Study Guide for "A Family Model"
The following includes a very broad set of questions to help you understand your assigned reading. You are responsible for material in the article that these questions may not directly address. That is, to do well on the quiz you must read the entire article at least once if not more than once. On the day of the quiz, you will have a five question multiple choice quiz in class. Study hard and enjoy understanding how family systems work
!What are the two functions of families in industrialized societies?
What are the elements of human experience (the matrix of identity)?
How is the family under "attack" and how is it changing as society also changes?
How do the Masai and Israeli kibbutzim ease the transition from adolescence to adulthood?
What are the three components of a family system?
Define the concept of family structure and transactional patterns. Does the family, like society, have an internal social structure?
What are the two systems of constraint that regulate family members' behavior?
Give examples of subsystems that exist within the larger structure of families?
What are family boundaries, give examples of them, and what is their function?
How do clear boundaries create proper family functioning?
Define and give examples of enmeshment and disengagement?
Give examples of dysfunctional families?
Would a family where one of the parents has a substance abuse problem and all the other family members try constantly to take care of her/him be an example of a disengaged or enmeshed household?
How would an enmeshed family respond to a child's substance abuse or sexual promiscuity?
Why is trying to improve or save your partner in a spouse subsystem dysfunctional? Describe a healthy spouse subsystem.
Explain how families must meet the developmental demands for both autonomy and guidance from their children (belonging and autonomy).
What does the author mean when he argues that the parenting process differs depending on the children's age?
Should families function as a true democracy?
What do these sentences mean: the therapist should remember that only a weak parental subsystem establishes restrictive control, and that excessive control occurs mostly when the control is ineffective?
What are the functions do the sibling subsystem?
How do dysfunctional families deal with external stressors?
Describe and give examples of the four sources of stress on a family system.
How can poverty and discrimination influence the functioning of families?
Summarize the conceptual scheme of a normal family.