Case Analysis Application - Research Paper Example

?581118 Case Analysis Application Paper The scenario family has some serious problems especially the father, who is exhibiting symptoms of alcoholism and the six-year-old who is demonstrating even more troublesome behavior. The parents should be seeking immediate help for the child, but it is possible they are so caught up in their own dysfunctionality that they cannot see the warning signs that this child is displaying some worrisome behavior. John may not believe he has a problem with alcohol, so his seeking addiction counseling may not be likely. The rest of the family needs therapy focusing on Bowen’s theory of Multigenerational Transmission Process, Societal Emotional Process, Nuclear Family Emotional System, and Differentiation of Self at a minimum. Introduction The scenario family clearly shows signs of a family in crisis. While it is not stated, John and Mindy seemed to have learned how to cope with issues from their parents. Alcoholism and avoidance are transmitted coping techniques included in Bowen’s theory of multigenerational transmission process. The parents may have had issues with self-differentiation and are now projecting that same sort of behavior onto their three children, especially the oldest one who exhibit signs of a serious personality disorder. This family is in need of immediate and intense therapy. The symptoms exhibited by the family that suggest a problem with the family system include John’s apparent frequent drinking and Mindy’s reaction to him, the fact that the children are rude and get into fights with other children, and the serious issue of the six-year old starting trash can fires and attempting to stab another child. Clearly, this family exhibits signs of emotional cutoff in Mindy’s refusal to confront John’s drinking, and both the multigenerational transmission and the societal emotional processes of the family are dysfunctional and need adjustment or this family will suffer an even greater crisis than they are currently enduring. A sure sign of this impending family disaster, the response of the six-year-old when he was asked why he was acting so aggressively and violently toward other children, demonstrates the multigenerational transmission process. Phillip Klever describes the way the process works. “A husband and wife manage their anxiety and undifferentiation through marital distance and/or conflict, reciprocal functioning between the spouses, and/or an over focus on one or more of the children (Bowen, 1978; Kerr & Bowen, 1988; Papero, 1990)” (Klever, 2004, p. 337). The marital distance that John and Mindy display to their children does not go unnoticed, and the six-year-old manifests his stress over it by starting fires and acting aggressively toward other children. The other siblings also become involved in aggressive behavior and mimic the rudeness they perceive between their parents. “Reciprocal functioning between the spouses influences the development of physical, emotional, or social symptoms in the spouses. Child focus occurs when the parents project their anxiety and undifferentiation onto their child, and when the child shows behavior to attract the parental projection. This process contributes to the development of physical, emotional, or social symptoms in one or more of the children” (Klever, 2004, p. 338). The symptoms of this impending family crisis are quite apparent. However, while the negative seem to outweigh the positive family interactions in this family, there are some positive interactions too. The fighting over family rules, dinner menus, and daily activities, as long as it is kept civil and productive, may not be negative. In fact, it may be the only positive interaction and functioning this family has. It sounds fairly typical. Fighting, to a certain extent, is normal within a family. Children have to learn how to get along with other people and the family is the testing ground for learning acceptable behavior. The unfortunate part of that for this family is that the parents do not seem to know how to behave well, and the children are reacting to that insecurity. The scenario does not mention if there is violent fighting between the siblings, only with other children. That may be a good sign that they have somewhat normal sibling relationships. Probably the most negative interactions within this family are the lack of communication between the parents and their clear marital relationship dysfunction. Their behavioral patterns will transfer to their children. In fact, the behavior the children display is evidence that it already has. “When one or more of the nuclear family patterns—marital instability, dysfunctional spouse, or child focus—were predominant in a person’s family, that individual would be more likely to repeat that pattern in his/her developing nuclear family. In addition, the symptom area—physical, emotional, or social—tends to be transferred from the multigenerational family to the nuclear family” (Klever, 2004, p. 338). Possibly, John “inherited” his behavior and his alcoholism from his parents, who may have inherited from theirs. Not only John’s apparent alcohol problem but also Mindy’s ineffective way of dealing with it (i.e., avoidance) may be behavior that has transferred from their parents to them as Bowen’s multigenerational transmission process theory states. “The transmission occurs on several interconnected levels ranging from the conscious teaching and learning of information to the automatic and unconscious programming of emotional reactions and behaviors. . . .The combination of parents actively shaping the development of their offspring, offspring innately responding to their parents' moods, attitudes, and actions, and the long dependency period of human