Counseling Interventions Pertaining to Communication and Discipline - Case Study Example

Due to the increase in the number of separated parents, there is a rise in the number of stepfamilies throughout America. Adolescent children are at a higher risk of experiencing behavioral problems if they are living in a stepfamily setting. The early behavioral problems include early sexual behavior, smoking, drinking, and dropping out of school. The benefits of various therapeutic interventions are discussed. The assessment of the therapeutic process has been beneficial to these stepfamilies and very helpful. The following research paper discusses details both the therapeutic and assessment process. Key Words: Stepparents, Adolescents, Stepfamilies. Communication, Discipline, Family Systems Therapy Introduction Parenting is the most difficult aspects of a stepfamily. It is more difficult to form a stepfamily with adolescent children compared to forming a family with younger children. The main cause could be because of developmental stages. Research indicates that children who are between the ages of 10 and 14 may have a hard time in adjusting into a stepfamily. However, both children above the age of 15 and under the age of 10 may need to have stepparent. The older or the children who are over 15 may need little or less parenting and will be less involved in the family. Finally, the children who are under 10 may be willing to have another adult in the family. Family structure has recently transformed due to both demographic and social changes. According to the Office of National Statistic, marriage rates have drastically while the number of divorce cases has remained constant (ONS, 2007a:56). In recent years, people become parents and have their first child easily in a cohabiting union rather than within a marriage. Moreover, between 1975 and 2004, non-marital childbirth has drastically increased, from 9% to 43%, in which two thirds is of unmarried parents (ONS, 2007a:85). Several factors may affect how a child adjusts to a stepfamily this include, gender of the child. Girls attend to be more difficult than boys are and they may take time in adjusting in a stepfamily. For instance, stepfamilies that include the natural mother and a stepfather, the girls are more likely than boys to oppose the new male figure. In divorced families, where there is only a single parent that is involved, mother-daughter relationships tend to be extremely close. Consequently, girls may see the stepfather as a threat to the relationship with her mother when the mother decides to remarry. Alternatively, boys would quickly adjust since they yearn for a masculine figure. Usually in a divorced family, and the mother is the sole parent, mother-son relationship is conflicting and very coercive and would appreciate a father figure as their role and a supportive parent. Girls may have difficulty in adjusting to their new stepmother, mostly since most girls uphold a close relationship with their new mother, but girls can adjust to the new stepmother and be advantageous in the new relationship. Behavioral problems ranging from antisocial behavior to aggressive behavior have been associated with children experiencing loss of one parent, or both. The adverse effects of stepfamily set-ups may develop mistrust in children to basic family morals and discipline. These children compared with those from intact families, are said to achieve poorly, have major discipline problems, moody and withdrawn from their peers. To create a more strong foundation existing family ties, there is need to understand that the transition is both economical and socially impacting to younger children as opposed to their older counter parts. Research Question How do stepfamilies cope with the difficulties that they may experience with adolescents? How therapeutic interventions are beneficial to stepfamilies regarding discipline within the homes of adolescents? How are therapeutic interventions most helpful to stepfamilies dealing with the difficulties regarding communication with their adolescents? Hypothesis There are certain counseling interventions that prove successful for stepfamilies with adolescents, concerning communication and discipline. Research Methodology This study is descriptive in nature. It sought to explore the social and human behavior that best describes the counseling interventions pertaining to communication and discipline of the adolescence in a stepfamily situation. Qualitative research method fits this research topic because it‘s a process of inquiry which is highly based on distinctive methodological traditions which best explores social or human behavior. The method I used in the data collection is Secondary. The data was obtained from literature pertaining to keywords such as stepfamilies, adolescents, communication, and discipline, and family system therapy. The Secondary sources I used were acquired from the use published books, peer-reviewed journals, and Internet postings, which are relevant to this study. Literature Review Little research has been done in his study. However, authors who have researched on this topic have done a great deal of work, trying to find solutions that may be helpful in a stepfamily’s setting. Paul Amato highlights the difficulty of making sense of this literature because results from individual studies range from finding serious effects to modest effects and to no effects at all (Amato, 2005:75). He further argues that, this inconsistency is due to differences in types of sample, the ages of children, outcomes investigated and methods of analysis across studies. Rodgers and Pryor on the other hand review a comprehensive research on the impact of divorce and separation on outcomes for children (Calhoon 2005:430)and conclude that children of separated parents compared with children whose parents remain together are at a great risk of having behavioral problems. Guilamo-Ramos and Jaccard claims that adolescence children who have positive relationship with both their natural parent and stepparent are less likely to get involved in hazard behavior such as smoking, drinking and fighting (Guilamo-Ramos & Jaccard, 2005:895). Thus close relationships; communication and parental support are very essential during the adolescence stage. Sweeting elaborates further and explains that those adolescents are more likely and negatively affected by parental conflict compared to younger children (Greenwood 2007:70) nonetheless, younger children adjust more easily and faster to consequent re-partnering by their biological