Family Resilience Assessment - Assignment Example

Family Resilience Assessment Family resilience and the concept behind it range beyond our comprehension of healthy family functioning to circumstances of adversity. The assumption, however, is that there is no universal model that adequately fits all families and their situations due to their unique nature. The fact that some situations strengthen some families and increase their resourcefulness, while others crumble under the stress and pressure associated with the crises, serves to prove that there is no universal reaction that is guaranteed when faced with adversity. This paper explores the key aspects of family resilience in order to progress an understanding of a structure for the practice of resilience. Define your family system.  This definition should be supplemented by a graphic representation. A family is a structure where there are rules to adhere to and specified roles to play by each of the members of the unit. There is a certain expectation as regards how the members of the system respond to each other in respect to their roles, and are defined by the agreements of their relationships. Within the confines of the system, the development of patterns is seen in scenarios where a particular family member causes predictable behavioral influences in other family members, and is also influenced by the behavioral traits of the rest of the family. Continuing the same trend of behaviors within a system may bring about balance in the family system, but also there is the risk of growing dysfunctional. For instance, if a spouse is forced to assume the responsibilities of the other for one reason or the other, the shift in roles could have adverse effects on the family system brought about by the equilibrium shift as a result of overreaching roles. My current nuclear family is characterized by a system of genuine family support, and mutual responsibilities in our respective roles. My live-in girlfriend, who we have been together for three and a half years, has three kids whom I absolutely adore, despite the fact that am not their biological father. Thanks to her kids, I have received a new lease in life by becoming a grand daddy-by-girlfriend. This has given me the chance to see a child grow, and I am grateful for this especially since I miss out on raising my own daughter and see her grow up. My relationship with my ex-family is nothing to write home about as no special bond exists. The quality of life back when I was still married to Sonia was horrible. The infidelity by my wife, now my ex-wife, nearly drove me to ruins, and the fact that she abandoned me while bedridden in the hospital and took off with our daughter did not make this easier. It actually made things worse, and this experience coupled with the horrible and abusive childhood I had, was a suicide in waiting. Growing up surrounded by a mother who hated men, and two sisters who had been taught to loathe men, my childhood was doomed from the start. The fact that I did not have any functional relationship with any of my relatives from either side of my parents families meant that I was stuck with the only family I knew. Describe and discuss the key processes of family resilience: Belief Systems, Organizational Patterns, Communication Processes as they apply to yourself and your family. Belief Systems The members of a family are able to derive some meaning from circumstances of crisis, and therefore foster a positive and a hopeful outlook. This is, however, dependent on the family’s attitude towards the suffering, crises and the options available to them. In my case, making the best out of hard situations was not easy, not that it was expected anyway. It took me a while before I could see clearly that I had to change my attitude towards living a better quality life. Initially, before I got my act together, I dwelled on the issues that faced me instead of trying to find a way to stop myself from suffocating. Once I understood that the only way to move on was to accept my shortcomings, and try and make sense of the issues that faced me, is when real change started taking place in my life. Over time, issues that seamed colossal to me such as my wife cheating on me, and her leaving me, did not bear any weight over me. The moment I learnt to treat these incidences as normal occurrences that could happen to anyone, the shame and blame that came as part of the package minimized. The adversities that faced me stopped feeling like punishments, and I was able to take some meaning from them and use them to grow stronger, both at an emotional and intellectual level. I must admit that optimism was not top of my list at any given point during my low points. I preferred finding solace at the bottom of the whisky bottle, or any alcohol bottle-it really did not matter to me-for I knew it could help me forget, but subconsciously I knew that I was just kidding myself. I realized just how messed up my life was when I was thrown in the mental health ward of a jail. With the help of a social worker from the military, I was able to turn my life around. I remember the first time I felt truly optimistic about life was when alcohol dependency became a thing of the past for me. Of course,it did not happen overnight, but I was growing proud of my resilience each passing day that I traded that sip from the bottle for more productive activities, including counseling. The hope that life could get better for me was the driving force behind my decision to change. The acceptance that life was what it was, and playing the hand I was dealt was the best option forward, made me accept my past for what it was without feeling like less of a man that it happened. This