Running head: Family Analysis Project
Family Analysis Project on A. O. Family
Family Analysis Project 1
Family Analysis Project on AO family
Introduction
I selected the family AO which is based on personal acquaintance for this project. I will complete a comprehensive analysis using the criteria that I will be describing in details in the proceeding paragraphs. This criteria includes description of the nuclear family form; demographic trends; sociocultural data. Genogram and ecomap; environment; communication; power structure; role structure, values, spiritual activities; socialization; adaptation and healthcare. “The nuclear family, consist of a husband provider, a wife homemaker and children. Two growing variations within nuclear families are dual-earner/ dual-career and the childless family. In dual-earner families, the major challenges focus on managing housework and child care; having two paid jobs and family relationship. Women, according to numerous studies, still do the lion’s share of family …show more content…
work; in turn this workload imbalance frequently leads to role overload and sometimes marital conflicts.” (Friedman, Bowen, & Jones, 2003, p 17). The family I selected falls in the dual-earner/dual-career nuclear family form.
Description of Nuclear family
The nuclear family, consist of a husband provider, a wife homemaker and children. Two growing variations within nuclear families are dual-earner/ dual-career and the childless family. In dual-earner families, the major challenges focus on managing housework and child care; having two paid jobs and family relationship. Women, according to numerous studies, still do the lion’s share of family work; in turn this workload imbalance frequently leads to role overload and
Family Analysis Project 2
sometimes marital conflicts.” (Friedman, Bowen & Jones, 2003, p 17). The family I selected falls in the dual-earner/dual-career nuclear family form. The Family is made up of four members, a father, mother and their two daughters. This family is under a lot of stress, sometimes even contemplating separation. The mother is 35years old African American, she works as a medical doctor in one of the largest hospital in Dallas metroplex. The father is 40 years old African American, works as a Registered Nurse in the same hospital as the wife. The daughter’s ages are eleven and nine years. They live in a 5 bedroom 2 story building well furnished home. The AO family is in the stage of a family with school-age children because of the age of their children. According to Erikson developmental stage, the developmental stage of the children is industry vs. inferiority. (McLeod, 2008).Family appears to be meeting the family members needs for physical things such as adequate housing, space, privacy and safety but not the psychological needs.
Sociocultural data:
According to the AO family, their cultural background is African American. The family has lived in Dallas Texas all their lives. Parents to AO family also live in Dallas. The family social network is from the same ethnic group/ religious group; the family has resided in same ethnically homogenous neighborhood for life. Visit to extended family and church activities seem to be limited to when AO and wife have time, mostly every other weekends. They both alternate taken their children for any educational activities. Otherwise, religious, social, cultural, recreational activities are within the family’s cultural group. Mrs. AO does not like to cook; instead the role is passed on to the Husband who likes to make and eat homemade meals.
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AO family dresses in a traditional way. There is no special meaning or attachment to the home décor. They have a lot of their children’s pictures on the wall but none of theirs is on the wall. Mrs. AO stated the “husband broke all the pictures they took together because he was mad at her.” The family major income comes from the wife. They both have good health benefits at work, so they were able to get the necessary healthcare for them and children. The family is in the upper-middle- class social class. Typically we will say the man is the breadwinner but Mrs. AO makes more than Mr. AO. The family considered their income to be crucial, adequate and sufficient.
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Environment
The AO family lives in a home they own, 5 bedrooms 2 story building, and well furnished. The girls have different rooms while the parents have the same room; the room for the AOs is very spacious with adequate ventilations, no decorations in the AO’s room. The children’s rooms have a lot of children’s decorations and pictures. The house is newly built, the floor, stairs, railings and other structures in the house are in adequate condition. The kitchen contains big refrigerator which contains a lot of healthy food. Each room have their own bathrooms and toilet which is very clean, presence of towels and soaps noted in each bathroom which shows they are not sharing towels or soaps. The family has a cleaning agency that comes every week to clean their house for them because of their busy schedule. There are adequacies of the waste and garbage disposal, absence of safety hazard noted. The children have a hamster; the hamster cage is cleaned and free of odor. Mrs. AO stated “my husband is the one that decorated the house not me. This is not my style, my husband is a plain person but I like colors.” The curtain in the living rooms and the bedrooms are just one beige plain color. The husband stated “because the curtain color matches the color of the wall that is why I picked the curtain.” Neighborhood is residential and composed of different ethnic groups; the streets are well kept up, no dilapidated building noted. No trash or garbage noted on the street. No industry present where they live. They are not fortunate to have a bus or train station nearby, so everyone in the community has their own private vehicle. There are no air, noise, or water pollution problems in their vicinity. They have a care now clinic like 30 miles to their house. According to the wife all the children in the neighborhood including theirs attended the same private school which is like 15-20 minutes
Family Analysis Project 5
drive to where they live. Marketing facilities is approximately 30 miles to their house, although Mrs. AO said by next year they will have a shopping mall close to their home.
