Virtualizing intimacy: information communication technologies and transnational families in therapy

Information communication technologies (ICTs) are a ubiquitous feature of immigrant family life. Affordable, widely accessible, and highly adaptable ICTs have transformed the immigrant experience into a transnational process with family networks redesigned but not lost. Being a transnational family is not a new phenomenon. Transnationalism, however, has historically been reserved for the wealthier professional and political immigrant class who were able to freely travel and use expensive forms of communication before the emergence of accessible technologies. This paper systematically reviews the research literature to investigate the potential impact of ICTs on the lives of transnational families and how these families utilize them. The wide penetration of ICTs also puts into question some of the ways in which scholars have conceptualized the immigrant experience. The appropriate use of technology in family therapy should strengthen culturally competent and equity-based approaches to address the needs of these families. A family therapy with a transnational family illuminates some of the potential that these technologies introduce in the practice of relational clinicians.     

Family therapy and soiling

Children and families referrred for soiling problems present special challenges to family therapists. Behaviour modification and the externalizing approach of White and Epston are considered in relation to these challenges. Externalizing may offer advantages over existing approaches and deserves systematic evaluation.     

Distinguishing families where suicidal behaviour is present from families where suicidal behaviour is absent

Twenty families are observed during the first interview for family therapy. In families where suicidal behaviour occurs there are three variables which distinguish them from families where no such behaviour occurs. These variables are;

• the threat of immediate break up of the family relationship i.e. someone is about to leave,

• a situation of mutual negative connotation where no matter what anyone tries to do it is seen as being 'wrong',

• a tradition of symptoms being used at times of crisis to keep the family together.

Suicidal behaviour is seen as a strategic move to keep the family together in the face of developmental change.     

Social class and family size as determinants of attributed machismo,femininity, and family planning: A field study in two South American Communities

The major objective of the present investigation was to ascertain how stereotypes of machismo and femininity are related to acquired family size and perceptions of family planning. An indirect measurement approach was employed in which lower-class and upper-middle-class urban adults in Cali, Colombia, responded to photos of Colombian families which varied in size and completeness. The principal findings of the investigation revealed that (1) lower-class subjects described parents in the photos as significantly more macho and feminine because of their children than upper-middle-class subjects; (2) although no overall family size effect on attributions of machismo and femininity to parents emerged, lower-class female subjects described parents of large complete families as significantly more macho and feminine than parents of small complete families; (3) male subjects from both social classes described male spouses in the photos as more dominant and in greater control of the marital relationship as family size in the photos increased; and (4) perceptions of the incidence of family planning behaviors decreased linearly with family size for both social classes, although lower-class females attributed more family planning to spouses of large families than upper-middle-class females. Discussion of these results attempted to account for social class differences in the significance of parenthood as an indicator of sex-role identity and the psychological relevance of male dominance as a factor in fertility.This research was supported by a predoctoral research fellowship from the Council of Intersocietal Studies, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois 60201.     

Family interactions in black, lower-class families with delinquent and nondelinquent adolescent boys

The interaction patterns of 32 black, lower-class family triads (mother-father-son), divided into two equal groups by the son's delinquency status, were assessed across self-report and observational measures of family affect, conflict, and dominance. In support of previous research with white, middle-, and lower-middle class families, the results generally indicated that families with delinquent boys were less warm and more conflictual than families with nondelinquent boys. Relative to parents of nondelinquents, parents of delinquents were more conflictual on expressive family issues than on instrumental issues. In addition, the results showed that the content of the family interaction task (expressive vs. instrumental) influenced observed patterns of intrafamily dominance. The theoretical and practical implications of these findings are discussed.     

Family Influences on Hooking Up and Dating Among Emerging Adults

Existing research posits that young adults navigate the developmental tasks of emerging adulthood, including sexual and romantic relationship formation, in context of geographic and social separation from families of origin. This assumption of independence reflects the ongoing focus on privileged samples to the exclusion of working class, racial/ethnic minority, and immigrant young adults, many of whom live with family through the emerging adult years. This exploratory analysis employs interview data from a racially and socioeconomically diverse sample of 85 college attending emerging adults who live with or proximate to family to explore how families of origin shape interpersonal relationships. Findings show that family members impart both direct and indirect socialization messages that encourage career development over relationship formation. Families also engage in surveillance of emerging adults, applied disproportionately to women. Results are discussed in terms of differences and commonalities of experience across race/ethnicity, nativity, class, and gender, and the salience of family to these processes.     

