Chapter 15: Family Change: Stress, Crisis, and Transition

1. Chapter 15:Family Change: Stress, Crisis, and Transition

2. Family Development Stress • Stressor • Anything that elicits a physiological and/or psychological response – a stress response • Good stress – eustress • Negative stress - distress

3. Categories of Common Stressors • Personal • Social/family • Work • Environmental

4. Family Life Cycle Developmental Tasks • Changes in Structure • Family structure is dynamic • Must adapt to ongoing changes in the system • Changes in Family Roles • As structure changes, family roles change • Changes occur in family boundaries

5. Family Life Cycle Developmental Tasks • Changes in Family Roles • As roles change, communication changes • Individual growth demands change

6. Family as a System • Family is a system of interrelated parts • Family members affect and are affected by each other • Each family must be viewed as a whole • Each family’s goal is to maintain homeostasis or balance

7. Figure 15.1: Stages of Selye’s General Adaptation Syndrome

8. General Adaptation Syndrome • Describes the physiological responses to eustress and distress • Stage 1: Alarm Reaction • The brain perceives the stressor and signals the body to deal with it through neurological and physiological means • The body reacts to the threat • Fight or flight tendency

9. General Adaptation Syndrome • Stage 2 : Stage of Resistance • The body continues to battle the stressor and remains in a state of arousal • Increased level of stress steroids alarms the body’s organs • Energy eventually becomes depleted

10. General Adaptation Syndrome • Stage 3: Exhaustion • Chronic unrelenting stress or mismanaged stress can cause permanent damage • The body over time simply breaks down • People under stress may experience a variety of symptoms – headaches, nausea, depression, crying, fatigue, anger, racing heart, inability to eat or sleep, and more

11. Event Based Stress • A life change event • One that is forever life altering • One that requires significant social and psychological adjustment

12. Social Readjustment Rating Scale • Identifies association between life events and life transitions • Identifies the impact of these events and transitions on individual physical health and well-being

13. Transactional Model of Stress • The impact of the stressor is wholly dependent on our perception and appraisal of the stressor • Primary appraisal – instinctively evaluate the stressor and assess its significance • Secondary appraisal – assess how controllable the stressor is and which resources

14. Locus of Control • External Locus of Control • The perception that we cannot control what happens to some aspects of our lives • Internal Locus of Control • The perception that we are in control of our destiny

15. Coping Efforts • Strategies used to bring order to, normalize, or regulate the stressor • Problem management strategies • Aimed directly at attacking the stressor • Emotional regulation strategies • Help individuals change their perceptions, interpretation, and the meaning of the stressor • Meaning based strategies • Techniques that produced positive emotion

16. Table 15.2: Types of Family Crises

17. Four Types of Family Crisis • Dismemberment – separation of isolation of an individual from the rest of the family • Accession – when turbulence occurs due to the addition of a family member • Demoralization plus Dismemberment or Accession- family is demoralized because of embarrassing stressors such as imprisonment or suicide of a family member

18. Figure 15.2: Hill’s ABC –X Model of Family Stress

19. The ABC’s of Family Crisis • ABC-X Family Crisis Model – Reuben Hill • Family crisis is a combination of factors and the outcomes of the event • The A Factor – stress can be normative development such as the birth of a child, marriage of an adult child, early death of a spouse – are family specific

20. ABC-X Model continued • The B Factor- refers to the resources the family has that will help meet the demands of the stressor or crisis – communication, problem solving, coping strategies • The C Factor – the definition the family assigns to change, transition, stressor, or disruption

21. ABC-X Model continued • The X Factor – this is the combination of A, B and C and is totally dependent on the resources the family has to meet the crisis or stressor

22. Double ABC-X model • Stressors pile up on families • 3 types of stressors that lead to the pile-up • Initial stressor: the first stressor • Family life changes and transitions: things that take place regardless of stressors • Stressors: those stressors associated with family’s attempt to cope with circumstances

23. Double ABC-X model • The Double B Factor • Resources that family already has – minimize impacts • Coping resources – self reliance, self esteem

24. Double ABC-X model The Double C Factor • The perception of the event or stressor may be • The family’s perception of the stressor itself • The family’s perception of the crisis

25. Double ABC-X model • The Double X Factor • Possible outcomes of stress • Family adaptation – return to pre-crisis level of functioning • Maladaptive levels of functioning – low-functioning, ill-functioning, non-functioning • Bonadaptive – level of functioning may grow and strengthen