Communication
Observed dysfunctional communication between the husband and the wife. The husband is the one giving commands and makes requests without giving opportunity for feedback, the wife was not able to express her herself openly. Evidently the husband is the one that does all the talking in the house. The children cannot go to their father for something or talk to him like father and daughter but they have to go through their mother. Quality of communication and interaction between AO and wife is very limited, poor and distant. It appears Mr. AO is very insecure with his wife, the wife makes a lot of income and he see that as a threat, so he has to make known his role in the house, the role of the husband and the father and also the role of the most senior one in the house. Mrs. AO said they only talk to each other if she wants to ask for permission to buy things for the kids and herself or if they want to have sex. Mr. AO and Mrs. AO have a joint account together and husband is the one paying all the bills.
Power Structure
Husband makes the major decision in the house, does not consult with wife before taking any actions that concerns the family as whole. The husband pays the bills, decides how the money is spent. If the wife decides to say something about the way the husband is spending their money, husband sees that as form of disrespect. Husband does not have any friends, so he does not go out and since he doesn’t go out he expected the wife and children to do the same.
Family Analysis Project 6
Role Structure
Formal roles: Mr. AO husband and father. He acts as the sole provider for the family and is leader of family. Occasionally help with the child care role when he feels like it. Mrs. AO. See herself as the “ATM” for her husband. She expressed disappointment that the therapeutic role is not present and that the sexual is unsatisfying, distant communication, no enjoyment in sexual relationship.
Informal roles: The husband is the leader; blocker, dominator, distant and unconcerned one while the wife is the follower, martyr, and go between the father and children. The informal role is very dysfunctional to the family in the long run. According to Mr. AO it was the man that runs the house; woman should just keep quiet and watch. The present role behaviors of the family members are not developmentally appropriate.
Values
In comparing the AOs’ family values with the American core value. The family does have the individualism, good educational background, productivity and success are not primary values, work ethic and materialism seems to be the central in Mr. AOs’ life. The family embraces the individualism and education is highly valued. Equality and individual freedom are not valued. Though they are medical personnel, they are very passive in everything that concerns their health and their children. They don’t eat right or exercise. They showed no tolerance to diversity.
Spiritual Activities: The family does not have a particular church they attend. They only go to a nearby church when the time permits. They stated both families are from Baptist background.
Family Analysis Project 7
Socialization and Child Rearing Practice
Mr. AO believes in punishment, respect and obedience; however he has a minimal role in implementation so that the wife may undermine some of his wishes regarding child rearing. From the children’s behavior, it shows they have been taught that “children should be seen and not heard” when adults are talking. Their children are valued and wanted. The mother is predominantly the socializing agent; she takes the children for shopping and sometimes to the park.
Adaptation
“Family adaptation refers to the capacity of the family and its members to modify their behavior to each other and to their outer world as the situation demands.” ( Friedman, Bowen & Jones, 2003, p 161.) Wife wanted to open her own account but fear of the unknown (the husband will be very mad at her) is preventing her from doing so and she is not happy with the way the husband is handling the financial aspect in their family. Lack of communication is another stressor in their family. Role strain and overload experienced by the wife due to the husband not working enough hours so she has to work in 2 hospitals so they will have abundance. Health status of the family members appears good with adequate health care. The dysfunctional coping strategy is that the family does not use their inner resources adequately to deal with stressors. Severe husband dominance occurs where feelings and input are often not solicited or received from family members, especially the wife.
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Health
The AO’s family believes in the primary prevention of disease, their children’s immunization are up to date. They are very current with their annual physical examination, vision and hearing examinations. The family diet is not adequate because the husband is responsible for planning, shopping, and preparing the meals. Also they live a sedentary lifestyle.
Interventions
Recommendations for strengthening/ maintaining the family’s health are: they should be involve in the family recreation which entails maintaining and strengthening of family bonds, having fun together, sharing feelings, reducing tension and improving family members feelings about their family; they should be urge to incorporate more exercise such as dancing, biking, swimming, and physical active games into their family recreational activities.
Pender’s health promotion model emphasizes the importance of behavior-specific cognitions and affect as the primary motivators of behavior. The AO family is able to perceive the benefits of daily exercise and eating right, perceived the barriers preventing them from engaging in the daily exercise, perceived self-efficacy, activity-related affect, interpersonal influences, and situational
influences.
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Summary and Conclusion
The AO family is a two parent, intact nuclear dual-earner family, have 2 children, girls, ages 11 and 9. They are African American by origin, lives in Dallas Texas. Mrs. AO is a Medical Doctor and Mr. AO is a Registered Nurse (associate degree). They both worked in the same hospital, court for 3 months and then get married, so they don’t actually know each other. There are a lot of conflicts and stress in the family affecting the children and the wife. Mr. AO is not concerned about what is happening in his house so far they are giving him the respect he deserve. Mrs. AO makes the largest part of the income, she is not happy because her husband is not allowing her to make necessary decisions concerning their financial aspect so she decided to open her own account which she thinks the husband will not be happy with.
References
Class notes
Friedman, M. M., Bowden, V. R., & Jones, E. G. (2003). Family nursing: Research, theory, & practice (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Mcleod, S., 2008. Simply Psychology. Retrieved from http://www.simplypsychology.org/Erik- Erikson.html