Family Resiliency Assessment - Coursework Example

February 13, 2008 Family Resiliency Assessment "Resiliency is what happens when one regains functioning after adversity." -- Norman Garmezy, 1993 Family resiliency is the family's ability to cultivate strengths to positively meet the challenges of life. (Walsh, 2006). Strong families help children learn resilient behavior when they teach problem-solving skills and provide positive, non-critical support and sense of togetherness. (Walsh, 2006). The values and skills learned at home give individuals the power to shape their lives. Simply stated, families whom learn how to cope with challenges and meet individual needs are found in general, to be more resilient to stress and crisis. Strong families solve problems with cooperation, creative brainstorming, and openness to others. (Walsh, 2006) A family's ability to recover from crisis is influenced by life stressors and by family perceptions. A family's goals, values, problem solving skills, and support networks impact its adaptation to long-term stress and crisis. Family resiliency includes characteristics, dimensions, and properties which help families to be resistant to disruption in the face of change and adaptive in the fact of crisis situations. (Walsh, 2006) Children and adults who learn the values and skills of resiliency will cope with stress, manage relationships, and contribute to others' lives more consistently than those without such strengths. This assignment asks me to explore my own family resiliency and to analyze our strengths and weaknesses. The question, at the end of this paper is "Are we resilient" I cannot say that the research I have completed on my family actually answers the question. I imagine that I am subconsciously biased in my presentation and accordingly, may not be capable of completing an untainted assessment. However, I can say that in the grand scheme of research our coping skills are appropriate. I. My Family Systems. I grew up in a Haitian household raised by both parents. I have one sister who is the oldest and four brothers. I am the fourth child born out of six children. II. Organization Patterns Within My Family and The Key Processes of Family Resilience. The father of my family is the one seated with power. He ultimately makes the rules and my mother conforms to it. While this does not fit in well with the American culture, it is a backboard of the Haitian Culture. (McGoldrick, 2005). I would consider my family to be over protective. I include myself in this label. We monitor each other as concerns what we feel are crucial life choices. This includes selecting friends, and intimate relationships. We also watch out for each other financially. My ability to help my family financially is a tremendous source of pride for me. (McGoldrick, 2005) Those who assist their family members with finances are highly respected in the Haitian culture. (McGoldrick, 2005). Indeed, when one family member cannot contribute financially to the family, it can see as a reason to break ties. (McGoldrick, 2005). Thankfully, I have not found myself in that situation. When each of us makes a life choice, it is discussed with the entire family. For example, taking this course as part of my education is something that was part of my family discussion. This is not to say that had they advised me, not to take this class that I would have followed their advice. Although we are protective with one another, we respect each other and respect the decisions, made by one another. Thus, if one of us made the wrong decision, my family would not throw it in one another's face and create conflict. Rather, they would say, "yes, you made a mistake, and you learned from it, now move on". I suppose I would liken my family to the Haitian proverb "During times of hunger, sweet potatoes have no skin". This proverb is meant to convey how my culture remains strong during times of adversity. (McGoldrick, 2005). We feel that as a family, we stick together and thus feed off of each other to find our strength. I feel that this proverb is entirely applicable and it has allowed us to sacrifice for one another without resenting it. As to the communication within my family, I'm not saying that my communication is perfect in terms of expressing how we feel towards one another, but when we are ready to share, we would call for a family meeting at my parents' house. At that time we would discuss the issue if the person is faced with the crisis. Sometimes due to pride, or one of the members of my can sometime be frustrating. When one of us is faced with a crisis, the family does not want to burden us with their issue and hence does not share what they are going through. This is often frustrating. To assess a family's resiliency, social workers must be able to identify two kinds of characteristics: protective traits and risk traits. Protective (or resiliency) traits are strengths that help a person or family cope with stress or life difficulties, increasing the likelihood of rebound from difficult situations. Resiliency traits include: a sense of humor, being first- born, having insight into situations, and independence. These traits are tools people can use in times of crisis; they give them the edge and help them make it through the situation. These traits don't prevent problems, but they do help solve them. The key with humor is to not hide behind it. Risk traits are influences that may interfere with a person's or family's ability to cope during times of stress. Risk traits include: living in a home with domestic violence or substance abuse, low birth weight, and low self-esteem (Fraser & Galinsky, 1997). These traits can negatively influence the way people react to crisis. For example, when a problem occurs, an individual may not know how to solve it, what the options