Family Interactions Exam 1

culture

a group of persons who share particular habits, customs, rituals, concepts and interpretations of the world because of geography, historical, period, religion, and other factors that play a role in establishing a degree of homogeneity of thier views

family ledger

a multigenerational "accounting system" of who, psychologically speaking, owns what to whom

Microagression

- "Communications of prejudice and discrimination expressed through seemingly meaningless and unharmful tactics" (Shelton & Delgado - Romeo, 2011) - Death by 1000 papercuts - Verbal/ non-verbal subtle insults toward marginalized groups - Communicate inferior status - Typically outside our consciousness - Bias you may not be aware of - Creates a toxic environment - *Other examples*: clutching your purse, "You throw good for a girl", "Where are you really from?" -Why does this matter for us? *In family*: "You're an HDFS major, what are you going to do with that?"

Acculturation

- Changes in attitudes, values, and behaviors made by members of one culture as a result of their contact with another - Adaptation (whats going on around this culture that we are living in and still retaining the values that we go about doing things because those things are important to us) - "A la carte" (to choose certain things you want) - Dynamic, occurs over time - Maintain - Abandon - Bicultural

the fox

- Foxes are moderately concerned with their goals and their relationships with other people. - Foxes seek a compromise. - They give up part of their goals and persuade the other person in a conflict to give up on part of their goals. - They seek a solution to conflict on middle ground.

emotional cut off

- Managing unresolved emotional issues by reducing or totally cutting off emotional contact with them - Move away - Or stay but avoiding sensitive issues - an attempt to emotionally psychologically or physically detach oneself from the family origin in an effort to avoid fusion and maintain control over one's sense of self

Assimilation

- Minority group gradually adopts the customs and attitudes of the dominate culture - Degrees

Gaslighting

- Needing to be right in order to preserve your own sense of self and power - *EXAMPLE*: if an abusive person says hurtful things and makes you cry, and then, instead of apologizing and taking responsibility, starts recommending treatments for what he or she calls "your depression" or "your mood swings," you are in the presence of a gas lighter - *EXAMPLE*: If someone insults you or criticizes you and then pretends it was a joke and asks "Don't you have a sense of humor?"

the owl

- Owls highly value their own goals and relationships. They view conflicts as problems to be solved and seek a solution that achieves both their own goals and the goals of the other person in the conflict. - Owls see conflicts as improving relationships by reducing tension between two people. - Aim for a "win-win" situation where the goals of both parties are achieved and the quality of the relationship is restored.

Arguments: unhelpful tactics

- Sarcasm: belittles other person's position - Raising the voice: becoming "bigger" than the other person - Stopping the conversation* - Saying something you're going to regret - Take space, you're not leaving. You come back, and calm yourself down. - Bad timing: the doorknob principle - Saying I'm depressed in a really bad time - Timing is very important if you want a productive conversation - Referring to others' agreement with your position "I talk to my mother... and we all think..." - Name calling - Socratic method: *trying to get the other person to see how he is wrong* - Setting you up for failure - Mockery

Fight evading / avoidance

- Seeks to avoid - Withdrawal creates distance - Claim do not want to hurt partner

Gunnysacking

- Store up problems and dump them all at once - Holding resentments until they explode - Fight about everything that has gone wrong in the past six months

generational processes

- The connections that people have to traditions, patterns, emotions, values - Also: ways of relating that become the heritage and determine the lifestyle of each family - Every aspect of family life grows out of and builds upon these processes - Influential because: - Some parts of the processes are permanent - Difficult to change processes - Processes begin early (before we were born, closely connect to our lives

Kitchen sink fights

- The fighters bring up any issue they can think of - Just so they can "score points"

generational transmissions

- The process of transmission from one generation to the next such things as ways of behaving, ways of feeling, ways of relating, ways of defining reality, and ways of coping with intimacy and distance - Those who raise you are your role models

the teddy bear

- The relationship is of great importance, while their own goals are of little importance. - Want to be accepted and liked by other people. - - They think that conflict should be avoided in favor of harmony and believe that conflicts cannot be discussed without damaging relationships. - They are afraid that if conflict continues, someone would get hurt, and that would ruin the relationship. - They give up their goals to preserve the relationship.

