Adopting a Family Relationship Framework
Answer the  questions below by using chapter 1 of your textbook.

1. A typical family system is characterized by  _______.  

☒ an  evolved set of rules for itself and its members

☐  the lack of values

☐  decreased communication

☐  none of these apply

2. Which statement about families is true? 

☐  Families never add new members

☐  Families can be influenced by the community in which they live in

☐  Family members all get along all the time

☐  none of these apply

3. Which statement is true about American  families? 

☐ All American families are wealthy.

☐ American families can be made up of  members of many ethnicities and live in a wide variety of areas.

☐  Every American family is White, has two children, and lives in the suburbs.

☐  None of these apply

4. Rituals can best be described as  _____. 

☐  beliefs that gods do not exist

☐ symbolic actions related to beliefs that  help families adapt to change and bring meaning to 

their  lives

☐  beliefs in supernatural evil forces

☐  none of these apply

5. Which of the following helps to increase a  family’s resilience (a family’s ability to recover quickly from difficult  problems or how they cope with situations)?  

☒ family  members have clear and consistent communication and problem-solving processes

☐  ignoring the needs of vulnerable family members

☐  having a negative belief system

☐  none of these apply

6. While children grow up, their gender roles  are influenced by _____. Gender roles are a set of society norms that  determines what types of behaviors are acceptable, appropriate or desirable  for a person based on their actual or perceived sex. 

     Parents and society 

☐  pregnancy only

☐  puberty only

☐  none of these apply

7. A _________ is a natural social system that  occurs in a wide variety of forms and represents different cultural heritages.   

☐  family

☐  monarchy

☐  hierarchy

☐  none of these apply

8. African American family members are often made  up of__________ 

☐ mothers, fathers, children, and a wide  network of kin, close friends, and community members

☐  nephews and nieces only

☐  neighbors only

☐  none of these apply

9. People in families are intimately _______.  

☐  ignored 

☐ connected
☐ forgotten
☐ none of these apply

10. The people most vulnerable to living in _______  are nonwhite minorities, single mothers, children under 18 and the elderly.  
 

☐ wealth
☐ poverty
☐ mansions
☐ none of these apply

     Reflection
Entrance  into a family occurs by birth, adoption, through marriage or with other  committed relationships as new family members enter a family. Identify a  member of your family, explain how they joined or entered the family and share  a unique trait or characteristic of that family member in the chart below. 

11. Read the chart below. Complete the missing  information.   

Name    of the family member

How    did the family member enter the family?

Unique trait about that    family member

Type answer here

Type answer here

Type answer here

12. Families have different customs, rituals or  cultural practices which are passed onto to their children and other family  members. Rituals and customs are social behaviors related to specific  cultures, and they are used to increase family bonds. Sometimes customs or  rituals can strengthen a family system or split it apart. For example, a  family might have a ritual where all their children attend church. If a  teenager refused because they are an atheist, it could cause a family to  divide. Describe an example of a family ritual or custom below, and example  how it could strengthen or divide a family. 

a. Describe a family  ritual or custom.  

Type answer here

b. Explain why you feel  the ritual or custom can strengthen or divide a family.  

Type answer here

13. Identify your favorite ritual growing up. Examples  include but are not limited to: going to church, going to a family members  home for family dinners, etc. Explain why  these rituals are so important to  you. An example is provided below:  

Ritual

Description of ritual

Explanation of why ritual is important

Ex: Church

Ex: You must attend Church 3 times a week

Ex: My family is religious and it was    expected to attend this event weekly.

a. Type answer here

Type answer here

Type answer here

14. All families face challenges: an unexpected  death, the divorce, job loss, retirement. Families adopt ways of coping to build resiliency. Resiliency is the ability to bounce back and overcome  a challenge. Often, family members can build on their strengths to become  resilient. 

Identify one challenge within a family and explain a strategy to boost  resiliency within the family within the chart below. Resiliency within a  family relates to their ability to recover quickly from difficult problems or  overcome situations.

Family    Challenge

Explanation    of strategy to boost resiliency

a. Type answer here

Type answer here

15. A strength-based  approach is used frequently while working with clients in the HHS field. It  can be used with individual clients or with families experiencing challenges.  A strength-based approach involves identifying the strengths of an individual  or family and building upon them. Once strengths are identified, goals can be  set to help the client solve their problems or issues. For example, a client  who is negative (weakness) might be stuck in a cycle of drug abuse. The clients  can become more realistic (strength)  when they realize the negative impact their drug use has on their family.  Becoming more realistic about their situation can motivate them to obtain  sobriety from drugs. 

Choose on area of weakness in the illustration below and explain how  you can build on the associated strength to help a client solve a problem.  

a. Weakness: Type answer here

b. Strength: Type answer here

c. Explanation (how to build on the strength  to overcome the weakness): Type answer here

Sharma, G. (2019). How to Turn Your  Weaknesses into Strengths | Visual.ly. [online] Visual.ly. Available at: https://visual.ly/community/infographic/lifestyle/how-turn-your-weaknesses-strengths  [Accessed 11 Feb. 2019].