Families experience many shifts in their lives. Some shifts are positive, but others are negative. When the shifts are negative many families cannot find a clear solution for their problems and they seek someone to blame. We will discuss the Olson’s family situation from the Family Systems Theory point of view. The Olson’s family experienced a shift in their life when John and Susan lost their jobs, and when their 3 year old daughter died in a car crash. According to Smith and Hamon (2012), a family is composed of many members who have their own roles and expectations, and when those roles or expectations are broken, families experience difficulties. (Smith, and Hamon 2012). Based on the Family Systems Theory, families need to be viewed as …show more content…
In the Olson family, John the main provider of the home lost his job and he was not being able to accommodate to his new role of being unemployed. Based on the lecture (2015), one of the assumptions on Family Development Theory is that individuals in families will experience changes over time. In John’s situation, losing his job, and losing his daughter changed his development. According to Smith and Hamon (2012), Family Development Theory has shown that transitions in life provide the opportunity to confront change. They explained that transitions cause role changes in the life of individuals (Smith and Hamon 2012). In John’s situation, he experienced a transition from being the well-educated husband with a great job, to become a stay home husband who is unemployed. In an ideal world, John’s life transition should have been that he became the manager of the company where he was working. However, when the transition of his life took the wrong shift, John’s situation became complicated because he was not ready for such a drastic transition. He was not mentally ready to take the roll of his wife. Smith and Hamon (2012) point out that people have choices on how they respond to transitions; they can respond to transitions as a way to find new horizons or they can take a negative approach. John found his transition as a difficult time of his life; he was not able to accommodate to his new …show more content…
In the Olson’s family, time was critical for their lives’ development. As time went by, the Olson’s family situation got worse. John could not find a job; Susan did not like how John was taking care of the house, the unemployment benefits from John were running out and the death of the youngest child occurred. Smith and Hamon (2012) explain that unexpected life events on families can bring pressure, especially when those life events are not taking place in accordance with their life cycle. Smith and Hamon (2012) declare that when two events take place at the same time or close from one another, it causes the family development to experiences some difficulties. In the Olson’s family, the loss of John’s job and the death of Patty caused their development to suffer because two drastic events happened too close from one
“Leave it to Beaver” was a popular sitcom about a traditional nuclear family played out through the perspective of an adolescent boy whose curiosity and antics often got him into trouble (TV.com). Despite the show promoting positive family values, it also inadvertently shed light on a historically dark period of time in American history. One such instance was the lack of diversity on the show. Nearly 100% of the show’s characters were white throughout the six-season, 234 episode series. In the single episode that depicted an African-American, the character was a servant, further a reflection of the times when African-Americans where predominantly seen and treated as second-class citizens (Leaveittobeaver.org). However, this 1950’s ideal serves as a reference point to what typical families looked like and how vastly different they look now.
A family either plays a positive role in one’s life leading to their success, or a negative role leading to failure. The love and concern from a family is very important in determining the prosperity in life of its members, and without this support, a person will only face adversity. In Fall On Your Knees by Ann-Marie McDonald, the Piper family, primarily the father, is responsible for the sorrowful life of the Piper daughters. The disappointment in life of Frances, Kathleen and Mercedes is due to lack of love and nurture, inadequate parenting and over protectiveness.
Everyday numerous families find themselves in positions where their families have gone through some type of turmoil. Transitions throughout the lifecycle are both expected and normal for all individuals and families. It becomes problematic when members of these families cannot communicate effectively and the families become stagnant in their chaos and cannot seem to move forward, in any, manner, to resolve the inappropriate behaviors being exhibited within their family system. This paper will focus on the Jacques family and assess their issues both as a family system and individually to develop an ethical plan to address their issues.
After reviewing the family dynamics, I contemplated between Ackerman and Bowen theories. Both therapeutic orientations emphasis importance of multigenerational emotional problems and works with the entire family system to alleviate problems. Either approach will be effective; however, Bowen belief that behavior within the family system is resultant of interaction or friction that brings family together or pulls them apart. This ongoing friction between the Jenkins household can be eliminated or reduced, and they can coexist.
Murray Bowen developed family systems theory. This transgenerational model looks at how a family’s history informs their present functioning. Today it is a prominent model used by today’s family and marriage mental health professionals. Derived from psychoanalytic thinking and sometimes called natural systems theory, it posits that families are living and evolving systems shaped by chronic anxiety transmitted through its generations. Anxiety is aroused when individuals attempt to balance their individual identity with being a part of a family. This balancing act inevitably causes anxiety, triggering biological coping responses instead of healthy cognition and reasoning (Goldenberg & Goldenberg, 2012). Erford
These four perspectives of assessment involve: communication, family structure, life cycle adjustments, and the impact of the social environment on the family. Family theorist have also further expended on the interaction of family and the social environment. Throughout this paper, I will apply the four perspectives of assessment to asses my family of origin; as well as, use various family systems theories to assess my experiences with family of origin in order to develop an awareness of how my experiences affected me, and to prevent them from interfering with my ability to provide my future clients with the best possible
Since the 20th century, researchers have sought out solutions to help assist families and the individual components that make up family systems overcome the challenges and schisms that can inhibit individuation and stability. Two theoretical perspectives, the family-systems theory and the family-development theory, were conceived to gain as Balswick & Balswick (2014) noted, gain “a wide-angle view of family life” (p. 22). Though these two theories have merit, one I found to be more advantageous in gaining a better understanding of the family as an actively metastasizing organism, which needs to be approached more adaptively.
