The family recently moved into our neighborhood and has not fully settled in the sense of getting to know all its neighbors. I have been lucky to have subtle interactions on a neighbor-and-neighbor level. To get enough information and perform an assessment, I approached the family and clarified that my intentions were purely academic and that there was no reason to worry. On the family structure, I identified that the family comprised 3 children and both parents, Mr. and Mrs. Keith. The firstborn is a son aged seventeen followed by another boy aged fifteen and a daughter aged thirteen. Also worth noting is that both parents had never been married before. One big dog is also a member of the family. No one else lives with the family aside from their biological children and the dog. Every weekend, the family goes out on trips mostly bordered on shopping, hiking, and sight-seeing.
Regarding the family strengths, it would be an understatement to mention how hard the parents work for the comfort of their children. Mr. Keith is a truck driver who is usually not home most of the time while Mrs. Keith juggles between being the caregiver of the house and babysitting for other families mostly in the neighborhood. I could also point at a strong belief in God as a major strength of the family. The parents encouraged their kids to always attend church services at least once every week to enhance their belief and buttress their moral standings in society. Even more importantly, the family stresses high levels of education for the children despite parents not being able to attain their best.
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The family of Mr. and Mrs. Keith is in the stage of parenting adolescents. Notably, this is where the children are all in the adolescent stage and the roles of every member of the family transform. Also, it is critical to reiterate that adolescents need just as critical care as children considering the changes in their biology and environment. In most families, there are ups and downs between the parents and their adolescent children. However, these changes substantially as the adolescents become older and mature. It is also at this life cycle that the parents are called upon to be a source of practical, financial, and material help.
The dominant form of communication in Mr. and Mrs. Keith’s family can be said to be a consensual. In this form of communication, the family considers open communication where each member airs their thoughts and feelings (Kirst-Ashman & Hull, 2012). Even so, the parents are still the final decision-makers especially for critical issues. One aspect that often props up in this kind of communication is tension particular because the final decision is made by the parents despite having open conversations about issues (Chung & Ting-Toomey, 2015). Consequently, the children exude an aura of self-control in their interactions with their parents. Despite these challenges, the children in this family have learned to value conversation with their parents and even embrace the value system of the family.
Mr. Keith, the man of the family takes care of the children’s education while the wife sees that the family misses no meal. Even though Mr. Keith is not always home due to the nature of his work, he always sends money for school fees payment and other school expenses for the children. Mrs. Keith, on the other hand, makes sure that the children have had a proper meal apart from taking care of the miscellaneous expenses at home. Evidently, these roles have benefitted the family significantly since the children have been able to attend school without hitches while having a balanced diet. Hence, the children have grown up to be both intellectually and physically healthy.
Appreciating cultural values is imperative for social workers to be not only more accustomed but also responsive to individual and family-specific needs, attitudes, beliefs, and values to be able to avail more culturally competent responses and support (García, 2019). Even more importantly, cultural competency makes one able to appreciate various circumstances and social issues from a client’s point of view. Having the knowledge about other people’s cultural values is also imperative in assessing their psychosocial history which not only helps to give them other perspectives but also to dispel myths and generalizations about other cultures.
Regarding analysis of the subject family, this study employs the systems theory. According to this theory, human behavior is the intersection of the influences of multiple interrelated systems. This implies that individuals in a family setup must not be evaluated in isolation since their behavior projects from a social unit ( O'Hare, 2016) . A central concept of this perspective is the parent-parent-child relationship which takes the form of a triangle. The family of Mr. and Mrs. Keith has all the corners of this triangle which is the reason behind having a wholesome growth.
References
Chung, L. C., & Ting-Toomey, S. (2015). Understanding intercultural communication . Oxford University Press.
García, E. E. (2019). Student cultural diversity: Understanding and meeting the challenge.
Kirst-Ashman, K., & Hull, G. (2012). Understanding generalist practice Belmont. CA: Brooks Cole .
O'Hare, T. (2016). Essential skills of social work practice: Assessment, intervention, and evaluation . Lyceum Books.
