Carl Whitaker's Theory

This misbehavior the families see as a problem and bring them to therapy. In this model the misbehaving child (the identified patient or IP) is not the problem. “Not coping with is the problem."(Banman 1987). Satir “operate[s] from the assumption that when there is pain in the family, all family members feel it in some way” (Satir, 1967). This means the therapists work is to help family understand that most family problem are a derivative of a struggling relationships. The IP, responsible for the family’s homeostasis, “family balance”, “develops symptoms” such as drug abuse or depression and low self-esteem due to the pressure of this responsibility. Individual change for the IP is difficult because as the IP starts to improve, the IP puts the family's homeostasis in jeopardy. Other family members take action to retain homeostasis by pressuring the IP to revert back to old family norms via threats or guilt. Most family therapy issues are not a result of pathology but of dysfunctional relationships caused by poor communication and low self-esteem. Satir puts greater effort into teaching, modeling and repairing

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

Growing up in the household under substances influence can cause severe damage to the child. Parental substance abuse has a significant impact on family function, and it may also contribute to child maltreatment. It heightens the risks to both of the physical and emotional safety of the children, and it generates children’s problematic outcomes. Children who grow up in such families may also experience mental health issues, social isolation, financial difficulties, and exposure to stressful life events and so on.

Parents using drugs tend to forget about the needs of their children. These needs do not have to be physical; children can be emotionally deprived as well. Not getting the love a child needs could result in lowered self-esteem and confidence, or possibly depression. Children's emotions are very strong and easily hurt, therefore resulting in the child assuming parents do not care for them, or even worse, not love them. Children suffering neglect from their parents will not be able to understand how a caring parent acts. Parents neglecting their children lose touch in communication, which results in a loss of communication skills for the child. Not learning proper communication skills at an early age can effect children for the rest of their life. They will not know how to talk to their parents, they will not know how to talk to their friends and teachers, and they will certainly not know how to talk to their own children. Neglected

Not only can children be put in drug use situations but so can parents. When parents struggle to maintain a stable household or income and employment it may expand stress on the family and its powerlessness, pushing negligible people to discover answers or comfort in illegal drugs. In general, addiction and use of

Substance abuse is an issue that continues to grow in America at an alarming rate. Families are an important factor for the onset of substance abuse as well as the sustainment of the addiction (Gruber & Taylor, 2006). The National Institute of Drug Abuse defines substance abuse as “A chronic disease characterized by drug seeking and use that is compulsive, or difficult to control, despite harmful consequences” (“Understanding Drug Use and Addiction,” 2016). In order to prevent relapse, success is found in the formation of familial and social relationships (Baharudin et al., 2014). Substance abuse is a major stressor in the family system and it not only impacts the family’s relationships with those outside of the family but

The majority of children living in a dysfunctional family with a drug addicted parent will not develop a secure attachment with another individual, where the relationship revolves around intimacy and mutual understanding. Parents who are codependent on each other have learned to regard the dysfunction as normal, and their children could be susceptible to numerous scenarios. They could become the target of their parent’s abuse, either sexual or physical. The children of codependent parents could easily gain access to drugs or alcohol since no one is paying attention to the child. The codependent parents are preoccupied with the alcoholic or drug addicted parent, and they might never bother to realize their child is in grave danger. The codependent parent’s children might never recover fully from the trauma, abuse, or neglect inflicted on them. In addition, the children learn to become adults who repeat the vicious cycle of domestic violence or abuse themselves. Children of codependent parent might grow resilient despite

Substance abuse, the abuse of drugs or alcohol, is known to have a lasting impact on members of the abuser’s family (Crosson-Tower, 2013). Ultimately there are two ways in which a family can experience the detrimental effects of substance abuse within the family system itself, and those ways are through either substance abuse on the parent’s behalf or substance abuse by the adolescents or children in the family unit (Crosson-Tower, 2013). Substance abuse can have many negative impacts on a family unit; the negative impacts are known to be emotionally, physically, and mentally damaging (Gruber & Taylor, 2006).

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

Both Andrew and his biological mother indicated that they often do not seek help from their external systems, which indicates that there are some rigid boundaries. Minuchin argues that rigid boundaries present in family dynamics can become an obstacle when exploring alternate solutions and lead to family dysfunction (Tuner, 2011). Families need to maintain a healthy balance and consistency to successfully maintain both adaptability and a sense of order while promoting change and growth within their members (Tuner, 2011). According to Greene (2008), families that have positive and dynamic interactions with the external systems have effective communication and internal

Drug abuse is thought to be a multidetermined, maladaptive way of coping with life problems that often become habitual and leads to a progressive deterioration in life circumstances. Drug abuse is a disease in its own way. It’s damaging, mentally, physically and emotionally with each party involved. When it comes to each party involved that also means family members as well. Youth will find a way to but some sort of blame of the family for their drug addiction. Family members can be a crucial part or a great aspect of the therapy depending the situation or how important that family member plays a role in their life. Family plays an important role in our emotional development since each individual in the family system impacts and its impacted by the others. Its design to address issues that affect the health of family and the addict’s life transition or mental health conditions.

Cook, L. (2007). Perceived conflict, sibling position, cut-off, and multigenerational transmission in the family of origin of chemically dependent persons: An implication of Bowen family systems theory. Journal of Addictions Nursing. 18: 131-140.

Drug addiction is a serious issue in not only America today, but globally. According to the National Institute on Drug Abuse, substance addiction is a “chronic, relapsing brain disease that is characterized by compulsive drug seeking and use, despite the harmful consequences” (“What is drug addiction?”). Drug abuse affects not only the user, but those around the user as well. The actions of a drug user place a significant amount of worry on the people that are closest to them such as friends and family. Children with parents who are addicted to drugs or alcohol can be severely affected by the actions of their parents which can cause them much harm in terms of biological and

This strain of research developed from the paper of Baumrind (1991). In this work, Baumrind predicts that authoritative parents are more likely to be able to protect their children from substance use. A general observation from many researchers is that children thrive developmentally when the family environment is