Family scenario and the structure of the family system

Family scenario and the structure of the family system

Hunt’s family comprises of a father, mother whose name is Christina, and two children, James and Brandi who are 5 and 8 years old respectively. The structure of Hunt’s family is nuclear as it involves a father, mother, and their biological children only, without extended relatives such as grandparents, aunts, or cousins. The parents are Latin Americans, HIV positive. Christina is a current client in Decision Support System as a result of a report of supervision neglect. Hunt was arrested last week for forgery charges with an expected release date eight months from the arrested day in Chicago. He is also a famous drunkard in the city.

James and Brandi were alone at home on Saturday morning when their mother attended work and could not afford to take them to a babysitter. Christina has had challenges with substance abuse in the past. She works at the Holiday Inn in the housekeeping department on a fixed income. James has allergies and asthma. Brandi is also having challenges in school and can not yet identify numbers, letters, or colors at her age. The family lives in an old townhouse as they wait for public housing to be available and affordable. Public transportation is their primary mode of transportation.

Family dynamics

Hunts family has had several dynamics in their interaction among themselves. Christina, in most cases, engages in fights with her husband, who is a drunkard, thus creating disintegration among them. The children seem to be affected by such experiences from their parents, especially James, who bullies other children in the same manner that he observes his father acting towards his mother. Brandi is a calm girl who adheres to her mother’s guidelines and seems to hate her father, who creates violence in their family. James is resistant to her mother’s rules at home and emulates his father’s behavior. Both parents do not seem to share their personal experiences and feelings as a result of such conflicts. However, each of them handles their children, James and Brandi, in a friendly manner and rely on them for emotional support in some situations.

Christina is more engaged and concerned with their children than Hunt, who arrives home late in the night when James and Brandi are asleep in most cases. She empathizes with her son and daughter, who seems to be upset and anxious about their father, Hunt, who acts aggressively towards Christina in their presence. However, Hunt provides most of the financial assistance to the family, such as food and bills payment. The family has had encounters where they experienced hunger as a result of lacking money for food. Currently, Christina is leaving James and Brandi home as she cannot afford a fee for their care at a babysitter. The arrest of their father, Hunt, has resulted in them to feel financially unstable, as the mother has a fixed income, which is not enough to provide all the basic needs for them.

Roles that language, religion, and family rituals interplay in this family’s dynamics

Initially, Hunt’s family had dinner together, which enhanced the creation of emotional bonds and an investment in maintaining connections into the future and developing relationships among them. However, the fact that Hunt arrives late at night while drunkard, there are now fewer family rituals in this family, which has resulted in the disengagement between him and the family. James has emulated his father and does not want to interact much with his sister Brandi or his mother, Christina, as he did in past days. He is influenced by his father’s acts, although Hunt has not identified his son’s character. Christina, however, attempts to save her income and pay for both Brandi and James, a recreational center every Sunday afternoon, which enhances their relationship and enmeshment.

Every member of Hunt’s family can interact and communicate with each other as they all adopt English as their home language. James and Brandi know no other language other than English, which their parents taught them since they were toddlers. A common language in this family enables them to be engaged with each other. Christina is able to provide directives to her children and guide them on how to behave. Both Brandi and James can understand their parents and thus follow their directives with ease. The family can communicate, and every person can raise his or her concerns, feelings, suggestions, or perceptions to others and thus promoting enmeshment.

Christina has been attending church recently and has introduced her children, James and Brandi, to the Christian religion. She has been offering religious parenting while setting rules and standards for them, which conforms to a model of being authoritative, which she believes will promote healthy development and well-being for her son and daughter. Christina can acquire religious assistance, which she is adopting in maintaining peace in her family and having hopes for improved lives in the future. Religious identity at Hunt’s home is assisting Christina in managing the challenges that James and Brandi were experiencing, including the temptation to substance use and acts of aggressiveness, especially from her son.

How the family resolves conflict

Hunt’s family resolves the conflict by adopt

ing various techniques such as negotiating, listening to each other, and collaborating while performing activities. Conflicts, in most case, arise from varying values, opinions, and requirements of each parent. Both parties may encounter challenges in identifying a peaceful resolution, especially when they “stick” to their preferences. Hunt and Christina adopt negotiation, which involves listening to each other and identifying a common solution to a challenge that they encounter without compromising with another person’s opinions. The technique enables each person in the family to feel respected, and his preferences considered in the development of a decision. Christina also engages in talks with James and Brandi when they fail to adhere to the rules of their home.

Managing emotions also assists in resolving conflicts that emerge in Hunt’s family. In cases where one of the family members feel accused, he or she may react aggressively in a certain situation. Incase James or Brandi acts aggressively, Christina assists them to remain calm, thus creating a favorable environment for solving the conflict and enables negotiation to occur. Additionally, Hunt and Christina identify and consider alternative responses when anticipating conflict with another person in the family in the future. A person may identify patterns that he has experienced and adopt them in developing tactics for various scenarios that may result in conflict. People should learn about conflict resolution skills to have skills on how to react when upset.

Child-rearing Techniques

Child-rearing involves how parents focus on their children and specific techniques that they adopt. Nurturing of infants can contribute to their overall development, and parents may ensure their future success depends on how they communicate with them. For instance, Christina involves herself with the lives of her son and daughter, James and Brandi, by participating in their activities such as designing and modeling clay tools. The technique requires the parent to rearrange his or her priorities several for one to be with the child physically. However, Christina does not show James and Brandi the kind of love that they would expect to experience with an argument that it can lower their expectations. Additionally, Hunt and Christina are able to teach their children the reality of life in an effective manner through this approach.

Christina shares her expectations with her son and daughter and explains the rules that they should abide by in their home. James and Brandi, therefore, have an understanding of the consequences of the decisions that they develop, thus enabling them to acquire appropriate behavior. Hunt and Christina do not punish their children through “hitting” them as the research shows that it can result in encouraging the child to engage in fights with their peers. The infants who are harshly disciplined are also vulnerable to bully other kids in the future or demonstrate aggressive behavior when interacting with others. Alternatively, Christina advises her son and daughter and shows them the disadvantage of engaging in undesirable behavior.

A model of family support intervention

Hunt’s family can implement a Positive Family Support Conceptual Model, which is based on various evidence-based management and training approaches such as everyday parenting curriculum and paternal management training model. The approach is hypothesized to improve family management and academic support strategies in the home, such as enhanced student monitoring, reduced family conflict, and increased parental involvement with the school and the child. In addition to academic support strategies, there is a desirable impact on the student’s emotional and social adjustment, such as improved interaction with peers and reduced experimentation with substances, and also enhanced student engagement in school.

The model can be beneficial to Hunt’s family as it can result to decrease in antisocial behavior, family conflicts, risk activities, and deviant peer relationships among James and Brandi. The approach may also assist in reducing the growth of depression in this family. The desirable emotional, school and social engagement results can enhance success in the children’s performance in their academic studies and interaction with other people. The model promotes parent engagement and communication and also provides a protocol for involving them in providing assistance in academic duties and other family activities. The approach also indicates the level of support, which includes family feedback, assessment, and parenting assistance sessions, and family management training, which can be beneficial in Hunt’s family.