Family Interview Assignment

© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.McGraw-Hill/Irwin

Understanding Marriage and

Family Dynamics

Chapter 3

© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

We ALL Have Theories…

 Think about how you brush your teeth…

 You have a theory of toothbrushing…

 What about how you make a peanut

better and jelly sandwich?

 Do you have a theory for how to make the

best PB&J?

3-2

© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

3-3

MODELS OF COUPLES AND FAMILIES

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORKS

 Family Systems

 Family Development

 Family Strengths

 Symbolic Interaction

 Social Construction

 Feminist Framework

© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

3-4

Family Systems Theory

 Influential theory in family science

 Foundational theory in Marriage and

Family Therapy.

 Views families as ongoing system of

interconnected members

© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Consider these parts…

 Wheels

 Steering wheel

 Doors

 Seats

 Engine

 Transmission

 Brakes

 Windshield/ windows

A. Parts laying on the

floor of a warehouse

B. Parts assembled

together in a

particular way

 What is the

difference between A

and B?

© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

The whole is greater than the sum of its parts…

Aristotle

© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

3-7

Family Systems Theory:

A Hierarchy of Connected Systems

 Multiple system levels

 (person-couple-family-community)

 Wholeness

 Family is a whole system like a machine

 Interdependence of parts

 Boundaries

 Within the family

 Between the family and external world

© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Family Systems Theory

 Helps us understand how relationships

emerge

 Helps us understand why relationships

always change us

 Helps us understand how families face

challenge

3-8

© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

3-9

Family Systems Theory:

Flexibility: Balancing Stability and Change

 Ability of a system (family) to balance

both stability and change

 Open systems (morphogenic) are open

to growth and change

 Closed systems (morphostatic)

maintain the status quo

© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

3-10

Family Systems Theory:

Cohesion: Balance of Separateness and Connectedness

 Feeling of emotional closeness to others

 Centrifugal interactions

 Push family members apart—increasing

separatedness

 Centripetal interactions

 Pull family members together—increasing

togetherness

© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

3-11

Ecological Approach

 Individuals and families exist within

multiple systems that may influence

development and interactions

 Systems include

 Family system

 Neighborhood systems

 Community systems

 Broader societal systems

© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

3-12

An Ecological Approach

to Human Systems

© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

3-13

Family Strengths Framework

Strong families serve as models for others

and research and exhibit:

 Commitment

 Appreciation and affection

 Positive communication

 Enjoyable time together

 Spiritual well being

 Ability to cope with stress and crises

 Who defines strength? Stinnent, DeFrain & colleague’s

© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

3-14

Family Development Framework

 Views families as they move through

various stages of the family life cycle

 Looks at how families deal with the

various developmental tasks associated

with each stage

 Assumes the more efficient a family is at

completing tasks the better off it is

© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

3-15

Symbolic Interaction Framework

 Focuses on symbols which emerge from

shared meanings and interactions

 Focuses on how individuals learn cultural

values and roles in the family

 Focuses on roles and our perceptions

and shared meanings

 Focuses on how we define situations

and interactions

© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

3-16

Symbolic Interaction Framework

 Role: expected behavior of a person or

group in a social category

 e.g. “What is a father supposed to do?”

 Role Taking: how we learn to play roles

correctly by practicing and feedback

 e.g. “How do men learn to be fathers?”

 Role Making: creating new roles or

revising existing roles

© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

3-17

Social Construction Framework

 Humans immersed in the social world

 Humans are products of social world

 Understandings of the world and families are

social products

 Postmodernism

 Multiple perspectives versus “one” truth

 Social world can change—families can change

 Focus on language and creating reality

© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

3-18

Feminist Framework

 Assumes women are exploited, de-valued,

and oppressed

 Gender central focus

 Challenge traditional roles

 Men=instrumental role

 Women=expressive role

 What is gender?

 Commitment to empowering ALL

 Social Justice

© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

3-19

Couple and Family Map

 Four levels of cohesion

 Four levels of flexibility

 16 types of couple and family relationships

 4x4

 Three general types of family systems emerge

 Balanced

 Mid-range

 Extreme

© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Couple and Family Map

3-20

© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

Change over time – Couple and

Family Map

3-21

© 2011 The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.

3-22

Value of Couple and Family Map

 Provides descriptive language

 Draws from family systems theory, family

strengths, and family development

frameworks

 Explains change within couples and

families with time or with stresses and

challenges

 Can observe and measure dynamics