Morgan Family Case Study

Family History: Charlie grew up with his mother, father, one older sister, and one older brother in the suburbs. His father’s attention is most often on his older brother due to his football dreams. Charlie feels distant from his father, but when they do get time together, they have a good time. His mother was described as loving and constantly worried about Charlie. Charlie description of his 20-year-old brother, Chris, is a really good older brother who always defended him. Chris often fights with their sister who is the middle child, and his dream is to be a pro sports player. Charlie is very protective of his older sister who continues to be in abusive relationships. These relationships cause Charlie a great deal of distress.

Sarah’s mom suffered from effects related to diabetes and passed away and her father passed away from cardiac dysfunction. Also, Sarah and her husband begin to have problems with her marriage. In her early 40’s, I decided that Sarah and her husband were in an unhealthy relationship and needed to file for divorce and live separate lives. She begins to focus more on herself and being with her children and close friends after the divorce. Ten years later, Sarah finds a new romance and is again married. At this point in adulthood, Sarah’s children are all grown up at this point in adulthood. Hannah graduated from school, gotten married, and has a child named Lucy. Sarah’s other child Will, has gone to college and is attending a top-ranked program for engineering. Sarah’s health must be watched closely during this stage in adulthood because previous stressors in her life caused significant weight changes earlier on in adulthood. As Sarah enters late adulthood, she comes to terms with her identity and is always finding new ways to engage in different

This example of a family’s interesting dynamics that come about can be seen in a show called, “The Fosters.” In this show, the Foster family lives in San Diego where Stef Foster and Lena Adams (in later seasons being Lena Adams-Foster) parent five children, four of them being foster children and one coming from a previous marriage. The children’s names are Brandon (17yrs old), who is the oldest, Mariana (16) and Jesus (16), who are twins that were adopted after Stef and Lena got together, and Callie (17) and Jude (13) who are siblings that both got adopted. Stef is the birth mother of Brandon, coming from a previous relationship with another charater named Mike.

In terms of a system, the meaning is a consistent arrangement of things connected to form unity or to operate as a whole. These systems are dated back in origins to the 1950’s and 1960’s. In this theory we must understand an individual’s family and how it works for that family daily in the community, neighborhood, social aspect, and etcetera. When one part of the system changes, the whole system changes. When everything is balanced it is said to be in equilibrium or homeostasis which seemingly is a good thing (Poorman, 2003). There are many skills

According to Richard Charles (2001) “the effectiveness of family systems theory rests not much on empirical research but on clinical reports of positive treatment outcomes, the personal benefits experienced by the families that underwent this kind of treatment, and the elegance of Bowen’s theory” (p. 279). Bowen’s family systems theory views the family as an emotional unit and is a theory of human behavior. Systems thinking are used to describe the complex interactions in the unit. However, the client’s ability to differentiate himself/herself from the family of origin is the basis for Bowen’s family systems theory. In addition, the primary focus for growth within the emotional system is differentiation of self. Differentiation of self

Sharon 's biological father was horrid to her throughout her childhood. Sharon often refuses to make any mention to her biological father, but those she have been terrible. Sharon’s father would never be in her children’s life, but the impacts he had on her are still present in her life today. Sharon’s mother, Marilyn, has worked very hard to keep her family together. Marilyn has always been a caring woman with a full heart. Marilyn is the storyteller of the family with her grandchildren being her primary source material. Sharon is a mix of the good and bad in her life. Together Jayson’s mother and father have shaped who he is and how he see’s the world much how their ancestors before them have.

Sarah and John relationship issues have resulted in separation stemming from lack of communication, anxiety, isolation and disconnection resulting in a dysfunctional marriage. Their lack of interaction in their relationship and being unaware of each family members feeling and behavior has contributed to their marriage break down. John feels, Sarah does not pay attention to him since the kids were born. Sarah finds John irresponsible and that she needs to do look after the responsibility in the family otherwise it would not get done. Another hypothesis is that Sarah has experienced an unnatural death in her family by her father Max who committed suicide, which contributes to Sarah feelings that she was to blame for his

Memphis and Stormy Littrell are healthy, bright, and happy sisters who were removed from their father’s home more than a year ago. His whereabouts are unknown, and their biological mother is incarcerated. They’ve been living in their current foster placement since October, 2014. Parental rights have been terminated, and the girls are about to transition to their risk adopt placement with their great-aunt in Kansas. A large, extended family is also located in Kansas, and they plan to be involved in Memphis's and Stormy's lives as well. Memphis is excited about visiting family in Kansas but expects to return home, and Stormy does not want to leave at this time.

