Jacques family from Chapter 18 of the Family Assessment Handbook, with the following caveats
Jacques family from Chapter 18 of the Family Assessment Handbook, with the following caveats
�The father is emotionally abusing the family but is not physically abusing any family members.
�All members of the family are living at home.
For your Final Project, you are to develop an assessment and intervention plan for the family in this case study, in either a paper or a narrated PowerPoint presentation, with scholarly references from the professional literature (e.g., Journal of Family Therapy, Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, The Family Journal, Journal of Marriage and Family Counseling, Journal of Contemporary Family Therapy).
Your project should include all of the following sections:
1. Legal and ethical considerations regarding the family circumstances
2. Multicultural considerations
3. Theoretical counseling model used in the case
4. Specific issues facing the family
5. Assessment techniques used in the case
6. Intervention plan for the family
7. Prognosis for the family Although the Final Project is not to be submitted until Day 7 of Week 11, you should become familiar with the project requirements and have them in mind as you proceed through the course.
The Final Project will be evaluated according to all four indicators in the Application Assignment and Final Paper Writing Rubric located in the Course Info area. Be sure that the Final Project is written using APA format with an introduction, conclusion, and intext citations as well as references from professional literature such as journal of family therapy, journal of marital and family therapy, the family journal, journal of marriage and family counseling, journal of contemporary family therapy.
Family Assessment and Intervention for Jacques Family
Introduction
Family or domestic violence involves the mistreatment of a family member by another in order to gain control and power. This often takes several forms such as physical, emotional, sexual, and neglect abuses. Throwing things, hocking and punching characterize physical abuse, whereas emotional abuse is associated with threats, insults, and yelling. Sexual abuse may involve incest, unwanted touching and rape, while on the other hand, neglect abuse involves withholding money, food, affection, and health care alongside other needed care. Jacques family is a victim of family violence, which has seen all the family members suffer from the mentioned effects of the illicit treatment (Husso, 2010).
Family violence always affects the entire members of the family. This is not limited to the victim, but to the children as well. The abuse that Marie witnesses from her husband has affected all her children in a negative way. This has led to their social and academic lives being jeopardized. Their school performance has dropped, and their interaction with their friends has been undermined.Studies show that about 80% to 90% of the children who live in abused families are aware of it (Husso, 2010). In Jacques family,all their children were aware of the suffering that their mother experienced. Thus, they attempted to intervene, in most occasions, when their father beat their mother. Families that face such conditions should seek assistance from agencies, which are responsible for the protection of children and abused individuals. Jacques family managed to obtain help from acaseworker who works with the Child Protective Services agency. This agency referred Jacques family for bothfamily and individual therapy where several issues were revealed, in relation to the abuse faced by this family. This paper proceeds to critically analyze the agony that the family is going through, in relation to a myriad of cases that are experienced in several other homesteads across the world, and proposes reasonable solutions out of such domestic mayhem.
Legal and Ethical Considerations Concerning Jacques Family Circumstances
Historically, programs for domestic treatment have been designed for men who have high potential to become violent with their intimate partners. The recent legal policies regarding domestic violence have led to the proliferation of treatment programs. Treatment programs need to ensure that both the legal and ethical considerations are addressed when handling family violence matters (Overlien, 2011). In relation to Jacques family, several ethical and legal issues were identified. Legal issues involved were financial, informed consent, and confidentiality, whereas ethical issues include wife battery, child abuse, and neglect of responsibilities amongst others.
Initially, Jacques family had a well-lived life in which the family had access to all the basic needs. Both the husband and the wife had jobs that made life easy for the family since the two could provide for the needs.Eventually, the family had to suffer from financial deficits following the harm caused to the wife by the husband. Marie could not go to work and provide for the family as she did earlier. The law requires that the husband should take responsibility of providing for the family financially. Marie’s husband ought to have been sued for neglect of domestic duties, which led to his family being rendered homeless.
In relation to the issue of informed consent, Marie’s decision was not considered when her husband was to be incarcerated. This led to him being jailed without Marie’s approval. Both Marie and her children have the fear of facing the wrath of her husband when he returns from jail. This implies that Marie could not have consented to the jailing of her husband in case she was contacted. Thus, it could have been right to seek advice from the victim concerning the fate of the accused who is Marie’s husband.
The agency should also ensure that the safety of the remaining family members is assured. The matter should be made confident and inaccessible to any outside party (Keller, 2010). Besides, Marie’s husband should not be informed about the role of his family in his arrest.The steps that the family took, which led to his arrest should not be disclosed to him. This will ensure that he does not hold any grudge against his family and discard any negative reaction from him towards them. The agency should ensure that the safety of the victims is granted through embracing confidentiality.
The modern society has made much effort towards fighting wife battery.In the past, wife battery was a common phenomenon across many families whereby women used to beaten even for minor reasons. This matter is unethical since marriage is for companionship, and involves two parties with equal rights. In numerous occasions of her marriage life, Marie’s husband used to beat her up. The violence Marie witnessed made her unable to attend to her chores and work.