parent. Alternatively, children who experience parental separation at a young age are exposed to repeated changes in family structure. Generally, suggestion indicates that younger children are at greater risk of opposing outcomes, including higher rates of wrongdoing in adolescence, birth outside marriage and unemployment in adulthood. Conversely, indications relating family breakdown with teenage misbehavior may be confused by bad behavior, by mostly boys in this age group. Children’s experiences are diverse, but there is a significant agreement that parents need to discuss which concerns the children and the support that they may find helpful. When parents decide to separate, children are often uninformed and consequently confused and distressed when parents leave or separate with no explanations (Hawthorne et al., 2003:104). Lack of Communication, is mostly identified by children in the Avon Longitudinal Study of Parents and Children (ALSPAC) as a fundamental factor. According to Dunn and Deater, a group of children in the study whose parents had separated claimed that no one had talked to them about the separation. For that reason, few felt that they had to be given a full explanation, leaving them feeling confused and distressed. Children also report that parents can intensify difficulties by poor or no communication, or help to alleviate unhappiness by keeping them conversant about what is happening, and by behaving responsibly. Where there is no direct contact with the non-resident parent, children’s emotional well-being, and educational performance post separation benefit, from good family communication and information about the non-resident parent. Good relationship and quality parenting with the non-resident, especially the male figure, is associated with the children’s wellbeing and that is more vital than contact in itself. The presence of a father is not enough, but rather they need to get involved since they bring about positive influence to children mostly in the adolescence stage. In an intact family, the main effective way of parenting is on condition that authoritarian method is applied. Features brought out through this method include warmth and love, close monitoring, and more so support which bring out the wellbeing of the family. However, it is not usually easy for separated father to create a good life with his family after the breakdown, since they may have issues in having good hosing, and lack of funds (Bainham et al, 2003:45). Stepparent’s relations with stepchildren Data collection and method of analysis These analyses I used below were obtained from the National Survey of Families and Households, the sample had a national probability of approximately 13,000 respondents who were randomly selected from each household (Sweet et al. 1988). The analytical sample is drawn from main respondents in married or cohabiting unions who have any children under age 18 (resident or nonresident, biological, adopted, or step). The data analysis used to are the stepparents’ own reports of both the resident and the new stepchildren but gives parameters to little stepchildren. Thus, ‘stepchildren’ refers to the stepchildren of the main respondent, for instant the partners’ children from a previous marriage living with the couple. Stepchildren are classified as ‘resident’ or ‘nonresident’ based on whether they reside in the respondent’s household for at least half the time. In addition to stepchildren, stepparents may have resident and/or nonresident biological children from a previous union who are the stepchildren of their partner, as well as children from the current union. Of approximately 7,437 main respondents living with a spouse or partner, 4,194 report biological, adopted, or stepchildren under age 18 living within or outside their household. Since I examine the social demographic characteristics of stepparents, cases missing on race, age, and union duration were removed to create a final analytic sample of 4,175 main respondents (respondents missing on education, church attendance, and earnings were coded to the mean). Table 1. Stepparent status of married adults with minor children in (%) Where (a) represents married stepparents with resident stepchildren. (b) On the other hand represents married and cohabiting stepparents with resident and/or nonresident stepchildren. Finally, (c) represents the cohabiting respondents, which are 378. N represents the weighted percentages and unweights percentages. The source is National Survey of Families and Households between the years 1987–1988 Results My objective is to show how cohabiting and transient stepparents changes our understanding of the occurrence and context of stepparent hood. I first estimate the prevalence of stepparent hood, contrasting the ‘traditional’ view of stepparent hood with the ‘revised’ view. Table 1 shows the proportion of adults with stepchildren based on the ‘traditional’ view of stepparents, that is, married stepparents with the partner’s stepchildren. The above analysis illustrates that married couples with little children below adolescence are while the other 94% with biological children together do not have stepchildren. Two components are brought into consideration, that is, cohabiting stepparents and stepparents with no stepchildren. 14% of adults that are married and do cohabit do have stepchildren. 86% however have biological children only. The traditional view of stepparent illustrations gives little diversity in the parenting context. In the above analysis, all stepparents are married (that either can be in first marriages or have remarried) and all of the stepparents live with stepchildren. According to Coleman, the majority of stepfamily research which been conducted with this group of stepparents, and most of our knowledge of stepparenting behavior is limited to stepparents and stepchildren living within this family environment. Discussion From the literature findings and through the use of coding sheets identifying if any the children who are brought up by stepfamilies a bit of discrepancies regarding the behavior exhibited existing themes, I found there. While Culhoon (2005:340) indicated that there were behavioral problems involving children brought up by stepfamilies, other researchers found different results. For instance, Amato (2005:75) indicated that it was difficult to state whether such problems actually occur, and whether they are related to the change of the family structure. For this reason, it is difficult for us to tell whether the behavioral problems witnessed on