Carmen was raised in a two parent household in New Jersey. The family was Catholic and of Mexican descent. Carmen’s father was an alcoholic who recently passed away due to kidney failure stemming from cirrhosis of the liver due to a long history of alcohol abuse. Carmen’s father was verbally abusive. The family was working class. Her father was a plumber and part-time handy man, while Carmen’s mother stayed home raising the children. Carmen maintain regular contact with her mother, brother and sister. Carmen is single and currently lives in a small one bedroom apartment with her 3 year-old son, Justin.

This case study will focus on an athletic and cheerful child named Timothy Jamal Hood. Timothy is a growing fifteen-year-old male with fair skin and dark brown eyes. He is five feet and seven inches tall. Timothy was born on August 4, 2000, to his father, Irvin, and mother, Maria Hood. The family owns a four bedroom home in Missouri City, Texas. Timothy has a dog named Max. Timothy is a sophomore at Elkins High school. Timothy has an older brother named Robert. The family’s socioeconomic status is middle class. Timothy’s mother and father did not attend college. His mother, Maria works for Sunoco Logistics Partners LP as a right-away agent. His father, Irvin works for a local printing company as a computer technician. The reason I chose Timothy to develop my case study is because of his developing characteristics.

Spirituality/religion. Religion plays a large role in J and K’s family’s life as they are self-identifying Christians. K explained that “what we believe dictates the way we live, the decisions we make and the way we parent our kids” (K, personal communication, June 1, 2018). J added, “it is the driving force behind how the family lives” (J, personal communication, June 1, 2018). Their religious beliefs are their sole source of hope and coping with illness.

The Carlton family is your average, everyday family. Carl and Carla Carlton live in Topeka, Kansas with their four-year-old daughter, Carly. Carly isn’t exactly your ordinary child. She is just a little rambunctious. This makes everyday tasks a little more difficult.

After a thorough review of the textbook and the course material, the specific family system approach that I choose to explore is the Bowenian Approach for this literature review. This specific family system approach is also known as the Bowen Family System Theory as well (D.V. Papero, 2006). The Bowen Family System Theory was established by Murray Bowen, a theorist and psychiatrist who specialized in treating children who were deranged and had schizophrenia (Rockwell, 2010). In the 1950s, Bowen wanted to explore a new venture so he decided that he wanted all of the family members of each child to be involved in an therapeutic process at the same time (Rockwell, 2010).

Jack and Diane have two children, Tom who is 5 and Jane who is 3. Other salient family members include Jack’s mother, who is married and lives out of state, but is often called upon during problematic times. The couple met when seven years ago when Jack was near Diane on business and were married within a year. Jack and Diane are both white middle class Americans. They live in California most of the time, but Jack is often away on business. The times that the couple are apart are the hardest because Diane is used to doing everything with Jack. When he is away, they often text, call and skype to keep in touch. Currently, the couple is seeking therapy for marital problems including trust problems and anger/conflict problems as their presenting concerns. The children are described as being good children, although they have concerns that the marital problems may be having an impact on their older child Tom. Over the last few months, Tom has been acting out towards his mother, and has not been listening to her. Each marital distress symptom has emerged at different times, but have compounded until they felt high enough severity for Jack and Diane to seek treatment

The family structure determines where you derive from and provides a sense of who you are. The typical family structure is perceived as a father and a mother, two children, one boy and one girl, and a pet. The typical family description described above is still promoted and expected to be the “dream family.” Author Meyerhoff, “While the nuclear family with Dad, Mom, and offspring happily coexisting beneath one roof-remains the ideal, variations in family structure are plentiful and often successful” (Meyerhoff). Meaning that a lot of families are remarried spouses with prior children and more common in the last decade same sex marriages. So, do these nontraditional families have the same qualities? Personally, I would think so. After