, such as a rebellious son, instead of attending to their relationship
Conflictual triangles
A type of stressor that brings past and present issues to bear reciprocally, such as family attitudes, expectations, secrets, and legacies.
Historical and inherited from previous generations
Vertical stressor
Stressors that are aspects of life that relate to the present, such as cohabitation or marriage at an early age, teenage pregnancy, and financial insecurity.
Developmental and unfolding
Horizontal Stressors
The transition from one stage of life to another, such as going from being a new couple to being a couple with a new child.
Unpredictable: untimely death, chronic illness, or loss of job.
Life cycle transitions
Unpredictable aspect of the life cycle.
Random, chance circumstances of life, some fortunate and others not.
Happenstance
Sudden, overwhelming, and often dangerous, either to one’s self or significant other.
Life-Threatening/ Life-Ending
Usually horrific in nature
Physical/ Psychological trauma
Events that affect a family or individual that can occur in an unsettling manner.
Success and failure
When either a man or woman can work outside the home and take care of children
Post gender relationship
What are qualities of a healthy marriage
- Committment to family/Indv.
- Appreciation for each other
- Effective communication
- High degree of religious/spiritual orientation
- Ability to deal with crisis in positive manner
- Encouraging
- Clear roles
A type of stressor relations to age and life-stages.
Developmental stressors
Interpersonal stressor such as dealing with feelings.
Situational Stressors
What are the most prevalent stressors occurring within families?
- Economics
- Children’s bh.
- Insufficient couple time
- Communicating with children
- Insufficient personal time
- Insufficient family time
A relationship in which each partner is versatile and tries to become competent in doing necessary or needed tasks
Often called a “post gender” relationship
Major Difficulty: When partners do not minimize differences will COMPETE with each other.
Symmetrical Relationship
Fam. Member roles defined rigidly
DIFFERENCES maximized
If members fail to do task such as make decisions or discipline children, other members affected negatively.
Traditional Gender roles
Complementary relationship
Term used to describe a tendency to MOVE TOWARD family closeness
Centripetal
Directed away from center
Term used to describe the tendency to MOVE AWAY from the family i.e. FAMILY DISENGAGEMENT
Centrifugal
Emotional Bonding
Family cohesion
The adaptability to be flexible and change
Family adaptability
What are the characteristics of a family that can cope with stress?
Ability to ID stressor
Ab. To view the situation as a fam. Prob. NOT blame other member
Solution oriented rather than blame oriented approach
Tolerance for other family members Clear expression of commitment and affection other f.memb.
Open/Clear comm among members
Evidence of high family cohesion
Evidence of considerable role flexibility
App. utilization of resources inside and outside fam.
Lack physical violence
Lack substance abuse
Provides theoretical framework for understanding the complex interaction between situations in a family resolutions over time rather than those geared to a single happening.
Addresses the issue that no event occurs in isolation and introduces concept that stressors pile up.
Double ABCX model
A concept that explains how two families may perceive an event differently depending on the resources available to each family.
EX: an affluent family may experience little impact or meaning because a family has more support and resources to handle a situation vs a family with limited support may experience a considerable crisis because members may not have access to supports.
ABCX model
Families that are ____ to adjust to new circumstances try the same solutions over and over again or intensify nonproductive behaviors.
Unable
What are two types of change that can work for families but may need to be deployed at different times?
- First-order change
2. Second-Order Change
An alteration that occurs to a family that is superficial in nature.
EX: moving dinner from being served at 6pm to 8pm does not delay an argument that may occur due to dinner still being served.
Think non-productive behaviors
First-order change
A type of meta change in which a changing of rules sometimes referred to as “A CHANGE OF CHANGE”
A new set of rules and behaviors is introduced into the existing behavioral repertoire, often in an abrupt way.
the out come is that a qualitatively new bx. Occurs.
Think productive
Second-Order change
*Think Death Star blowing up to create new
What are coping strategies to relieve stress in well-functioning families?
Recognizing that stress may be positive and lead to change.
Realizing that stress is usually temporary.
Focusing on working together to find solutions.
Realizing that stress is a normal part of life.
Changing the rules to deal with stress and celebrating victories over events that led to stress.
What do family therapist learn from studying healthy families?
Appreciate the complexity of families.
Be less prone to pathologize families.
Realize that health is developmental and
situational.
Be aware of families’ strengths and deficits.
Be more educational in assisting families with
problems.
What are four main types of stressors?
- Vertical
- Horizontal
- Predictable
- Unexpected
What are three ways in which a family is organized:
- Symmetrical/complementary
- Centripetal/centrifugal
- Cohesive/adaptable