the shark

- Try to overpower opponents by forcing them to accept their solution to the conflict. - Goals are highly important to them, and the relationship is of minor importance. - They seek to achieve their own goals at all costs. - They do not care if other people like them and assume in conflict that there is always one winner and one loser, and they want to be the winner. - They try to win by attacking, overpowering, overwhelming, and intimidating other people.

the turtle

- Withdraw into their shells to avoid conflicts. - Give up both their personal goals and relationships. - Stay away from the issues over which conflict is taking place and from the people they are in conflict with. -Believe that it is hopeless to try to resolve conflicts. - They feel helpless. - Believe it is easier to withdraw physically and psychologically from a conflict than to face it.

family

- an interdependent group of individuals who have a shared sense of history, experience some degree of emotional bonding and devise strategies for meeting the needs of individual members and the group as a whole

differentiation

- bowens most basic theory - when applied to the family system it refers to the patterns and dynamics of interaction that directly and indirectly affect the development of the self - when applied to the individual, refers to the ability of family members of express their own individuality and act autonomously while remaining emotionally connected to others. - at family level this refers to the degree to which difference is tolerated within the family

paradigm

- continuum of abstraction entire constellation of beliefs, values, and techniques shared by the members of a given community - when taken together, the constellation of collected schemata about beliefs, values, and viewpoints, then shared by a community

example of first order tasks

- formation of family themes, regulation of boundaries, and the management of the household - identity, boundary, maintenance, emotional climate - creating an identity, identity tasks, boundary tasks, maintenance tasks and managing the families emotional climate - identity task: constructing family themes, socialization, having congruence of images - maintenance tasks: provide food, water, shelter, and education regulating the physical environment of the house - managing the families emotional climate provides closeness, nuture, love

stress

- information transmitted to the system about whether established interactional patterns require alteration - the degree of pressure exerted on the family to alter the strategies its employs to accomplish its basic tasks

confirmation bias

- looking for evidence in life to confirm what you believe - Interpret things in line with your beliefs

challenges of defining family

- not every family has typical house hold - gay couples, interracial couples - some work from home

coping resources

- refers to the properties of a family and the attributes and skills possessed by individual family members. - serve to minimize vulnerability to stress

metarules

- rules about rules - "you can always come to me" when drinking

covert rules

- rules that are implicit rather than openly stated but are nonetheless understood by all family members

first order tasks

- tasks that are common to all families regardless of their particular composition, socioeconomic status, and cultural, ethnic, or racial heritage. - tasks they have to do in the moment/right now - rules that every family is responsible for - having boundaries, having a family theme

adaptability

- the capacity of the system to change its rules and strategies in response to situational or developmental stress

boundaries

- the concept used to delineate one system or subsystem from other systems or subsystems, or from the surrounding environment - within the structural model definitions of who is in the system and its subsystems - regulate how family members are to interact with one another

permeability

- the degree to which the family's boundaries are relatively open or closed

openness

- the ease with which members and information cross the boundary from one system or subsystem to another

coping

- the enactment of strategies that minimize the stress and keep the family functioning in an efficient and effective manner the cognitive and behavioral problem solving strategies that are used to respond to a stressor event

interdependence

- the idea that individuals and subsystems that compose the whole system are mutually dependent and mutually influenced by one another

organizational complexity

- the organizational structure whereby family systems are comprised of various smaller units or subsystems that together comprise the larger family

cognitive coping strategies

- the perceptions and appraisals that people and families make with regard to specific stressor events - positive aspect

second order tasks

- the responsibility that all families have for adapting their strategies and rules in response to stress, information, and change - adaptability, managing system stress - happens over time - how to carry out the first order tasks