adolescents with stepfamilies are similar to that of the natural parents. There is overgeneralization of the behavioral problems of the teenagers whom are brought up by stepfamilies. Guilamo-Ramos & Jaccard (2005:895) for instance state that if children are able to maintain contact with their biological parents, then they will exhibit normal behavior. For that reason, it will be biased to overgeneralize that behavioral problems with the teenagers has to arise once they are raised by stepfamilies. Further, I found communication between the stepfamilies and the teenagers become imperative. Communication is a form of therapy that plays a big role in addressing anxiety, stresses, and any issue that may be disturbing any of them. In the conducted research, the findings are related to literature review. For instance, the results indicated that stress was normal especially before stepfamilies and children acclimatized to the new environment. From my research too, communication plays an important role in which the new parents learn new approaches to instill discipline on the teenagers as well as good relationship. For that reason therefore, behavioral problems, which may be portrayed by teenagers, may be because of lack of good relationship and communication and not just the act of remarrying. How Parents can cope with the Adolescence Children The Parent- Child Relations Following a remarriage, parents are required to restrict the family relationship and their roles. This is to accommodate the new people joining the family. However, the stepparents may experience resentments they would have to share the love with their stepparent. Increased stress to both the new parent and the children is considered normal. Nevertheless, a spouse who decides to remarry and start new lives with their children from the previous relationship should first understand each other, decide on the parenting style, agree with the children, and answer the query they may have and more importantly, decide how you as a family will be able to resolve conflict. Therapeutic intervention Both the biological and the stepparent should have an open and serious discussion about the fears and the expectations that the children may have regarding to their relationship. Once the parents in the stepfamily agree and understand each other’s expectations, then both parents can start shaping up their family. Therapeutic interventions involve the use of other ways in order to help the individual and protect the individual against any attack of the stepparent. This intervention helps adolescence gain knowledge and skills to live in a stepfamily. The following interventions include helpful ways to ensure good relations with the adolescence and the way forward. Dealing with differences Stepfamilies tend to have differences in parenting, discipline, and lifestyle, which are definite and may be a source of frustration for the children. Both parents should encourage unity by deciding together on matters such as rules, chores, discipline, and allowances. By agreeing on consistent guidelines and strategies will diminish the feeling of unfairness to the children and will show the children that you as parents are united. Child Management Training Research claims that behavioral family interventions such as Child Management Training, is the best approach in treating behavior problems. Child Management Training is however under the assumption that rebellious behaviors are learned and sustained through social contingencies that may occur in the child’s family environment. It consists of behavioral techniques that are used to treat oppositional and conduct problems in children. In Child Management Treatment, parents are enlightened on strategies for modifying contingencies to foster behavior. Problem Solving and Communication Training Many stepfamilies lack efficient communication and problem solving skills. Without the mentioned skills, it is likely that stepfamilies can experience marital and family conflict. Problem solving and communication training (PSCT) approaches on individuals or family have been successfully employed in the treatment of child behavior problems, parent-adolescent conflict, and marital distress. According to Robin and Koepke, this approach emerges more effective for changing problem solving and communication skills than other non-behavioral interventions and is rated as highly acceptable by clients. Moreover, for older school age children and adolescents, PSCT as an adjunct enhances the success of traditional CMT. Problem solving and communication training aims at correcting communication patterns, and facilitate declaration of family conflict. To ensure all members take part in the decision-making, a democratic family becomes imperative. Partner Support Training Stepparents may have conflicting ideas on how to rear their children that can be a source of conflict. For the Child Management Training intervention to be successful, it is significant that both parents to be united in implementing change. This requires guidance that is more specific by educating the parents about cooperation. Partner Support Training (PST) is a brief adjunctive intervention, designed to facilitate Child Management Training. Both child Management Training and Partner Support Training has been shown to produce greater treatment effects than one program alone. In addition to providing skills training in problem solving as described earlier, Partner Support Training aims to decrease conflict over child management strategies and increase partners’ supportive skills. Planned Family Activities Training Some of the causes of problems of remarried families include lack of family identity or unity. Most children often do not consider their stepfamily as a “real family.” Even though improved problem solving and communication would facilitate mutual agreement in family routines, a lack of family cohesion is not adequately addressed by the therapeutic techniques discussed so far. Authors have come up with a set of techniques called the Planned Family Activities Training (PFAT) for overcoming these problems. It is based on the underlying principle that family identity refers to the cognitive picture family members develop through their experiences in the family. Thus, if their experiences are predominantly of hostility and conflict, they are likely to hold a negative view of the family. Assessment This is a critical aspect of any therapeutic intervention. The aims include, the formulation of the presenting problem, two, clarification of resources and obstacles to therapy, and