As an ethical issue, child abuse happens to be rampant in Jacques family. The violence witnessed has affected the children in several ways. These include physical, social and academic aspects of life. Valerie, Mathew and Joshua have physical problems in relation to their bodies. Valarie is presented as being thin, and Mathew is small in relation to his age. On the other hand, Joshua is obese with bitten fingers. Samuel has poor interaction skills and does not perform well in school. These Characteristics are not limited to Samuel only but to other children with the exception of Valarie. Marie also happened to be a victim of child abuse from his father. Lack of parental love, which has been caused by domestic violence, has led to the problems experienced by the children. It is unethical for parents to deny their children the love and support they require for growth.
The society requires the husband to take responsibilities, which comes with the family. Husbands should ensure that they grant the necessities that are needed by their family. They should manage to play active roles as husbands and fathers (Keller, 2010). Marie’s husband subjected the family to immense suffering following his neglect of duties. He abandoned work and mistreated his family members. This led to the entire family being thrown out of their home and left to wonder from place to place, in search for shelter. Moreover, his habits contributed to the shortcomings that were associated with their children. Therefore, husbands need to ensure that they perform their duties as family heads.
Multicultural Considerations
Studies have shown that many families that are associated with domestic violence often suffer from culture-related issues. Jacques’ family faced issues related to culture and race. Culturally, women are always needed to be obedient to their husbands despite the challenges they face. This has led to many men undermining their wives. Marie’s husband continued to batter his wife since he knew that she could not take any action (Overlien, 2011). Thus, culture can be considered as one of the factors that facilitate domestic violence. The aspect of culture extends to the children and their relations. The society often demands that children should be made acquainted to their immediate relations such as grandparents. Marie’s husband could not allow her to visit her mother with the children. Fortunately, the children were lucky to visit and know their grandmother in one occasion. Joshua who was a stepson to Marie’s husband happened to face discrimination from his stepfather, and his siblings. He was teased for his color, which was dark. In relation to this, Joshua developed worse habits than the rest of the children. People should know that all are equal regardless of their racial backgrounds. Everyone needs to be treated with dignity as human beings so that they can manage to live a normal life.
Theoretical Counseling Model Applied in the Case
Integrative counseling has been used a theoretical model in the case. In this case, the model comprises person-centered andpsychodynamic counseling alongside cognitive behavioral therapy. In the person-centered counseling, the clients have been allowed to explore what they need, and they can accomplish their goals. This creates a non-judgmental environment between the counselor and the client (Keller, 2010). The psychodynamic counseling operates by introducing unconscious feelings and thoughts to the surface. It emphasizes on issues involving the experiences, and patterns of relationship that are recurrent in nature. Cognitive behavioral therapy functions by scrutinizing the ways that behavior, feelings, and thought affect each other. It alsoexamines how the various aspects of these three elements can be altered to directly relate to the problems affecting the client.
Specific Issues Facing the Family
Jacques family faces several issues regarding family violence. These include physical, emotional, and neglect abuses that have made the family subjected to unbearable suffering. Marie has been beaten in many occasions, which has led to the fracturing of her arm. This has made her unable to provide for the family and attend to her chores. Consequently, the family has been forced to experience financial constraints that have made them loose their home. The family also faces emotional abuse in which both Marie and her children are victims. Marie does not experience the love that a woman needs from her husband. Most of her marriage life is characterized by violence from her husband. Money,health care, and affection have been withheld from her and her children. Joshua is seen to be obese, which could be a cause of health problem. Valarie and Mathew have bodies that signify malnutrition. Valarie is thin whereas Mathew happens to be small in relation to his age. This implies that the children do not obtain adequate food (Husso, 2012). In addition, they also lack the affection that they need from their parents. Most of part of their life has been spent in a family of chaos. This has affected their social, and academiclives in whichperform poorly in both. In addition, the children suffer from neglect, which has made them perform duties such as cooking on their own. They also have to take care of each other by themselves since their mother is unable to help. It can also be noted that Jacques family members suffer from personality disorder. In his early age, Samuel was diagnosed with learning disorder and attention-deficit hyperactivity, which might have been caused by child neglect, and lack of parental guidance. His father suffers from bipolar disorder and other psychotic related illnesses. The rest of the children also present habits that are associated with personality disorders. These include being withdrawn, isolation and abnormal activeness as indicated by Mathew.