strategies

- the specific polices that procedures the family adopts to accomplish its tasks - the unique patterns of interaction that each family establishes to execute its basic tasks

family themes

- those elements of the family experience that become organizing principles for family life, including both conscious and unconscious elements as well as intellectual (attitudes, beliefs, values) and emotional aspects - help organize the family identity

morphogenesis

- those processes operating within systems that foster systemic growth and development - growth

morphostasis

- those processes operating within systems that resist changes in existing strategies - stay

behavioral coping strategies

- what the family actually does to manage stress - depends on the family, some are more open to talking, some are more keeping it to themselves

pile up of stressor events

- when multiple stressor events overlap the total number of events, both normative and non normative, that a family must contend with at any point

generational alliances

-When there are clear boundaries between generations, adults and children develop in healthy ways -When cross-generational alliances and coalitions occur, can lead to emotional and interpersonal difficulties for the adults and children -Subsystems can not execute the tasks they need to and boundaries are no longer clear *EXAMPLE*: spouse/parent against other spouse

subsystem

a group formed within a larger system that shares common functions or other features such as gender, generation, or interest

Johnson's Interpersonal Conflict Strategies

The Turtle (Withdrawing) The Shark (Forcing) The Teddy Bear (Smoothing) The Fox (Compromising) The Owl (Confronting)

Johnsons display strategy

The Turtle (Withdrawing) Goals ↓ Relationship ↓ The Shark (Forcing) Goals ↑ Relationship ↓ The Teddy Bear (Smoothing) Goals ↓ Relationship ↑ The Fox (Compromising) Goals ↔ Relationship ↔ The Owl (Confronting) Goals ↑ Relationship ↑

cultural diversity

a broad and encompassing term that takes into account the many subcultural influences and variety of contexts that shape people's lives and account for differences among people in a given culture - includes variations due to ethnicity, race, religion, socioeconomic status, family structure, sexual orientation, gender and life stage

socioeconomic status

a continuous research variable based upon the subjects education, income and occupational

alliance

a pattern of interaction formed when two family members share an interest with one another that is not shared by others

undifferentiated family ego mass

a poorly differentiated system characterized by a low tolerance for individuality in which members appear to be "emotionally stuck together"

acculturation

a process of learning about a new culture and deciding what aspects are to be retained or sacrificed from the culture of origin

over functioning/under functioning

a reciprocal pattern of interaction in which one participant assumes a competent, caretaking position in relationship to the other, who assumes a dependent, child like position

self

a superorginate personal structure whose purpose is to organize in dividuals experiences (cognitivie and emotional, conscious and unconscious) into a coherent and meaningful whole

triangulation

a three person ineraction in which the tension and conflict experienced between two persons is displaced onto a third party

multidimensional perspective

a view that regards cultural diversity as being derived from a consideration of a multiplicity of factors rather than solely from the effects of race and ethnicity

culture specific perspective

a view that regards cultural diversity as being revived from a consideration of factors related specifically to race and ethnicity. - here the emphsis is upon exmining the specific attitudes, beliefs, feelings, and bejaviors that characterize members of a particular ethnic or cultural group

structure

according to minuchin (1974) the invisible set of functional demands that organizes the way family members interact with one another over time

coalition

all interactional pattern characterized by one family member siding with a second member against the third

parentification

an imbalance in the family's power and authority hierarchy that develops when power and control rest with the children, or when parents rely on heir children for nurturance, support, and care

cross generational coalition

an inappropriate alliance between one parent and a child against the other people that undermines the executive functions and authority of the parental subsystem

open family paradigm

believe in style of life that emphasizes dialogue, communication, patience, and a willingness to change - believe in adaptability and innovation. - looking for new ways to do things

structure

both the family's composition and its organization. composition refers to the family's membership, that is, the persons who make up the family. organization is the collection of interdependent relationships and subsystems that operate by established rules of interaction