26. Figure 15.3: McCubbin’s Double ABC-X Model of Family Stress and Crisis: Pile-Up

27. Family Adaptive Tasks To successfully adjust, families must • Establish the meaning and understand the personal significance of the situation • Confront reality and respond to the requirements of the external situation • Sustain relationships with family members and friends as well as with other individuals who may be helpful in resolving the crisis and aftermath

28. Family Adaptive Tasks • Preserve a reasonable emotional balance by managing distressful feelings in response to the situation • Preserve a satisfactory self-image and maintain a sense of competence and mastery

29. Family Violence • Violence perpetrated against family members by an offender who is related to the victim biologically or legally • Batterers – current or former spouses, parents, guardians, children, siblings, grandchildren, aunts and uncles, nephews and nieces

30. Figure 15.4: Domestic Partner Violence by Race/Ethnicity and Gender

31. Domestic Violence Categories • Physical Violence – hitting, punching, pushing, slapping, biting, or throwing something at the victim • Emotional violence – controlling the amount of contact with others, name calling, criticism, controlling spending, excessive rule making

32. More Domestic Violence • Sexual violence – marital rape, battering rape, and forced sexual acts

33. Measuring Domestic Violence • Measured in two ways • Through survey interviews with victims • Through statistics gathered by police

34. The Battered Characteristics of the battered • Lower educational levels • Teenage parents • Women who are single parents • Women who have witnessed a parent being battered

35. Prevalence of Domestic Violence • 1 in 4 women have been physically or sexually abused by an intimate partner • Women are more likely than men to be victims • 3/4 of the people who commit family violence are men • 74% of family violence victims are white, 13.6% are African American and 10.1 % are Hispanic

36. More Domestic Violence Facts • Girlfriends are more likely to be injured by their boyfriends during family violence than are wives by their husbands • 15% of all violent acts between intimate partners are perpetrated against men • 18% of family murders are siblings who kill siblings

37. Figure 15.5 Primary Populations Served by Domestic Violence Shelters

38. Domestic Homicides • Everyday an average of 4 women in the U.S. are killed by their intimate partners • Of all murders in the U.S., 21.5% are committed against family members • Intimate partner violence is the leading cause of death among pregnant women • Whites are more likely to die at the hands of their partners than other races

39. Violence Against Children • Each year over 3 million children experience some type of maltreatment or abuse by a caregiver • 61% are neglected • 19% are physically abused • 10% are sexually abused • 5% are psychologically abused • 2% experience medical maltreatment • 17% experience abandonment

40. Figure 15.6: Types of Child Abuse and Neglect by Percentage of Total Abuse

41. Figure 15.7: Who Abuses Children?

42. Violence Against Same Sex Partners • 6,523 incidents of domestic violence among same sex partners • 44% of victims were men, 36% were women and 2% were transgendered • 44% were white, 25% were Latino, 15% were African American and 6% were Asian

43. The Signs of an Abusive Partner • The Batterer • Low self-esteem • Blame others for their behavior • Typically extremely jealous • Use sex as their weapon of aggression • Need to control and dominate and become master manipulators

44. The Cycle of Violence • Tension Building – victim senses an explosive, violent episode is about to occur, fear builds, she tries to stay out of his way; goal is to prevent batterer from becoming violent

45. The Cycle of Violence • Acute Battering Incident – destructive, out of control, brutal, violence has escalated into an acute battering incident, can become deadly, verbal abuse, severe beating, possible rape, victim does not usually fight back

46. The Cycle of Violence • Respite Phase – often called the “honeymoon,” abuser apologizes, may give victim gifts, express his regret, victim may have sense of renewed hope

47. Figure 15.8: The Power and

48. Figure 15.10 Lenore Walker’s Cycle of ViolenceP. 512

49. Family Coping and Resilience • Major Types of Coping Skills • Appraisal focused – attempt to understand why crisis occurred and attempt to find meaning in circumstances that caused crisis • Problem focused coping – allows family to confront the situation by seeking information about the crisis

50. Family Coping and Resilience • Emotion focused coping – crisis evokes a wide range of feelings and emotions • Progressive desensitization: gradually allow increasing exposure to aspects of the stressor • Emotional discharge: venting of anger, frustration, confusion, disappointment • Resigned acceptance: family ultimately accepts the situation, recognizes nothing will change the course their family has taken