Psychology Questions - Assignment Example

With respect to the Walsh article, consider a family you know of that has been dealing with critical family issues such as addiction, mental illness, or job loss or is grieving the loss of a loved one. Adopt the family resilience model and list some of the strengths of the family. Can you outline how these family strengths may help build family resilience in the face of adversity? Ensure you do not reveal the identity of the family. You may use a pseudonym (e.g., “Smith” or “Doe”) in your response The family resilience approach discussed in the article details the purpose of their study was to help families deal with crisis, stress, losses, and life’s difficulties, and to help them fortify themselves for future issues.

That said having a strong, supportive, family foundation with open communication can have an astounding impact on how they can adapt to change and overcome loss or face adversity. There is a woman, we will call her Jane, who had three teenage daughters whom she had, basically, raised as a single parent. One day her middle daughter, just fifteen, was instantly killed in a tragic car accident. This sudden loss could have destroyed this family; however their connectedness, communication, and spiritual beliefs contributed to the strength that allowed them to overcome the loss.

In a commemorative gesture the three of them had identical tattoos applied, the ink of each one, had a mixture of their loved one ashes mixed into the ink. This may seem unusual to some, but I think that it helped them to find,”…ways to transform their loved one…carry the spirit of the deceased…”(Walsh, 2002) 2. Describe the example given in the McCabe et al. article that illustrates the importance of not generalizing research findings from the majority group (i.e., Caucasians) to a minority group In regards to this article, I think, that determining ways to benefit children, in any unpleasant or undesirable situation, should be explored.

This particular study focused on an isolated group of African American children, in the 6th grade. Results had shown that the ways that the African American children responded differently in certain situations, in their home and in response to behaviors of their parents, than had Caucasian children of comparable age.(McCabe, Clark & Barnett, 1999) That said, I think this type of study could be difficult to compare cross racially. Of course, as people we all share certain things in common, but environment and culture and community play a strong role in how we behave, respond, react; this may be very different cross racially and therefore difficult to compare. 3. Assume that you are an employer and draw from the Grzywacz and Bass’s research to suggest one recommendation you would make to foster optimum work and family environments for your employees.

Explain the reason for your recommendation “Family benefits work more than work benefits family and family interferes less than work does with family.”(Gryzwacz & Bass) This seems logical considering that time spent with family is, for many, more enjoyable than being at work. Particularly, I think, in today’s difficult economic times where many adults are working at jobs that may not be rewarding in order to pay the bills. It is the motivation of family that keeps them there. My suggestion if I were an employer in order to increase company awareness of family responsibilities and importance would be concerning the amount of overtime some companies require.

Most employees accept that for economic reasons, but such hours can cause difficulties of childcare and other household responsibilities. All of these can create crossover of stressors. I think that employers should take into consideration the importance of family when they make out schedules and demand overtime. I think that this would help to create, in some working environments, a healthier balance between work and family. .4. Based on what you learned from the Johnson et al. article, what would be the benefits of following up these youth and parents, say, four years after the initial training program?

Suggest two questions you would include in an interview given to the parents and teens at these follow-up sessions This article details the study done on implementing preventative measure in lowering the usage of alcohol and drug use in high risk youths. There were a few variable in their results that may have, negatively, effective the overall results of this study. This study involved determining if the supportive intervention of their parents and the “training program” being provided, as well as a number of church organizations participation, they hoped to show a large drop in alcohol and drug use in high risk youths.

(Johnson, Bryant, Collins, Noe, Strader & Berbaum, 1999) They openly admit in the article that there is a possibility that some participants may have been dishonest in their guarantees of improvement. This could be due to parental guilt or from the presence of the churches involved. Religion can be a huge incentive to “do the right thing,” and “to succeed in the program.” I think the question I would ask these participants four years later would be. 1. At the time of the study did you in anyway, for any reason, exaggerate how well the process was working for you as parents and/or for the child? 2. After the study and the year later follow-ups were concluded did you continue to reflect on the things discussed in the study to deter your “high risk” children from early alcohol and drug use?

Did you revert to previous family dynamics? Are your children still drug-free? 5. Considering what you learned from the Lucy LeMare study on Romanian orphans, would you expect the relationship between length of institutionalization and IQ to weaken over time (e.g., when the children are assessed at 16.5 years of age)? How might a providing a warm and caring environment impact a future relationship between length of institutionalization and IQ? Lucy Lemare’s study on Romanian orphans is very interesting.

I was surprised to see there is correlation between institutionalized children and intelligence. I understand the emotional and certainly residual issues that could affect learning skills and performance, but IQ is learning potential. It is sad that the poor conditions of these abandoned children’s early life experience does not just damage them emotionally, socially, and behaviorally, it diminishes their potential, as well. Of course the intervention of good, loving caregivers will be beneficial to improving the development of these children.

However, these may have to work much harder to establish relationships and to teach the child that they are no longer living that institution lifestyle. One important element of Lemare’s work is the section discussing how these children should be perceived as being younger than their chronological years; that the number of years the child was institutionalized stole those years developmentally from that child. A 3-year-old adopted Romanian child previously institutionalized may be more like an infant, emotionally and/or developmentally, than a toddler.

These new parents must, essentially, give those years back to that child through love, warmth, and support. References Gryzwacz, J. G., & Bass, B. (n.d.). Work, family, mental health: Testing different models of work-family fit. Journal of Marriage and Family, 248-261. Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/store/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2003.00248.x/asset/j.1741-3737.2003.00248.x.pdf?v=1&t=h5q6jpkn&s=ffa788fdd5b27a1c7ff7625a7f63751092244b04 Johnson, K., Bryant, D. D., Collins, D. A., Noe, T. D., Strader, T. N., & Berbaum, M. (1999). Preventing and reducing alcohol and other drug use among high-risk youths by increasing family resilience.

Social Work , 43(4), 297-308. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.tru.ca/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=356c102d-18b2-4f85-a16c-6423c371e70c%40sessionmgr114&vid=2&hid=107 McCabe, K. M., Clark, R., & Barnett, D. (1999). Family protective factors among urban african american youth. Journal of Clinical Child Psychology, 28(2), 137-150. Retrieved from http://web.ebscohost.com.ezproxy.tru.ca/ehost/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?sid=f749c2f5-3035-4798-8c24-9b2b31c8f0e7@sessionmgr112&vid=2&hid=107 Walsh, F. (2002). A family resilience framework: Innovative practices applications. 51(2), 130- 137.

Retrieved from http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/store/10.1111/j.1741-3729.2002.00130.x/asset/j.1741-3729.2002.00130.x.pdf?v=1&t=h5q6dnq2&s=147a31593a81033f0f1aabdf8cf21d1f09b3ebe9