finally, selection of therapeutic strategies most suitable in the individual families. Clinical Interview The clinical interview is a family’s first contact with clinical services. It may determine whether the family returns for further assistance. Therefore, a rapport needs to be established to determine the problems that can be associated with marriage. The main purpose of the clinical interview is to determine the nature of the presenting problem and its maintenance factors. Parent Interview Additional information is required when conducting a parent interview with remarried couple. This information includes extended family history data, such as; child’s age and reaction to the first marriage breakdown, causes of the breakdown, family relationships at that time, and the duration of remarried relationship. Assessment of current family functioning should cover areas such as the perceived role of the step-parent; family decision making patterns especially those in common problem areas, e.g., finances, discipline, and children’s activities; relationships between family members; marital satisfaction. Both natural and the stepparent should offer their opinion as they may have different perceptions of interactions in the family. The natural parent, for example may see a child as undisciplined, while the stepparent may be assumed too strict. Child Interview Children over the age of 6 or 7 years can give valuable insights into the nature and causes of family problems. These children call for clinical interviews to understand child’s view on the problems experienced in the family and their perception about the stepparents. These interviews are imperative since they assist the counselor to have a clear understanding of the child’s background and their unresolved psychological and emotional status. Determining the necessity of a Family-Based intervention An important aim of the intake interview is to determine whether a behavioral family intervention is appropriate. Sanders and Dadds (2004:102) listed three criteria for making this decision: (a) the presenting problems can be described in behavioral terms; (b) at least one but preferably both parents agree that a problem exists and are willing to enter therapy; (c) there is evidence that family interactional factors have contributed to the development or maintenance of the problems (Sanders & Dadds 2004:112). Overall Findings I have identified stepfamilies as a high risk. The child behavior problem has been a major concern in this kind of setting. I think to manage the aggressive, antisocial behavior in different context; behavioral family interventions need to be employed. Nonetheless, stepfamilies are confronted with many challenges and behavioural family interventions demonstrate limitations with multi-problem families (Calhoon 2003:241). Therefore, an overall behavioral intervention program is advocated for, which the core child management training, with a number of complementary components likely to meet the special needs of stepfamilies. Behavioral family interventions may not be a favorable choice for all families, predominantly if therapeutic contact is limited to parents. For that reason, some members of the stepfamily may also benefit from from not only the individual intervention but also family focus. This may be indicated in situations where the child has experienced prior sexual or physical abuse, if the target child is approaching or has entered adolescence and in situations where there is evidence that the child holds negative cognitions of the stepparent or stepfamily situation that may impede therapy. Studies indicate that dysfunctional cognitive processes are likely to be higher in such children (Carter 2005:17). However, little is known about the specific cognitions children may hold about stepfamilies, and no technology currently exists for assessing such cognitions. Further research is needed to clarify these issues and guide therapeutic decision-making. I have considered numerous issues when stepfamilies want to select a suitable level of therapeutic intervention for individual in the family. First, it can vital to avoid over-burdening a family that is experiencing high levels of stress. Some families find it difficult to fit in therapy appointments into their already busy lifestyles. Alternatively, home visit therapist should be encouraged (Carter 2006:260), or setting up of clinics locally. The other issue that I have considered is the level of existing skills family members display at initial contact. It is our clinical experience that families vary in their pre-existing skills. Whereas some families clearly need substantial therapist guidance, others may respond well to minimal interventions. DuPaul (2007:156) have recommended the provision of written guidance in the form of a self-help program as a cost effective, easily accessible program for parents. This kind of minimal intervention is imperative for parents who have many necessary skills but have been unable to apply these effectively in their current situation. Unfortunately, this approach precludes the use of behavioral strategies such as modeling, behavioral rehearsal, and feedback, which are regarded as powerful techniques for effecting behavior change. Moreover, provision of written materials may be burdensome for parents living in chaotic households or who have poor reading skills. Indeed, a number of our clients prefer to attend clinic therapy sessions because this affords them the chance to spend some time alone together to talk without distraction from other family members. In general, it is recommended that self-help programs be employed only with families experiencing moderate problems and displaying high levels of functioning on initial presentation. For families experiencing severe problems, displaying low levels of child management or other skills at presentation, a more intensive therapy approach is warranted. Research examining the match of therapeutic intervention level with individual stepfamilies is nonexistent and should receive priority in the future. Finally, the issue of the considerable difficult recruiting stepfamilies for therapy programs (Gravetter & Wallnau 2007:24) and Gersten et al (2007:150) has asserted that some stepparents may not express their problems for fear of being stigmatized. These social issues are exacerbated by the relative invisibility of stepfamilies in the community and there may be a lack of professional awareness of the problems experienced by stepfamilies. 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