are, or even how to ask for help. Some believe there is a window of opportunity during crisis when social workers can help families find and build on the traits that will help them recover (Saleebey, 1996). Others believe that, if a family is working in partnership with someone they trust, the window of opportunity never closes, and they can learn and develop new skills that increase their resiliency for an indefinite period. To intervene appropriately, however, a social worker must first thoroughly assess a family's resilience. To do this, he or she must assess protective and risk traits on three levels: individual; family, school, and community; and environmental (Kirby & Fraser, 1997). Once this is done, the family and the worker can then create an intervention plan that builds on the family's strengths. To assess resiliency at the individual level, it is important to look at both birth and psychological traits. Building a social history of the individual is a good place to start this portion of the assessment. You can do this by drawing a genogram with the individual or family, or by just talking to them. If family members are not available or do not know the whole story, key data can usually be obtained from a child's medical birth record. This birth information is important, since risk traits such as genetic problems, low IQ, low birth weight, and mental disorders affect not just the child's but the whole family's ability to respond to adversity. Gender plays an important role--research shows that girls adapt more easily than boys to things such as divorce and out-of-home care, although there are no long-term studies regarding the children of today (Kirby & Fraser, 1997). (See "Are Girls Really More Resilient"). Culture and ethnicity, too, play a role in assessment. More African Americans, Hispanics, and Native Americans live in poverty, which put them at risk due to limited resources and limited access to healthcare (Fraser & Galinsky, 1997). Psychological traits also affect resiliency. Children born with "easy" temperaments are more easily nurtured by parents, making a "good" disposition a resilient trait at birth (Charity, 1997). While talking with a family, observe the level of nurturing parents show their child. Based on your observations, you can ask questions that will tell you more about a family's degree of bonding, communication and problem-solving skills, and general resourcefulness. Social workers should evaluate individuals' independence, comfort with their roles (caretaker, parent, role model, friend, etc.), and sense of purpose in life-important resiliency traits (Giordano, 1997). Although they may not see these traits immediately, social workers can help families find and develop them. For example, since a nurturing caregiver in a child's life can mediate many risk traits, social workers should focus on helping parents develop their abilities in this area. To assess a child's or a family's resilience, it is important to look at the role extended family, school, and the community play in their lives. Strong, positive peer bonds, involvement in positive peer social groups (such as athletics), and informal community networks (such as faith community and after school programs) are resilient traits for children. Extended family support and adequate access to needed services (such as health care) also contribute to a child's or a family's ability to deal with hard times. Usually, if a child has a resiliency trait, the same strength will be found in the child's family. These strengths can give social the worker and family a foundation for their work together. For example, a child who adapts to different circumstances may come from a flexible family. If a social worker makes this connection, he or she can build an intervention plan that will help families remedy their situation by maximizing this strength. School and community should also be considered when assessing a family's resiliency. If a child is doing well in school and participating in sports or positive peer groups, you should count these things as strengths that can help the child "bounce back" in other parts of her life. If children are in trouble in school, make poor grades, and have few friends, take notice. Community atmosphere and support in their community should be taken into consideration. If the community is involved and supportive, they can help the family in times of trouble, adding to a family's resilient traits. Environmental conditions should be included in any assessment of resiliency. Environmental traits are those of culture, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status, education, and employment status/opportunities. Other portions of your assessment will naturally bring environmental traits to light--take the opportunity to discuss these with families. So, a comprehensive, family-inclusive assessment is needed in order to identify the resilient traits to concentrate on in your work with an individual or family. For example, a child could be considered resilient biologically, with a caring adult caregiver, and still have difficulties due to environmental issues such as homelessness, racial injustice, and poverty. Social workers who recognize these gaps can work with the family to come up with new ways to lower or eliminate risk. III. Current Stressors of Myself and My Family The current stressor that my family is facing is a dark secret. It appears that my father may have fathered a child while he was married to my mother. Simply stated it seems that he had an affair outside of the marriage and has sired a child. Rumor has it that while my father was living in the Bahamas searching for a better life for my mom and older sister who was born in Haiti, my father had an affair with a woman. Through this relationship this child was conceived. I