conflict

in intergenerational models, a strategy for maintaining distance from others and protecting one's sense of self. - this and disagreement can help to maintain in illusion of difference

paradigm shift

community of individuals who share viewpoints, beliefs, and values. - these beliefs can and sometimes do change

social class

discrete categories of people who are similar in their levels of education, income, occupational status, housing and lineage

random family paradigm

emphasizes discontinuity and they maximize change in a radical focus on the present

synchronous families

emphasizes harmony, tranquility, and mutual identification. - believe family will be able to move through life with little conflict and they will be able to easily resolve the conflict that does occur

overt rules

explicit and openly stated rules

family ideology

focuses on the cognitive or intellectual aspect of family systems that is reflected in their beliefs, thoughts, myths, symbols, ideals, aspirations, values, worldviews, philosophy of life or doctrines - ideological aspect of a family is different from the generational and emotional aspects.

second order process

highly abstract schemata residing within family individuals, probably shared but rarely discussed

adaptation

how the family reorganizes its structure in response to internal demands and external social or environmental events

continuum of abstraction

key element of beginning to think academically and logically is the ability. - central notion in understanding paradigms found in family life

rules

recurring patterns of interaction that define the limits of acceptable and appropriate behavior in the family

first order process

refer to specific and concrete ways of behaving and organizing family life

family paradigm

shared, enduring, fundamental and general assumptions of beliefs to which family members subscribe about the nature and meaning of life - how to cope with the world they live in

levels of abstraction

tasks were functions or daily life activities that the family life must manage, control, and negotiate

coping efficacy

the adequacy of the efforts undertaken by the family to reduce stress - losing a child so you adopt one

maintenance resources

the amount of time, energy, and money that the family has available to accomplish its maintenance tasks

ethnicity

the chracterisitics of a unique subgroup possessing an autonomous identity and structure that reside within a larger culture

hierarchy

the clear distinctions between the levels of a well organized system

disengaged

the concept used to describe systems' boundaries characterized by a high tolerance for individuality

enmeshed

the concept used to describe systems' boundaries characterized by a low tolerance for individuality

poverty

the condition of the life of families or individuals whose income falls below a certain level established by the federal government for a given year

differentiation of self

the extent to which one has successfully resolved emotional attachments to one's family of origin - becomes reflected in the individuals level of psychological maturity

wholeness

the idea that systems must be understood in their entirety, which is distinctly different from the simple sum of the contributions of the individual parts

disengagement

the lack of involvement among family members that results from rigid boundaries

poverty line or level

the least amount of income needed for a family to purchase a minimally adequate amount of basic goods such as food clothing and shelter throughout the year

enmeshment

the over involvement among family members that results from diffuse boundaries

race

the physical characterisitics of particular groups of people

assimilation

the process by which a minority group gradually adopts the customs and attitudes of the dominant culture

family project process

the process by which parents project (displace) part of their own unresolved emotional attachments or conflicts onto one or more of their children

multigenerational transmission process

the process by which the familys level of differntiation and the parents' unresolved emotional attachments are reenacted in furture relationships and passed along to succeeding generations

context

the set of circumstances or facts that surround a particular event, situation, individual, or family

legacy

the set of expectations and responsibilities family members develop toward one another based on the patterns and dynamics that have operated in their extended family system over time and on the particular position they held in their own family of origin - includes sense of loyalty and indebtedness to the family

fusion

the tendency to submerge one's sense of self in relationships with others thereby losing the distinctions among emotional and intellectual functioning, self and other

non normative stressor events

unexpected events that create unanticipated hardships and require adaptations or alterations in the strategies used by the system to execute some or all of its basic tasks example: a house fire

closed family paradigm

when a family has a cluster of fundamental beliefs that emphasize continuity, steadiness, and conventional ways of doing things - believe that security and belonging are very important.

exaggeration principle

when families are under stress there is a tedency to exaggerate the family ideologies