Being A Perfect Family System Within The Realms Of Human Nature

The movie When a Man Loves a Woman is about a couple and how their lives and the lives of their two young girls change because of addiction. The article entitled Family Functioning in Families with Alcohol and Other Drug Addictions talks about four major themes that are present in families that suffer from addiction. This paper will look at the family dynamics of the Green family from When a Man Loves a Woman and also discuss how the research results from the article also relates to the family.

According to the Bowen Center for the Study of the Family (2017), the family systems theory is defined as, “a theory that of human behavior that views the family as an emotional unit and uses systems thinking to describe the complex interactions in the unit” (para. 1). When applying the family systems theory to the family that I assessed, I found that this family lacks emotional support from one another. The children in this family feels as if their mother is choosing her addiction over them. Therefore, based on the family systems theory, this family lacks an emotional strong unit. If drug abuse was not a factor in the family dynamics, then they could possibly have a strong family

Gruber, K.J., & Taylor M.F. (2006). A family perspective for substance abuse: Implications from the literature. Journal of Social

Drug and chemical abuse affect many families and that particular family that lives through a loved one who is an addict and the priority is to get help for the individual. In any intervention that involves drug addicts, a family's disposition is very important. Full recovery of any drug addict involves the restoration of the person's life as well as ensuring that those who are around the addict have the best ability when it comes to helping with abstinence which is a long-term goal. Abusers are often in denial or even believe that they are totally in control of their use of drugs

As a recovering addict I know firsthand how my addiction affected my family. Addiction to alcohol or drugs is a disease; it affects everyone in the family, not just the substance abuser.

It was never my intention to work with addicted clients, but nearly every family therapy course I have taken has, either overtly or covertly, stressed the need to understand addictions. While I understand the concept on a cognitive level, I had judgements about the type of people that become addicted and did not feel compelled to work with them, until my niece died. Her drug addiction deeply affected all members of her immediate family. Her parents and her step-dad, my brother, each reacted to my niece’s addiction in different ways but none were successful and the family began to fail under the stress.

Although all sorts of families can be devastated by addiction, but single parent units (the most common lower class structure) are the most obscured. Behavioral Health of the Palm Beaches supports, “In every family unit, each person plays a role (or multiple roles) to help the family function better and to maintain a level of homeostasis, stability and balance. When substance abuse is added to this dynamic, the family roles naturally shift to adjust to the new behaviors associated with drug or alcohol use, and to continue maintaining order and balance.”4 In single parent units there is an inability of a second parent to fill the void role of the addicted parent. The National Center for Biotechnology Information states, “Frequently, children may act as surrogate spouses for the parent who abuses substances. For example, [young] children may develop elaborate systems of denial to protect themselves against that reality of the parent’s addiction. Because that option does not exist in a single‐parent household with a parent who abuses substances, children are likely to behave in a manner that is not age‐appropriate to compensate for the parental deficiency.”2 So a child growing up in a compromised family unit where addiction is present may develop altered norms and mature into an addict themselves.4

Nic’s addiction had a severe impact on the Sheff family. The family dynamic changed due to the separation of Nic’s parents, which was emotionally stressful for Nic and maybe contributing factor towards Nic’s start to addiction. It is shown that “changes in any part of [a family] system affects the entire system. When life-altering changes occur, such as a family member leaving or divorce, the changes reverberate throughout the system” (Steenrod, 2014). Even though the divorce occurred within the parental subsystem and before Nic’s drug addiction began, the change still affected him and the stress of the change perpetuated through his adolescence. Usually, the father-son subsystem is examined with the father being the one who has the addiction, but in Nic’s circumstance the roles are reversed. “Individuals who are drug-impaired may be