believe this child is 6 years older than me. After two years, my mother joined my father in the Bahamas. My dad has never admitted to it. Moreover, I and my siblings do not address the child. It is like the proverbial white elephant sitting in the room which we ignore. When I think about the situation, I resent my father. He does not know I feel. He does not know that collectively my siblings feel this way as well. I suppose that due to the seat of power that my father has in my culture, we are unable to censor this behavior. (McGoldrick, 2005). We speak about it amongst ourselves. It seems as if my family in New York, Boston, and in Haiti knows about the "family secret" which of course is no secret. Meanwhile I and my siblings look like idiots. As a general rule my family belief system is that we support one another emotionally and financially through a crisis. For example, one of my brothers lost his job and has no way of paying his mortgage or car note. As a family, we came together and assure my brother that he will fine a better job, and we as a family will pitch in and help him pay his bill. As I mentioned earlier, this is part of our culture. (McGoldrick, 2005). Moreover, I take a sense of pride in helping my brother out. (McGoldrick, 2005) Once my family assured my brother that we would be there for him, he had peace of mind. Now that my parents and siblings have agreed to help my brother, we as a family now budget our money to help my brother in need. (McGoldrick, 2005) When my family is in crisis, we come together to strategize how we can help one another to get through our ordeal. Interestingly, when it comes to the family secret, we remain silent. This however, I attribute to our culture and the seat of power that a husband owns. (McGoldrick, 2005). IV. Protective Measures. The Protective mechanism utilized by my family to deal with my father's extra marital affair is to talk to one another and express how we feel with one another if those feeling arise. Sometimes I talk with my best friend who I trust and consider him my brother as well. The major protective factors were social support, traits such as perseverance and determination, and spiritual beliefs. The protective processes that may have applied to my situation could be identified as plain fear. I have a crippling fear of confronting my father. I cannot say why that is so, but I submit it is largely cultural. The institution of the family has made possible their enclaves in the United States. It is here that a bond with the old country is maintained, consciously or unconsciously. Laguerre has noted: "The family provides a niche within which a cultural continuity can be adapted to the exigencies of the new environment. Through the medium of the family, which influences the behaviors of its members through the mechanism of socialization, immigrants were able to retain some of their cultural heritage and develop an awareness of their ethnic legacy." Based upon the foregoing, I think that we have an in depth need hold onto the family as we perceive it and therefore, I hold on to my image instead of dealing with the reality of my father's shameful act. V. Race and Gender. My parents have raised my siblings and me to not be racist. My parents did not discriminate against our friends regardless of their nationality and religion. As I grew older, I learned to find out that not everyone shared the same belief system that my parents taught me. My brother and I were called a "Nigger" by a homeless man because we did not have a dollar to give to him. I have never felt so violated in my life. My brother nearly ripped the homeless guy head off. That is moment that I will never forget, but though I'm 32 years old, I have thought about that incident and ask God to forgive him, because of the crisis that homeless guy was in. I attribute this to being raised in a strung Haitian community. VI. Reflection Upon My Experiences. Can I say that my family is resilient I am not sure. Yes we are together, and my mother is still with my father. I do not know my sibling but am positive he is out there. Why Is that resilience or denial Can it be that we are so desperate to keep our family together that we completely ignore the scandal and internalize our anger I understand the process, but I cannot say that I like it as applied to the scandal I have discussed. I cannot say that I would tolerate such behavior from my husband if this happened. I cannot say that my family is handling this properly either. Finally, I wonder how I will conduct myself as the head male of my household in the future. References Charity, J. (1997). Resiliency: Overcoming the legacy of abuse and trauma [on-line]. Available: http://www.umm.maine.eackiCharity/jc330.html. (Web address no longer functional.) Fraser, M. W. & Galinsky, M. J. (1997). Toward a resiliency based model of practice. In Fraser, M. W. (Ed.), Risk and Resilience (pp. 265-275). Washington, DC: NASW Press. Giordano, B. P. (1997). Resilience--a survival tool for the nineties. AORN Journal, 65, 1032-1036. Kirby, L. D. & Fraser, M. W. (1997). Risk and resiliency in childhood. In Fraser, M. W. (Ed.), Risk and Resiliency (pp. 10-33). Washington, DC: NASW Press. Laguerre, Michel S. American Odyssey: Haitians in New York City. New York: Cornell University Press, 1984. McGoldrick, Monica, Giordano, Joe, Garcia Preto, Nydia, (2005), Ethnicity and Family Therapy, The Guilford Press. (129-134). Pike, L. (1996). Family resiliency [on-line]. http://www.exnet.iastaons/Resiliency/q.a.html. (Web address no longer functional.) Saleebey, D. (1996). The strengths perspective in social work practice: Extensions and cautions. Social Work, 41, 296-305. Walsh, Froma, Normal Family Processes, Third Edition: Growing Diversity and Complexity (pp. 29-30). Harcourt Press (2006). Read More