Comparing associative, statistical, and inferential reasoning accounts of human contingency learning

For more than two decades, researchers have contrasted the relative merits of associative and statistical theories as accounts of human contingency learning. This debate, still far from resolution, has led to further refinement of models within each family of theories. More recently, a third theoretical view has joined the debate: the inferential reasoning account. The explanations of these three accounts differ critically in many aspects, such as level of analysis and their emphasis on different steps within the information-processing sequence. Also, each account has important advantages (as well as critical flaws) and emphasizes experimental evidence that poses problems to the others. Some hybrid models of human contingency learning have attempted to reconcile certain features of these accounts, thereby benefiting from some of the unique advantages of different families of accounts. A comparison of these families of accounts will help us appreciate the challenges that research on human contingency learning will face over the coming years.     

Family and Neighborhood Fit or Misfit and the Adaptation of Mexican Americans

In this study, a person-environment fit model was used to understand the independent and combined roles of family and neighborhood characteristics on the adjustment of adults and children in a sample of 750 Mexican American families. Latent class analysis was used to identify six qualitatively distinct family types and three quantitatively distinct neighborhood types using socioeconomic and cultural indicators at each level. The results showed that members of single-parent Mexican American families may be particularly at-risk, members of the lowest-income immigrant families reported fewer adaptation problems if they lived in low-income neighborhoods dominated by immigrants, members of economically successful immigrant families may be more at-risk in integrated middle class neighborhoods than in low-income neighborhoods dominated by immigrants, and members of two-parent immigrant families appear to be rather resilient in most settings despite their low socioeconomic status.     

Work and Family Balance Among Dual-Earner Working-Class Mexican-Americans: Implications for Therapists

The ability to balance work and family demands can affect marital satisfaction, family cohesion, and job satisfaction. While most research in this area has utilized middle-class Anglo-American samples, the present investigation examined dual-earner, working-class Mexican- Americans. Positive relationships were found between work-family balance and satisfaction with marriage, family life and jobs with gender and acculturation showing moderating effects on some variables. Family therapists should be cognizant of the impact of work- family demands on marriage and family functioning even when working class minority families do not offer these issues as presenting problems.     

Social class tensions within families

Abstract

The upward or downward social class mobility of an individual family member can result in tensions between the individual and the rest of the family, tension which is heightened because it rarely is identified and named as a class issue. This article explores the issue of class, identifies common situations in which class tensions occur within families, and discusses clinical considerations.     

The family and the child with epilepsy

Reports documenting psychosocial epiphenomena of chronic illness in individuals with that illness have been common in recent years. Few studies, however, have been concerned with how illness might affect the family. Those that have appeared in the literature often lack critical controls (i.e., control groups) and often fail to investigate possible links between illness-specific variables (i.e. chronicity, inhibition of mobility) and psychosocial outcomes on the family. The present study of 45 families focused on how children with epilepsy affect their families' functioning relative to families with a child with diabetes and families with no chronically ill members. The results suggest several areas of child and family adjustment (i.e. child self-concept, family communication, family cohesion) in which the families of epileptic children have great difficulty. Implications of these results are discussed with regard to differential influences of various chronic illnesses on families and family-based preventive and remedial treatment programs.     

Critical consciousness, accountability, and empowerment: key processes for helping families heal

Families are inextricably embedded within their larger sociopolitical contexts, an observation acknowledged by many theorists. The field of family therapy is working on its translation into comprehensive and effective approaches for helping families change. This article illustrates the use of the Cultural Context Model to help families change, guided by the linked foundational concepts of accountability, critical consciousness, and empowerment. The authors support their discussion of theory with examples illustrating the ways in which social patterns connected to race, gender, class, and sexual orientation shape the dilemmas that family members encounter, as well as their access to solutions.     

Factors Influencing Adolescents’ Self-control According to Family Structure

We compared factors influencing adolescents’ self-control according to their family structure. Participants were 944 adolescents in five cities in South Korea (115 from single-parent families, 65 from grandparent-led families, and 764 from two-parent families). Data were collected using self-report questionnaires containing items on self-control, stress, parenting attitude, parent–adolescent communication, and family cohesion. Data were analyzed using stepwise multiple regressions with SPSS program. The factors influencing adolescents’ self-control differed across the three family structure groups. For single-parent families, stress and parental attitudes were significantly related to adolescents’ self-control (adjusted R²?=?0.37, p?<?0.001). In contrast, for grandparent-led families, family cohesion and parental attitude were significantly related to adolescents’ self-control (adjusted R²?=?0.31, p?<?0.01), while for two-parent families, stress, parental attitude, and parent–adolescent communication were related to the outcome (adjusted R²?=?0.24, p?<?0.001). Parental attitude was thus a common factor relating to self-control, regardless of family structure. On the other hand, the main factors influencing adolescents with low self-control were gender and stress. Our results confirm that adolescents’ self-control is not only affected by personal factors but also by parental and family factors. It is important to improve individual program to improve adolescents’ self-control according to family structure. The results of study may act as a base for improving individual intervention programs aimed at promoting adolescents’ self-control by factoring in family structure.     

