Social Work with couples and families Reflective paper Article

Social Work with couples and families Reflective paper - Article Example The author in this case starts by pointing out that in the contemporary American society this sort of family setup is one, which is associated with the middleclass families in most cases. It is of the essence to note that in such a family setting, several generations of individuals may find themselves living together in the same house. Say a grandmother and a child may end up under the same roof. This is something, which brings about the question of parenting. In the aforementioned example, when the grandmother lives with the child and at the same time the child’s parents are also there, who is parenting the child? It is important to note that with this revelation, the child may grow up facing various situations, which are influenced by the person who was around it when it was growing up. There are also families that are associated with a stepparent, a single parent and what not. All these are issues, which are of significant influence on the individuals who are in the family itself. A person who is looking into the happenings in families that take up such a setting may take great interest in knowing how the various members of the family are handling the situations that are being exhibited by such families. The author of this article is of the opinion that the various family environments have far-reaching effects on the parties involved. To a greater extent some of these may be negative. I do believe that some of the members of these families might have foreseen such happenings. For this reason, they might have come up with measures to cushion the effects when they happen. Take a case example of psychosomatic families. These are the families, which are highlighted as those where the people get involved with each other only during certain times say when one is sick. This is not to say that this is always the case. Such families might have identified that this is a problem when it happens once or twice. After this, they might find probable ways of addressi ng the issue and prevent it from happening again. There are various tools, which therapists use when it comes to seeking deeper understanding of families. One of the ways through which this is achieved is through the use of genograms which are meant to depict the members of the families and some of the characteristics which are prevalent in the family. The information, which is collected for the genogram, is one, which is achieved through assessments of the members of the various members of the family involved, and once it is complete, it helps the therapist get significantly understanding of the family, which is in question. It is also of importance to look at some of the ways that are used to examine the various members of the family. The information of the family is scanned vertically and horizontally on the genogram. Examining the horizontal aspect of the genogram enables the therapist to get an understanding of how the members of the family are connected to each other. Through such an assessment, the strengths and the weaknesses that are exhibited by the family can be highlighted. After the analysis of the genogram, there are some probable predictions and conclusions, which can be reached by the person who is analyzing them. This is then what will be used to advise the members of the family accordingly. The author of the article points out that this information is what can be used to model some probable patterns of the family and provide any relevant information