newfound courage built me into a man, a real man, not just a shell of a human being that synonymous with myself. It took the encouragement and support of those around me to achieve meaningful change. Organizational Patterns The resilience in a family institute is strengthened by cohesion, flexibility in the structure, and resources of social and economic nature. The family’s ability to bounce back is the measure of just how flexible they are. When Frank my father died, our family moved first to Providence, and then to Florida. This was a huge change in our lives, but we had to adapt in order to achieve any semblance of normalcy. Granted that the home did not come as advertised, we had to get comfortable in the small tin shack that we had to call home, instead of the home my mother had lied about. Together we made things work; though I have to admit that it worked more to the advantage of my sisters. A family’s connection level is essential to the effective functioning of the family system . Debbie and I have connected at a much deeper level that allows us to have a relationship that is mutually beneficial to both parties. Unlike my previous family relationships that were unstable, my new family is the reason I try this hard to be better each passing day. The building blocks of a happy and functional family are mutual support, commitment, and reciprocating the support, as this would help them weather the hard times. Respecting each other’s personal space and the differences that exist among us as a family also adds to the family glue. Communication/Problem Solving Processes Good communication promotes resilience by bringing clarity to situations that breed crisis. Openly expressing emotions should be encouraged, and a collaborative approach to solving problems should be adopted in conflict management in families. Looking back, maybe if I had applied these approaches during my marriage to Sonia, then possibly we could have lasted longer than we did. Good effective communication could have been the missing factor that would have helped us unearth the causative elements of our marital issues. Identify current stressors for yourself and your family.  Discuss the individual, interpersonal, environmental and community risk factors including any social, economic and political injustices. Personal inadequacies were the main stress factors that drove me to my low points. The family environment that surrounded me was also a major factor. The fact that the people who raised me hated me simply because I was male was depressing. This deep seated hate for men might have been as a result of the injustices we suffered as a family after my father died. The process remuneration that we were to receive as compensation was politicized and ended with us not receiving any money. The result of this was a life of poverty that was riddled by social neglect from more well off people. Describe and discuss the current status of the protective mechanisms utilized by yourself and your family. As above discuss individual, interpersonal, environmental and community protective factors including any social, economic and political supports.  Our natural response as a family was through hate. We hated all those who were better off than us. We felt that society was unfairly punishing us for no particular reason. This protective layer that we had on was only a way of deflecting our inadequacies. My mum’s way of coping with the situation was through alcohol and dating several men. As for me, I was incapable of publicly expressing myself and therefore kept to myself. This ended up affecting me later in life. Discuss the impact of race, class, gender, age, ethnicity, sexual orientation and differing personal abilities upon family resilience, stressors and protective mechanisms. Racism had a role in the undoing of my marriage to Sonia. My immediate family wanted nothing to do with me owing to the fact that they are racist and therefore did not have a positive attitude towards Sonia, who is of Puerto Rican heritage. The fact Sonia and I rushed into marriage at an early age could be a contributing factor to the failing of our marriage. Other stressors that caused constant conflict in my early family were money issues. Reflect on your experience in conducting an assessment on yourself. How would you deal with these feelings in your work with families? Conducting an assessment on my family, me included, was insightful as I got to draw up an account of our family history. This helped in tracing the family tree and identifying all of my close relatives. On the other hand, it opened up old wound as this assignment required us to delve deep into our family roots, which in my case is full of painful memories and experiences. All the same, the whole exercise was very educational as I got to learn a lot as far as family resilience is concerned. Conclusion To end with, the family resilience framework is an excellent tool for analyzing and strengthening the family core through effective communication, and collective conflict resolution. Respecting each other’s role in the family unit is also one of the fundamental elements of a functional family unit. References Black, K., & Lobo, M. (2008). A conceptual review of family resilience factors.Journal of Family Nursing, 14(1), 33-55. Ganong, L. H., & Coleman, M. (2002). Introduction to the Special Section: Family Resilience in Multiple Contexts. Journal of Marriage and Family, 64(2), 346-348. Hawley, D. R., & DeHaan, L. (1996). Toward a definition of family resilience: Integrating life‐span and family perspectives. Family process, 35(3), 283-298. Walsh, F. (2003). Family resilience: A framework for clinical practice.  Family process, 42(1), 1-18. Read More