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Stress, Abuse, and Family

Problems

Chapter 14

Nature of Stress

 Stressors—external events that cause

an emotional or physical reaction

 Stress—body’s reaction to demand

 Curvilinear—nature of stress in which

too much, too little stress is problematic

 Distress—unhealthy feelings or reaction

to event

 Eustress—positive response to event

Stress and Life Events

 Holmes and Rahe Social Readjustment Rating Scale

 Scale of life events that require change of behavior or readjustment:  Personal events

 Family events

 Financial events or issues

 Occupational stressors

 Relationship between life events and physical and emotional health

Stress and Family Life

 Stress can emerge as a result of common life and family events

 e.g. having a child

 Stress can occur as a result of unexpected events

 e.g. death of a child

 Stress can occur when common life events happen at unexpected time

 e.g. teenage daughter having a child

Boundary Ambiguity

 Lack of clarity about whether a person is in or out of the family

 High ambiguity associated with increased stress

 Forms:

 Psychological presence but physical absence

 Physical presence, but psychological absence

Common Events Across Stages of

the Life Cycle that Produce Stress

 Uncompleted tasks

 Emotional difficulties

in family life

 Unstable economic

situation

 Economic

investments

 Medical and/or

dental expenses

 Money for basics

 Change in jobs or

career

Olson, McCubbin and Colleagues, 1989

Stress in Relationship –

How to Deal

 Share what is most stressing each of you

 Prioritize what stressor to tackle first

 Develop a plan with specific goal to

manage the stress together

 Use your communication and

relationship skills

 Support and praise each other for

progress

Family Coping Strategies

 Cognitive

 Emotional

 Relationship oriented

 Community

 Spiritual

 Individual Development

Domestic Violence

 Pattern of abusive behavior that is used by one

partner to gain or maintain power and control

over another intimate partner

 Forms of abuse include actions or threats of

actions that influence another person

 Physical

 Sexual

 Emotional

 Economic

 Psychological

Domestic Violence

 Children who witness domestic violence

grow up to be abusers themselves or the

victim

 Types

 Intimate terrorism - Violence enacted when

taking control over one’s partner

 Violence resistance - Response to a partner’s

abuse

 Situational couple violence - When there is a

contentious situation in the couple relationship

Incidence of Domestic Violence

Most of the domestic violence victims are

women

Violence by women appears to be in self-

defense

Has a considerable economic impact

Chronically underreported crime

Factors Contributing to Domestic

Violence

 Violence in the family

of origin

 Learned helplessness

theory: Women learn

from childhood that

they should not appear

competent with men

 Low self esteem

Youth

 Economic stress and

financial dependency

 Isolation and alcohol

 Male dominance

 Cultural factors

 Linkage of animal

abuse and domestic

violence

Patterns of Domestic Violence

 Cyclical pattern to wife battering

 Tension-building phase

 Explosion phase

 Loving or honeymoon phase

 Catharsis conflict: Venting anger

verbally can prevent physical violence

 Not true as verbal aggression goes hand in

hand with physical aggression

Treatment and Prevention of

Domestic Violence

 Counselors advice battered women to

move to a different home or a shelter

 Panic of losing control leads men to lash out

more aggressively in such situations

 Some programs require the batterers to

6 months of counseling and classes

 Encourage schools to teach positive

approaches to conflict resolution

Child Abuse

Any recent act or failure to act on the part

of a parent or caretaker resulting in:

 Death

 Serious physical or emotional harm

 Sexual abuse

 Exploitation

Incidence of Neglect

 Affecting factors

 Employment status of parents

 Family income

 Living with biological/single/cohabiting

parents

 Family characteristics

 Family size and structure

Psychological Aggression and Spanking

Psychological aggression - Yelling,

shouting, or threatening a child

Spanking - First step in parents’

physically abusing their children

 Alternates

 Accentuate the positive

 Call a timeout

 Be consistent in how children are disciplined

 Teach your children

Transcending Abuse

Transcending the pain of a violent

childhood is very difficult

Some people who are abused or

neglected as children will subject their

own children to similar abuse

Few other people who are abused as

children ensure that their own children

are treated better

Families at Risk - Factors

 A child with special

needs

 Domestic violence in

the family of origin

 Violent subculture

 Violent marriage

 Single parent

 Stepparent

 Economic distress

 Inadequate

parenting skills

 Parental personality

problems

 Chemical abuse as a

means of coping with

stress

 Social isolation

Treatment and Prevention of Child

Abuse

• Increasing the parent’s self esteem

• Increasing the parent’s knowledge of children and positive childrearing techniques

• Devising community support networks for families under stress

Strategies for treatment

• Counseling

• Discussion and support groups

• Child abuse hotlines

• Reducing sources of social stress

Ways to prevent

Alcohol Abuse

 Generic term that encompasses:

 Alcoholism: Addiction to alcohol

characterized by compulsive drinking

 Problem drinking: Alcohol consumption that

results in a functional disability

 Major cause of:

 Rapes and sexual assault

 Fetal alcohol syndrome

Alcohol and Family Violence

 Results in:

 Marital disruption or dissatisfaction

 Domestic violence

 Tension and verbal conflict

 Serious physical and emotional problems for

spouses and children

Family’s Reaction to Alcohol Abuse

 Deny the problem

 Eliminate the problem

 Become disorganized

 Reorganize

 Escape the problem

 Reorganize a second time

 Reorganize with the substance abuser

seeking help

Treatment and Prevention of

Alcoholism

 Self-help groups

 Alcoholics Anonymous (AA): For alcoholics

 Al-Anon: For families of alcoholics

 Alateen: For young people with alcoholic parents

 Suggestions for families to help

 Learn all you can about alcoholism and drug

dependence

 Speak up and offer support

Treatment and Prevention of

Alcoholism

 Don’t expect the person to stop without help

 Support recovery as an ongoing process

 Avoid

 Preaching, being a martyr, and covering up

 Assuming their responsibilities or arguing when

using

 Feeling guilty and responsible for it or joining them

Drugs

Dangers of Legal Drugs

Legal drugs kill more people than illegal drugs

 Smokers begin by the age of 18 or before

 Parents can influence children in not smoking

by:

 Not smoking themselves

 Communicating positively and regularly

 Not giving too much unsupervised alone time

 Being aware of their behavior