Assessment of Haddad Family a Four-Member Muslim-Arab Family - Case Study Example

Family Assessment A. Introduction and Identifying Data The family, a basic social unit, “far more than a collection of individuals sharing a specific physical and psychological space” (Goldenberg & Goldenberg, 2008, p. 1), is essentially ‘the primary unit of care’, as health determines family functioning directly affecting its members (Pillitteri, 2009, p. 5) and the society. Thus, assessing family’s health includes both the internal and external factors that affecting it, as a whole and as its parts. Using Friedman’s family assessment model (McMurray, 1993), The Haddad family, who had been willingly interviewed for three hours, is hereby assessed. Name Gender Relationship Birth-date & place Education Religion Job Hobby Alim Male Husband/ father/friend 1981 Saudi Arabia Bachelor in Nursing Muslim Student (state scholar) fishing, playing football Abia Female Wife/ mother/friend 1980 Saudi Arabia Bachelor in Arabic Language Muslim Full-time housewife Walking cooking, Adara Female Daughter/sister/friend 2004 Saudi Arabia Pre-primary (private) Muslim drawing Anwar Male Son/brother/ friend 2007 Saudi Arabia Muslim Playing toy cars/ This is the Haddad family – a four-member Muslim-Arab family presently residing in Perth, because Alim, the father, was sponsored by the Ministry of Higher Education to finish nursing (2009 to 2011). The family’s type form, is monogamous on the basis of marriage; a family of changing residence, on the basis of residence; a nuclear family, on the basis of structure; a patrilineal family on the basis of ancestry; and a conjugal family, on the basis of the nature of family relations among its members (Ellwood, 2004, pp. 45-55). Like other Muslim families, every Friday the family meets with the Islamic community in the mosque to perform their prayer. Every weekend, they visit tourist places in Perth: Perth Zoo and Wildlife Parks, Aquarium of Western Australia, Cohunu Koala Park, Mount Eliza, and Kings Park. They love visiting places together: having some time on the riverside to picnic and fish, going to beaches to swim and relax, and visiting caves to wonder. The Margret River and Albany are their favorite as these are only around 300 kilometers far from their home. They also enjoy going to the hills visiting the farms there to collect vegetables and fruits. Such privileges the family could afford as they are financially well-off. B. Developmental Stage and History Following the Developmental Approach, this family is in its third stage characterized as “families with pre-school children” (McMurray, 1993, p. 137). Today, the family has somewhat adjusted to the demands of this stage in a social context foreign to the family. First, the family is well-adjusted to their new environments physically and socially. The daughter, no longer cries when fetched by the school bus, as she has found her own friends in the school. The mother does her work at home more relax unlike before, as she gets used to the changing demands of her family. To closely supervise her hyper-active three-year old son, Abia sometimes seeks her friendly neighbor’s help to look after Anwar. This nucleus family came into being when Alim and Abia’s parents arranged for their marriage in 2003. Abia then quitted her job and became a full-time housewife to manage her soon to be expanding household. Besides, Abia, although a carreer woman, believes that the family is the primary task of a married woman. Also, Alim could provide well for his family. Two months after marriage Abia got pregnant of Adara, her daughter. Although Alim would have preferred a son, still, Adara is a joy. Having experienced the difficulties of rearing a child, the couple planned for the second baby, to give enough attention to the first born and the second born as well. So, it was after three years that Anwar, their son followed, completing their joy. Both couple came from a financially stable monogamous family. Both their fathers are educated. Abia’s father had worked in a private oil firm, while Alim’s in the government. Their mothers although did not reach college are both very literate and efficient household managers. Other family members are also well-established, except for Abia whose two younger siblings are still in their college education. Since both Alim and Abia are the eldest in their families, they help in the college education of Abia’s siblings. Generally, their parents are healthy, except for Abia’s father who has hypertension. C. Environmental Data The Haddad family is renting a modernly furbished big house (4 bedrooms, two bathrooms and a living area) in a compound in Perth since they arrived in Australia in 2009. Only two of the bedrooms are used as bedrooms, one for the couple and the other for the kids, while the other two are used as Alim’s study area and the kids’ playroom. They have nice backyard and garage. Basically, the Haddad’s home is quiet. Only Abia and Anwar are at home almost every day. Abia, a home buddy is fond of cooking, and telling story to Anwar as they watch television after lunch, before taking a nap. She very seldom raises her voice – that is when she sees cockroaches or rats in her kitchen. The home becomes very alive usually during weekends when visitors from their neighborhood or Alim’s classmates arrived for lunch or dinner. The immediate neighborhood of the family is almost a replica of their neighborhood in Saudi Arabia, because their compound is inhabited by six Arab families, with some of them a relative of the couple, while the larger community complete with basic social infrastructures is basically friendly and quiet. Although a migrant, the family is not highly mobile. This was their first time to leave Saudi Arabia, because of the educational scholarship granted to Alim by the Ministry of Higher Education. However, since they knew that the scholarship would mean a more demanding job for Alim, the family has prepared for a higher geographic mobility, because “relocation tends to be confined to managerial [or administrative] … and higher grade employees” (Green & Canny, 2003, p. 8). The family is well-respected in the compound not only because they are adorable, but primarily due to Alim’s state scholarship. To them, he is intelligent and respected in the government. The community is generally cohesive. In fact, every Thursday, they visit each other for dinner and every Friday they all meet at the mosque to pray. Outside the compound, they also have friends other than the Arabs such as Alim’s classmates, the family of Adara’s friends. Besides, they have friends in the Arab embassy in Australia, which makes their