Familism, family environment, and suicide attempts among Latina youth

In this study, we examined the relationship between familism and family environment type as well as the relationship between family environment type and suicide attempts among Latina youth. Latina teen attempters (n = 109) and nonattempters (n = 107) were recruited from the New York City area. Latent class analysis revealed three family environment types: tight-knit, intermediate-knit, and loose-knit. Tight-knit families (high cohesion and low conflict) were significantly less likely to have teens who attempted suicide as compared with intermediate-knit families or loose-knit families. Moreover, familism increased the odds of being in a tight-knit family versus a loose-knit family and the odds of being in a tight-knit family versus a intermediate-knit. The results suggest that familism may protect against suicide behavior among Latinas via its influence on family environment.     

Family therapy in the home

There is good evidence in other areas of therapeutic endeavour that home-based therapy may have advantages over clinic-based work for some patients. There are some families who have real difficulties in attending clinics. Despite these facts little has been written on the topic. This brief article reviews some of the objections to home-based family work and suggests possible solutions for the interested therapist.     

Transcultural family therapy

Conventional family therapies such as Structural, Systemic, Satirian, Adlerian and Dreikursion seem to be marked by cultural biases and give an indication of one single culture orientation. These seem to represent the cultural majority norms and values in acting as oppressive tools in a multi cultural society. Most of these therapies are derived from theories reflecting intrapsychic factors that are white middle class concepts, neglecting the multi culturaUsocia1 contexts in family therapy. “Ethnic minority families” from non Western Countries often experience more problems than families from Western Countries in the areas of education, immigration, employment and health. The cultural expectations are full of contradictions and ethnic minorities feel handicapped both socially and culturally in the task of growth and development. Western family therapy has failed to address these issues.     

Demographic and familial predictors of early executive function development: Contribution of a person-centered perspective

Executive function (EF) skills are integral components of young children’s growing competence, but little is known about the role of early family context and experiences in their development. We examined how demographic and familial risks during infancy predicted EF competence at 36 months of age in a large, predominantly low-income sample of nonurban families from Pennsylvania and North Carolina in the United States. Using latent class analysis, six ecological risk profiles best captured the diverse experiences of these families. Profiles with various combinations of family structure, income, and psychosocial risks were differentially related to EF. Much of the influence of early risks on later EF appears to be transmitted through quality of parent-child interactions during infancy. Findings suggest that early family environments may prove to be especially fruitful contexts for the promotion of EF development.     

Family interaction and suicidal behaviour: a brief review

This paper reviews those research studies which have investigated suicidal behaviour in the context of the family. It is proposed that in families a subculture of distress management develops not from random deviations but from familial and cultural expectations of how distress can be managed. A number of factors are presented indicating suicide potential:

• a pattern of marked hostility,

• a pattern of role disturbance and role failure,

• a process of escalation when developmental crises occur in the management of family life-cycle transitions,

• a symbiotic attachment between partners which tolerates no autonomy,

• an intolerance of crisis,

• a relationship between the management of crises, family conflict and family organization,

• suicidal behaviour as a pattern of communication.

A family tradition of crisis management by symptoms and the presence of intra-familial conflict are seen as critical variables.     

Family Forms and Member Well-Being: A Research Agenda for the Decade of Behavior

Few institutions have changed as much in the past quarter-century as have American families. What are the factors affecting change? What are the conditions under which different family forms might best serve the interests of their members? What further changes are required? In this paper societal inequalities manifested within and between two family forms, heterosexual marriage and single-parent families, are reviewed, and a research agenda to assess the conditions under which these different family forms might best serve the interests of their members is posed.     

Teenage parenting in different cultures,family constellations,and caregiving environments: Effects on infant development

Teenage parenting was investigated in different ethnic groups (Cuban and American Black), family constellations (single-parent, nuclear, and extended families), and primary caregiving arrangements (mother versus other). One hundred sixty-four infants born to a representative sample of teenage mothers were observed during interactions with their mothers and were given developmental assessments when they were 12, 18, and 24 months of age. Being a Cuban mother, living in a nuclear family, and being a secondary caregiver were each associated independently with stronger social support systems and more positive child-rearing attitudes and mother-infant play interactions. Despite these early advantages, maternal stimulation and infant performance decreased over the second year of life irrespective of ethnic group, family constellation, and caregiving arrangements.