People are always in transition with their environment, and each subsystem has an impact on the whole system. This is also why I am using the Family Systems approach, as I am also able to see how the family system has affected Precious, and how the family has functioned across the lifespan. It is important because we can discuss boundaries, individual’s roles, communication in the family, the family structure and how this influences the families functioning not only with Precious’s Mother and Father, but with her own children as well. With systems theory and the Family Systems approach, the basis is that a Systems component can only be understood as part of the Whole, therefore when working with an individual such as Precious, all aspects of their personality and environment must be considered and worked with as a whole. (Payne,
Kradin, Richard. "The Family Myth: Its Deconstruction And Replacement With A Balanced Humanized Narrative." Journal Of Analytical Psychology 54.2 (2009): 217-232. Academic Search Complete. Web. 26 Apr. 2014.
Within this particular counseling setting, the focus is on the interaction of the family members, and involves interventions that affect the entire family system (Henderson, 2016). The goal of this theory is to change the dysfunctional family patterns through a variety of arrangements, from individuals to group interaction. The Systems theory is organized in units made up of different parts, which is a circular, pattern which A causes B and B causes A (Henderson, 2016). Systems Family Theory viewed human nature in a positive perspective, which people are rational and have the ability to make choices (Henderson, 2016). Furthermore, the Family Systems Theory perceives behavior as directly relating to the individual position within the family. There are eight concepts that Bowen believed centered around the Family Systems Theory, many which reflect family boundaries and interactions. These concepts include, relationships between spouses, differentiation of self, triangles, nuclear family emotional system, family projection process, multigenerational transmission process, sibling position, emotional cutoffs, and emotional process in society (Henderson, 2016). Other core concept, determined by other theorist, revolves around centripetal and centrifugal which further describe the relationship styles within the families by looking inward, centripetal, as source of satisfaction; along with, centrifugal, looking outside for satisfaction (Henderson, 2016). In addition, another core concept is family projection process that refers to the transmission that causes symptoms in the child (Henderson, 2016). Many of the concepts described in the Family Systems Theory, are based on the connection, the togetherness, and the conflict that leads to a person holding responsibility within their role within the family.
Nichols, M. P. (2013). Bowen family systems therapy. In M. P. Nichols & R. C. Schwartz, Family therapy: Concepts and methods (10th ed., pp. 76-96). Boston: Allyn and Bacon
Becvar, D. S., & Becvar, R. J. (1999). Systems theory and family systems (2 ed.). Lanham, NY: University Press of America.
According to Richard Charles (2001) “the effectiveness of family systems theory rests not much on empirical research but on clinical reports of positive treatment outcomes, the personal benefits experienced by the families that underwent this kind of treatment, and the elegance of Bowen’s theory” (p. 279). Bowen’s family systems theory views the family as an emotional unit and is a theory of human behavior. Systems thinking are used to describe the complex interactions in the unit. However, the client’s ability to differentiate himself/herself from the family of origin is the basis for Bowen’s family systems theory. In addition, the primary focus for growth within the emotional system is differentiation of self. Differentiation of self will be explored as well as how it relates to a church congregation.
Whatever the situation or structure of a family system, one thing is for certain, every member of the system affects one another negatively and/or positively, when one loses his or her job, all members are affected as the strain of finances builds or one falls ill, all the members are affected as they will need to help more in the home and with each other. If a member doesn’t support or mesh with their own family system and deviates from the beliefs and boundaries of the system, the system begins to falter and dysfunction creeps in causing breakdowns, breakups, abuse, neglect, emotional or physical cut-offs which in turn can put pressure on outside systems such as police/judicial, lawyers, counsellors/psychologists/psychiatrists, government institutions, healthcare, welfare. (Germov, J., & Poole, M.
It was a traumatic and unexpected loss that shook my family. The loss of my husband stopped me in my tracks, and it felt like I was from another planet learning to survive in an entirely new world. Of course I am still affected and triggered by my grief, but the journey has been bittersweet and transformational, to say the least. However, the time of transition I am basing this paper on is how my new relationship has affected my family and the ways in which we are making the transition from loss to renewal and what they once viewed and knew me as, to the person I am today. To understand the impact of the loss one would have to know that my late husband and I had known one another since sixth grade, married out of high school and for ten years prior to his death. We “grew up together” for some of our relationship and he became part of our family of origin, as did his nuclear family. Our relationship and his families with ours changed my family’s identity, as we joined the characteristics of two different families (Bennet, Wolin & McAvity, 1988). My late husband’s death disrupted the continuity of our family identity, and roles shifted to maintain a balance in the period of