Assessment Techniques Used in the Case
In this case, the assessment techniques have been borrowed from cognitive behavioral and person-centered counseling. During cognitive behavioral counseling, both the therapist and the client associate through an open dialogue in order to develop a goal and define a problem.The achievement of these goals requires several techniques to be used. Some these include Socratic questioning and behavioral experiments. Socratic questioning is significant in allowing the therapist to arouse the client’s self-awareness. It also helps in definition of a problem, exposure of client’s beliefs, and challenging beliefs, which are irrational (Overlien, 2011). Thus, it helps in revealing the patient’s cognitive processes. The case has applied this technique to the issues involved in the Jacques family.Behavioral experiments involve processes such as observing, experiencing, planning, and reflecting. These stages are performed through discovery, thought testing, observation and activity. Therefore, the Jacque family has been identified to have several problems through it. The children have been noted to have strange behaviors that are linked to their living conditions.
The person-centered therapy has also been used in the case if the Jacques family. This technique often involves many conditions. The first condition is that both the therapist and the client need to be in contact. This implies that these two individuals must be psychologically and physically present in the process. In the case, all members of the Jacques family were taken through an interviewing process in order to determine their problems. The second condition requires that the patient must be vulnerable (Husso, 2012). This implies that the patient must be experiencing psychological distress. Marie’s husband was a victim of psychological distress that led him to over-react. In many instance, he could beat Marie, and claim that he was hearing voices.The perception of the client is also involved among the conditions of the person-centered technique.It requires that the patients believe and accept the unconditional positive views and empathy. Marie’s husband was noted to accept his conditions, which led him to adopt measures of eliminating it.
Intervention Planand Prognosis for Jacques Family
The intervention plan for Jacques family should focus on the mechanism of reacting to domestic violence and its effects.This is needed to ensure that the safety of the family members increases alongside supporting them in protecting themselves. Thus, the family members should be linked with various agencies that are responsible for human rights and child protection. This will ensure that both Marie and her children are protected from her husband’s violence. It will also provide a platform on which the family can receive financial aid alongside helping the children whose mother has a temporary disability. Marie’s family needs to be informed about the limits that are linked to confidentiality. For instance, they need should be informed about family violence and child reporting requirements. Marie’s problems need to be granted adequate consideration through issuance of validating messages.The family needs to be informed that they do not deserve the violence that they experience in order to enable them develop self-acceptance and appreciation. This approach should also ensure that they children’s interest in considered through soothing messages. Marie’s family should be taught about the family violence. They should be informed that this phenomenon is common in many families. Such an action will help them consider themselves as being normal (Overlien, 2011). The family needs to know that violence always become frequent and severe. Both Marie and her husband need to be informed that family violence affect the children in anegative way. It is vital to listen and attend to safety matters. This can be achieved by teaching the family about safety planning mechanisms.This should focus on Marie alongside guiding her on the safety issues. This information should be kept away from Marie’s husbandwho is the abuser. Some of the measures for security planning include 24-hour access to advocate, national, and state domestic violence hotline numbers.
The Jacques family claimed that they feared the return of their father since he could respond negatively to them. This should be taken serious and necessary protective measures undertaken. This should be followed by referral and follow-ups,which will ensure that the victims are kept safely.The Jacques family needs to be put on an appointment schedule so that connection can be maintained with them.Explanations relating to support systems and advocacy should be given during referrals in relation to the health care setting. The referrals should include advocacy services and legal actions. One of the options that could be adopted is to refer the family to agencies that suit their culture. This action should also ensure that the agencies address the issues affecting the family. These include agencies with multiple language potential, those dealing with teens, and disability matters (Overlien, 2011). Family violence always requires several interventions like other health matters such as poor nutrition, smoking, and cardiovascular diseases. Thus, a review of the medical records needs to be conducted alongside asking questions concerning last episodes of family violence. Finally, the family should be asked to provide phone contacts, which can be used to reach them in times of need or urgency. These measures will ensure that the Jacques family is protected from family violence and its effects.
Conclusion
The Jacques family happens to be among the many families that have been affected by domestic violence. It has been noted that domestic violence does not only affect the victim, but also the children. Furthermore, the effects that domestic violence may have on children are magnified. Family violence affects children in terms of social, physical and academic life. It leads to poor social relation between the affected children and their peers. Children who experience domestic violence may also suffer from malnutrition and personality disorders. Their academic performance may also be affected in a negative way as manifested in Marie’s children’s academic performance.Those who experience this violence should seek assistance from agencies that are responsible for children protection and human rights. Culture has also been noted to facilitate domestic violence through wife battery. The society should strive to encourage ideologies that are based on equality in marriages. Moreover, avoidance of racial discrimination can also go a long way in subverting the proliferating instances of domestic violence.
References
Husso, M; Laitila, A. (2012).Making Domestic Violence Intervention in Professional Health Care. Health & Social Care in the Community, 20(4) 347-255
Keller, S; Wilkinson, T; Otjen, A. (2010).Unintended Effects of Domestic Violence Campaign.Journal of Advertising, 39(4) 53-67
Overlien, C. (2011).Women’s Refuges as Intervention Arenas for Children who Experience Domestic Violence. Child Care in Practice, 17(4) 375-391