Adopting a Family Relationship Framework
Answer the questions below by using chapter 1 of your textbook.
1. A typical family system is characterized by _______.
☒ an evolved set of rules for itself and its members
☐ the lack of values
☐ decreased communication
☐ none of these apply
2. Which statement about families is true?
☐ Families never add new members
☐ Families can be influenced by the community in which they live in
☐ Family members all get along all the time
☐ none of these apply
3. Which statement is true about American families?
☐ All American families are wealthy.
☐ American families can be made up of members of many ethnicities and live in a wide variety of areas.
☐ Every American family is White, has two children, and lives in the suburbs.
☐ None of these apply
4. Rituals can best be described as _____.
☐ beliefs that gods do not exist
☐ symbolic actions related to beliefs that help families adapt to change and bring meaning to
their lives
☐ beliefs in supernatural evil forces
☐ none of these apply
5. Which of the following helps to increase a family's resilience (a family’s ability to recover quickly from difficult problems or how they cope with situations)?
☒ family members have clear and consistent communication and problem-solving processes
☐ ignoring the needs of vulnerable family members
☐ having a negative belief system
☐ none of these apply
6. While children grow up, their gender roles are influenced by _____. Gender roles are a set of society norms that determines what types of behaviors are acceptable, appropriate or desirable for a person based on their actual or perceived sex.
Parents and society
☐ pregnancy only
☐ puberty only
☐ none of these apply
7. A _________ is a natural social system that occurs in a wide variety of forms and represents different cultural heritages.
☐ family
☐ monarchy
☐ hierarchy
☐ none of these apply
8. African American family members are often made up of__________
☐ mothers, fathers, children, and a wide network of kin, close friends, and community members
☐ nephews and nieces only
☐ neighbors only
☐ none of these apply
9. People in families are intimately _______.
☐ ignored
☐ connected
☐ forgotten
☐ none of these apply
10. The people most vulnerable to living in _______ are nonwhite minorities, single mothers, children under 18 and the elderly.
☐ wealth
☐ poverty
☐ mansions
☐ none of these apply
Reflection
Entrance into a family occurs by birth, adoption, through marriage or with other committed relationships as new family members enter a family. Identify a member of your family, explain how they joined or entered the family and share a unique trait or characteristic of that family member in the chart below.
11. Read the chart below. Complete the missing information.
Name of the family member
How did the family member enter the family?
Unique trait about that family member
Type answer here
Type answer here
Type answer here
12. Families have different customs, rituals or cultural practices which are passed onto to their children and other family members. Rituals and customs are social behaviors related to specific cultures, and they are used to increase family bonds. Sometimes customs or rituals can strengthen a family system or split it apart. For example, a family might have a ritual where all their children attend church. If a teenager refused because they are an atheist, it could cause a family to divide. Describe an example of a family ritual or custom below, and example how it could strengthen or divide a family.
a. Describe a family ritual or custom.
Type answer here
b. Explain why you feel the ritual or custom can strengthen or divide a family.
Type answer here
13. Identify your favorite ritual growing up. Examples include but are not limited to: going to church, going to a family members home for family dinners, etc. Explain why these rituals are so important to you. An example is provided below:
Ritual
Description of ritual
Explanation of why ritual is important
Ex: Church
Ex: You must attend Church 3 times a week
Ex: My family is religious and it was expected to attend this event weekly.
a. Type answer here
Type answer here
Type answer here
14. All families face challenges: an unexpected death, the divorce, job loss, retirement. Families adopt ways of coping to build resiliency. Resiliency is the ability to bounce back and overcome a challenge. Often, family members can build on their strengths to become resilient.
Identify one challenge within a family and explain a strategy to boost resiliency within the family within the chart below. Resiliency within a family relates to their ability to recover quickly from difficult problems or overcome situations.
Family Challenge
Explanation of strategy to boost resiliency
a. Type answer here
Type answer here
15. A strength-based approach is used frequently while working with clients in the HHS field. It can be used with individual clients or with families experiencing challenges. A strength-based approach involves identifying the strengths of an individual or family and building upon them. Once strengths are identified, goals can be set to help the client solve their problems or issues. For example, a client who is negative (weakness) might be stuck in a cycle of drug abuse. The clients can become more realistic (strength) when they realize the negative impact their drug use has on their family. Becoming more realistic about their situation can motivate them to obtain sobriety from drugs.
Choose on area of weakness in the illustration below and explain how you can build on the associated strength to help a client solve a problem.
a. Weakness: Type answer here
b. Strength: Type answer here
c. Explanation (how to build on the strength to overcome the weakness): Type answer here
Sharma, G. (2019). How to Turn Your Weaknesses into Strengths | Visual.ly. [online] Visual.ly. Available at: https://visual.ly/community/infographic/lifestyle/how-turn-your-weaknesses-strengths [Accessed 11 Feb. 2019].