Family theories - Case Study Example

Social work Family Communication Theory Family communication theory is based on the essential perceptivity that create a common social pragmatism is the core to family functioning (O’Gorman, 2012). The shared reality subsists when family members’ knowledge about an objective are precise, congruent and in correspondence. Sharing of family realities with significant others enhances understating and being understood pretty fast. This theory sums up the effects of illness maintain behavior as it promotes efficiency and coordination with little conflicts and misunderstandings within the family. As a result, families that share realities of life should have proper communication amongst themselves precisely and with minimal misunderstandings, supporting each other as well. Family communication is a very essential too that can be used to influence health patterns and behaviour of all individuals. Communication forms a basis of identifying hidden and yet urgent health problems in a family member. Although a family is made up of people sharing same blood and inseparable bonding, not all members express their problems the same way. That difference in expressing problems and responding to them significantly overextend to issues concerning health. Communication plays an indispensible role of uniting all family members, enabling them to identify and solve their problems as a team. For instance, an adolescent teenager child may find it difficult airing out his or her health problem. It takes the vigilance of parents to help this child deal with the problem. Although it is the child with a health problem, it is the duty of the parents to pick out non-verbal cues that closely relate to a health problem, convince the child to speak out and agree to solve the problem in cooperation. Charlotte is definitely having a problem with her illness behaviour just by the way she is acting out. First, she has become noncompliant with her medication; she misses her physiotherapy sessions which typically are the negative role of an adolescent in illness behavior. Her increased stealth interaction with children younger than her tells that she finds it hard relating with her age mates most probably a sign of ineffective family communication. According to communication theory, (O’Gorman, 2012) a family forms a common ground for shared realities by conformity orientation and conversation orientation. Conversation orientation entails spontaneous unrestrained interactions that enable family members to discover the true meaning of symbols and objective. Referring to Charlotte’s case, it is evident that she is not free to share her realities with her family by the way she goes sharing with non-family member such as nurses. This does not help her by the fact that she has isolated the very people she lives with and has become so mean with giving out information necessary for her continuous family care and support.by failing to communicate precisely and freely, Charlotte has managed to prolong her problem rather than solve it. Although she understands that all mean well her, her perpetual unwillingness to cooperate makes it hard for a fruitful communication pattern at family level. The family understands that Charlotte’s pulmonary exacerbation is likely to shorten her life span; therefore, this is a reality for all. Her family is inclined towards promoting positive illness behaviour as shown by her mother’s concern. For impressive health intervention outcome, the patient, significant others and the health care team must work in collaboration which is only achieved through effective communication and understanding. Family System Theory Families form a special type of system because of several interrelated factors. Family system theory elaborates on the coherent behavior of the family, the type and level of interaction among family members. Furthermore, this theory examines family boundaries and how interdependent family members are. The family is tied into one functional system with various interconnected sections that synergize each other making it a good support system for Charlotte. In most cases a problem with one family member affects all people; hence there is need to work together to sustain illness maintaining behaviour (O’Gorman, 2012). A family system has interlinked ingredients and structure. The ingredients of this system are members of a family in this case; it includes Charlotte, her 14-year-old sister, mother and father. Each family member has certain characteristics that are unique yet they influence the manner in which the family relates. According to the family system theory, these elements of a family heavily influence one another in adopting certain illness maintaining behavior. (O’Gorman, 2012) Analyzing Charlotte’s case, it is a family concern that she receives treatment and gets well soon, this is regarded as a positive illness maintaining behavior. This means that her mother, father and her 14-year-old sister have to accord her the necessary support throughout her sickness. However, Charlotte seems isolated from her family since she does not want to spend time with them. This reveals a problem with the interaction pattern in this family exists clearly portraying Charlotte’s illness behavior as negative. Charlotte has manipulated her sick role, perhaps propelled by the fact that she may not live long to enjoy the good things around. She spends most of the time visiting her friends and watching games as a result coming home too late to take her medication in time. This leaves her mother worried that Charlotte is being over-involved in things not appropriate for her and by extension the whole family; because Charlotte, an element in the family system is not normally functioning. As a system, a family is influenced by the same emotional climate that comes from various factors that affect it. It is worth mentioning that emotions in a family are infectious and how one member feels and reacts highly influences the mood and effect of the other. When a member of the family is unwell, the whole family becomes unwell although in real sense it is only one individual. This happens because families work together and as a system, if one part is not functioning well then the whole system is affected. It is true that Charlotte’s mother and the rest of the family are concerned and apprehensible of what to become Charlotte. This is a natural reaction that will happen with any family because of the element of it being a system. Since the family is regarded as a system, it is appropriate to offer health care services to the whole family besides treating Charlotte. It benefits every member of the family when treatment is not only limited to the unwell individual. In this case although the type of treat will differ from that of the sick individual, every member will benefit, by extension creating an incubatory environment for family healing from the common problem they face. Conflict Theory This theory affirms that conflicts in a family are a usual happening. According to conflict theory, a family is perceived as a special entity in society, not only made up of children and parents, but also influenced by various environmental factors (O’Gorman, 2012).Charlotte changes her sick role because she believes that she will not live long enough due to her pulmonary condition. This makes her very anxious, overdependent on other people (her nurse friends) and adopts abnormal behaviours. She is convinced that her diagnosis is final and believes that nothing much can be done to avert death. Charlotte believes that she cannot date because boys will be set off by her condition. So sad that Charlotte cannot take care of herself on the pretext that she does not matter anymore because her life is only expiring in a few months. This becomes a source of conflict in this family since Charlotte is seen as adamant and unwilling to embrace healthy practices However, her fear is relinquished when the primary physician reveals that she can live up to 30 years or even more provided she takes good care of herself. This means that the family has to help Charlotte solve her internal conflicts; to stop seeing her condition as terminal, but as curable with many years of life ahead. Charlotte needs to shape her illness maintain behavior by complying with medication, attending physiotherapy sessions and avoiding spending most of her time on irrelevant activities. Both the physician and the family are supposed to help Charlotte adopt a healthy illness maintain behavior. The essence of conflict theory is to help families understand the sources of misunderstanding and supply possible solutions to them. Sickness is one notorious conflict in the family. Illness brings with it various social, economic and cultural instabilities. Economically illness causes unplanned financial costs that offset the budget of the family, for instance Charlotte’s family must forego undertaking any development projects to ensure that health is given priority. Unless the whole family agrees to act as one in this case, conflict is bound to rise. Cultural beliefs on sickness may ensue disagreement when deciding if the patient should base on faith for healing or seek medical attention. Reference O’Gorman, S. (2012). Attachment Theory, Family System Theory, and the Child Presenting with Significant Behavioral Concerns. Journal of Systemic Therapies. doi:10.1521/jsyt.2012.31.3.1 Read More