travels easily arranged. The family has an income adequate to meet their needs and their finances are well, as they get regular salary from the embassy of Saudi Arabia in Australia. This fact also earned them their neighbor’s respect. They are well-supported by their friends and the Muslim community. So generally, the family enjoys a stable and peaceful life here in Australia as illustrated in their Ecomap. D. Family Structure Since Alim and Abia are both educated and exposed to liberal culture, they at least give their children freedom to express their thought and feelings, although the boundary remains clear. However between Alim and Abia, they always discuss matters before any decision is made, with Alim the final say, although, Alim leaves more domestic matters to Abia. Once the decision is made, everyone has to follow. They basically follow patriarchal power structure, traditionally Arab. Alim, the authority at home, has final say for everything except for the kitchen, which is Abia’s. This also designates their roles. Alim is the husband, the loving but stern father, the good provider and protector of the family. Abia is the wife, the sweet loving mother, the efficient care taker of the whole family, and the confidant and emotional support of Alim. But they are also bestfriends. Belief in Allah is paramount in the family, then, love of family, of countrymen, and of others follows. Their son is taught strength and fearlessness to be his sister’s protector. Their daughter is taught simple household chores, patience and understanding, to be the source of love of her brother and the whole family. E. Family Functions The affective function, which is the responsiveness of the family to the needs, interests, and activities of its members (Epstein, Ryan, Bishop, Miller, & Keitner, 2003, p. 594), is being balanced between over-involvement and under-involvement. This, usually, is Abia’s function. She knows when to and not to interfere with her kids’ activities/squabbles and with Alim’s activities. Though seldom does the family sense Abia’s needs (e.g. rest), Abia always understands this as part of her role. The family’s two basic socialization functions: (1) the primary socialization of children, and (2) the stabilization of the adult personality (Parsons & Bales, 1998, p. 16), are being fulfilled by the family through worshipping, schooling, outing, connecting with extended family, and going out with friends. Here, Alim takes a more dominant role. He disciplines his kids and teaches them good values, especially caring for others. Finally, the function to ensure the health and safety of the family is expected more of Abia as she looks after them. But since, Alim is a nursing student, he teaches Abia First Aid. And, when it comes to major health decisions, the couple consults with each other before Alim makes the final decision. F. Family Coping & Analytical Conclusion The Haddads also experience stressors just like other families. For example, its long-term stressors are the college education of Abia’s two younger siblings, Alim’s job, and rearing of their two children; its short-term stressors are simple misunderstandings between the couple, between the children, between the couple and the children. However, they manage to cope with these stressors with their good educational foundation, positive outlook in life, strong social support and stable income. Although, their system is essentially dictatorial common to Arab families (Dahir, 1993; Sharabi, 1977, cited in Simadi, Fatayer, & Athamneh, 2003, p. 467), they nevertheless adopted open communication their coping strategy, believing most problems worsen due to lack of communication. Problems and solutions are discussed among them including the children if needed. But unlike, American families, they always define boundaries to avoid misunderstanding/confusion. Good values are always emphasized. Petty quarrels were not left unsettled before the day ends. They also know when to and not to seek outside help. Aside from this, the couple has a hidden secret that holds their family together despite problems – the couples are best of friends. Alim is the confidant of Abia and vice-versa. This unromantic part of their relationship enables them to take things in stride, thus lessening tension and stress, and making coping easier. It could be viewed that the stage of the family is not yet complicated. However, this stage is still an adjustment stage for the couple as partners and parents, especially so that theirs was an arranged marriage that in a very short period gave them a daughter. This is also their foundation stage. Meaning, if the family is unable to cope with its stressors at this stage, it would be most likely the family will not last. Today, what they have mastered is coping with mobility, relating with foreigners, and dealing with petty squabbles, and for Abia, organizing her work and efficiently managing not only her time but even her emotions. This she achieved when she started regarding her role her noble profession and mission. The Haddad family is undoubtedly healthy. Its contributory factors are their respect for each other as defined by their roles and functions, their positive learning attitude, their strong socio-economic support system (Alim’s work, their caring neighbors/friends, their close extended families), their caring attitude for each other, Abia’s caring and efficient home management and the couple’s strong friendship and conjugal leadership. What the Haddad family revealed is that key to a healthy family is the parent. Thus, a caring, listening, cooperating, trusting, optimistic, educated and friendly couple is paramount to ensure a healthy family. For this enlightening encounter, I thank the Haddad family. References Allen, Jo Ann, Cornelius, Eloisa and Lopez, Consuelo. (2010). Understanding Families. In, Kittsu Swanson, Child Welfare Manual. Childrens Bureau, Administration for Children, Youth and Families, Office of Human Development Services, United States Department of Health and Human Services. Retrieved from http://www.google.com.ph/imgres?imgurl=http://www.dss.mo.gov/cd/info/cwmanual/section7/ch1_33/sec7ch25roosevelt.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.dss.mo.gov/cd/info/cwmanual/section7/ch1_33/sec7ch25.htm&h=341&w=505&sz=31&tbnid=NduCgChwSDXWHM:&tbnh=88&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dfamily%2Bgenogram&hl=tl&usg=__USIiKDL3LjrF_sfKgeeP-xvmW04=&ei=JlybS6HSKcyHkAX1wdDWAQ&sa=X&oi=image_result&resnum=7&ct=image&ved=0CCkQ9QEwBg Ellwood, Charles A. (2004). Sociology and Modern Social Problems. Whitefish, MT: Kessinger Publishing. 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