This is how? Families in the States of America are viewed as the basic source of strength, providing nurturance as well as the support for its individual members while ensuring stability and generational continuity for the community versus its culture. The sense of rapid social, economic and political change turns to affect the family and reduces their sense of the relationship between people, groups, and even places. According to research, stability of relationships, expectations, as well as the environment which is a very powerful force that helps people to manage their lives, most especially the young adults and the children. Having said that, classical issues of balancing discipline and control of children with the support, which encourages them to explore and understand the world may be complicated by abusing the use of alcohol and drugs as well as a wide range of other conditions (unodc.org). In other words, family experience with and parental attitudes towards alcohol and other drug use affect a child’s likelihood of developing alcohol and other drug problems. Also, the act of poor management, lack of family bonding, poor monitoring of a child’s behavior and that of physical abuse and or neglect are possible risk factors that allowed or give room for

A person, especially a parent, who is dependent on alcohol or drugs destroys a family because family members not only see how miserable the addicted really are, but they also witness, firsthand, the way substance abuse can deteriorate a person’s physical and mental body, as well as the fact that family members notice the money that is spent on the abused substances, which sometimes leaves families living in poverty for no reason other than the simple fact the addict has to have their fix. Addicts are the destroyers of happiness, self-worth, and any amount of money.

Since “parents are a crucial part of their child’s environment” (Sharma, 2016), it is no surprise that their behavior can affect how their children grow up to be. While yes, people who end up addicted to drugs can come from all sorts of lives there are some circumstances that may help to influence a person’s choice to turn to drugs. The likelihood that a person turns to drugs increases if they experience a traumatic event such as sexual, emotional, or physical abuse (Mirlashari, Demirkol, Salsali, Rafiey, & Jahanbani, 2012). Depending on the level of trauma can influence the level of drug addiction a person may have. If a person witnesses’ violence in their family or they are sexually victimized they are more likely to not only use drugs but to turn to hard drugs like

Over the years in the field of addiction, more therapists and agencies are seeing the value of adopting a family systems approach in therapy and beginning to appreciate the need to treat an individual within the context of the cultural, societal and family systems (Smock, Froerer, & Blakeslee, 2011). In fact, some treatment outcome studies propose that family therapy is more effective in the treatment of drug abuse especially in the areas of engagement and retention (Stantan & Shadish, 1997; Thomas & Corcoran, 2001). Some models of family and couple therapy have been specifically designed to address substance use problems, and received empirical support to be highly promising, such as the multidimensional family therapy, the behavioural couples therapy, and the family behaviour therapy (Donohue, et al., 2009; Fals-Stewart, Lam, & Kelley, 2009; Liddle, 2010). However, it seems that most agencies and addiction counsellors continue to work individually and use individual therapy models in their work with clients.

Family and close relationships are dramatically affected by someone who is an addict. The close individuals are brought into a world that they may not even know they are entering. Therefore, it can cause a number of psychological and behavioral problems they were not prepared for. Depending on the families boundary system the change that is happening can be smooth or rigid. Those family systems that display rigid boundaries have the most difficult adapting to an addict (Lewis, 2013). Addicts are not predictable which can cause chaos in a rigid environment.

As The American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress points out, “In families where alcohol or other drugs are being abused, behavior is frequently unpredictable and communication is unclear. Family life is characterized by chaos and unpredictability. Behavior can range from loving to withdrawn to crazy” (The American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress, 2014, para. 2). The effects of addiction are sometimes unpredictable for even just one person. They can change moods from one day to the next or even multiple times in one day. Unpredictable behavior isn’t just that of the addict, though. Anyone in the family can be susceptible to erratic behavior. Lack of communication is also an issue. If no one in the family can really effectively communicate, it can lead to misunderstandings, arguments, and even physical violence, making the home unsafe for all members. In addition to an unstable home life, parents of addicts can also be affected. As stated by The American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress, “the aging parents of adults with substance use disorders may maintain inappropriately dependent relationships with their grown offspring, missing the necessary ‘launching phase’ in their relationship, so vital to the maturational processes of all family members involved” (The American Academy of Experts in Traumatic Stress, 2014). Parents of addicted adults can tend to treat them like

Family bonds suffer when someone gets addicted. Addicts will often use family for favors, money and even alibis. Using drugs or drinking can change someone’s personality and lead to a lot hurt feelings. All of those betrayals do a lot of damage.