offspring results in people developing levels of differentiation of self similar to their parents' levels” (Bowen, 2011). Without therapy, John and Mindy may continue the cycle of transmitting unhealthy and dysfunctional behavior and coping methods on to their children. The evidence of it is already obvious in the six-year-old’s behavior. The therapist’s goals for this family are numerous. First of all, John needs to get help for his alcohol problem. However, unless he is ready to admit he has a problem, he is unlikely to seek addiction therapy, or, if he does, it may not be successful. If that is the case, then Mindy and the children need therapeutic help to address the issue of living with an alcoholic. Then, most importantly, the children need intervention therapy to stop the bad behavior they have been displaying before it turns into such destructive conduct that their lives are seriously affected by it in a much more negative way than they are now. As a couple, Mindy and John need to work on communicating with each other and coping with each other’s failings. As parents, they need help in improving their parenting techniques and communicating with their children so they can spot the problems the children are having that lead to such anti-social behavior. First of all, the therapist should strongly encourage John to get help for his alcoholism problem. Alex Copello explains that even if the alcoholic does not believe he has a problem, family therapy that addresses the issue may help him to see that he does. “The social and family harm that arises when an addiction problem develops is significant, and there is much potential for reducing this harm, even when the substance user is not in contact with services, or has not yet engaged in behaviour change. The facts that engagement in treatment of the substance user can be triggered when working with affected family members, and that substance misuse outcomes are at least as good (and more often superior) when using family-based approaches, strengthen the argument for an increased family focus in services and interventions” (Copello, 2010). Based on Copello and others’ conclusion that family therapy may help the alcoholic, the first order of business for the scenario family’s therapy would be to get them into counseling for alcoholism. Next would be strengthening the interaction between the family members so that when issues arise, such as the child setting fires in garbage cans, John and Mindy have the skills as parents to know how to deal with the problem in the best way possible. According to Patrick Toman, Deborah Gorman-Smith, and David Henry these sorts of coping skills may help to reduce the violent reaction that the children seem to be having over the stresses in their dysfunctional family life. They promote “focusing on development of conflict management skills and relationship skills between couples that lessen or eliminate use of violence … as a base for more effective parenting practices and less reliance on harsh methods. The couples’ skills that might be taught in such a prevention program may include components or approaches that are generalizable to parenting or promote partnering that has less conflict about parenting” (Tolan, Gorman-Smith, & Henry, 2002, pp. 281-282). While the parenting skills of John and Mindy are not addressed in the scenario, clearly they are lacking in some areas. The way they interact with each other demonstrates unhealthy interaction for their children who react by developing their own version of unhealthy interactions with the people they encounter frequently.] Finally, the six-year-old needs therapy that addresses his reasons for setting fires and other violent behaviors. He needs immediate intervention that will confront the problem before it gets worse. Dickens, Sugarman, Edgar, et al list several characteristics of recidivist arsonists including that they start at a young age, have school adjustment factors, learning disabilities, and personality disorders (Dickens, Sugarman, Edgar, Hofberg, Tawari, & Ahmad, 2009, p. 634). The six-year-old should be tested for learning disabilities and perhaps enrolled in a school where he can be treated for the disturbing behavior he has already exhibited besides participating in family counseling. Conclusion The scenario family exhibits signs of a family in crisis, but it is not too late for them. If they seek counseling especially for John’s alcoholism and the six-year-old’s fire setting and violence tendencies, then over time they may be able to put together a reasonably happy family life. A family therapist needs to recommend these more intense therapies and also treat the family as a whole for their other less severe communication issues. References Bowen, M. (2011, October). Multigenerational Transmission Processes. Retrieved October 17, 2011, from The Bowen Theory: http://www.thebowencenter.org/pages/conceptmtp.html Copello, A. (2010). Alcohol and drug misuse: a family affair. Healthcare Counselling & Psychotherapy Journal , 10 (4), 4-8. Retrieved from EBSCOhost. Dickens, G., Sugarman, P., Edgar, S., Hofberg, K., Tawari, S., & Ahmad, F. (2009). Recidivism and dangerousness in arsonists. The Journal of Forensic Psychiatry & Psychology , 20 (5), 621–639. Klever, P. (2004). The Multigenerational Transmission of Nuclear Family Processes and Symptoms. American Journal of Family Therapy , 32 (4), 337-351. Knudson-Martin, C., & Huenergardt, ,. D. (2010). A Socio-Emotional Approach to Couple Therapy: Linking Social Context and Couple Interaction. Family Process , 49 (3), 369- 384. Tolan, P. H., Gorman-Smith, D., & Henry, D. B. (2002). Linking Family Violence to Delinquency Across Generations. Children's Services: Social Policy, Research, and Practice , 5 (4), 273-284. Read More