Family and Community Concentration Integrative Paper

Abstract

Family disagreements are at times inevitable. The major cause for this is usually misunderstanding on various issues within the household. As children grow up, the things they experience by seeing what their parents and adults in general do, tend to affect them. Reliable studies affirm that social construction has the potential of affecting one’s personality considerably.

Family and Community Concentration Integrative Paper

The way parents treat their kids determine the type of future they are likely to have. Misunderstandings usually arise due to different aspects of the family. For example, parents can disagree on the kind of school their kids should attend (Bryant, 2012). Children support the parent who favors the school they wish to attend. From the point, the parent with the wrong option might feel that his/her partner is colluding with the children that may result to a disagreement. A major source of conflict in a family can be income. One might feel that someone in the family is not contributing to the income of the family. This leads to change of attitude of an individual especially towards the partner who is not contributing to the family income. This is detrimental because establishment of a negative attitude toward someone result to conflicts. Children may as well disagree with their parents on issues concerning schooling or punishment which may lead to conflict (Bryant, 2012). When the relationship between parents and children is strained, children opt to find alternative activities that can keep them busy. They can engage into drug abuse and crime. The Moreno family is an example of such a family which highlights the significance of analyzing the family.

The Moreno family

The Moreno family has no reliable leader. Manny is unable to control his family because of Helen. She takes her children’s side in most cases, which creates conflicts in the family. The kids do not respect Manny as their father, and this may be because Manny is not their biological father. This issue affects the relationship between Manny and the kids. Helen too does not get along well with Manny because of his perception.

Helen has no one to help her in taking care of her mother. Her family is financially strained, and it cannot be able to provide the necessary treatment for her mother. This also minimizes her movement in that she cannot leave her alone unless she finds someone else who will help her. She therefore, solely relies on her husband for all her needs since she cannot leave the house.

Janice’s performance in school is quite poor because the problems at home affect her, and reducing her concentration. It is easier for a student’s performance to be good in a peaceful family than in a family which is experiencing many challenges. The family moves to different places in pursuit for a better school for Janice. The family does not support Manny’s idea of moving in with his girlfriend. This acts as another source for the conflicts between Manny and Derek. Manny feels that he has become a liability to the family. He wants Derek to leave the house to ease the financial constrain that the family is experiencing. Derek also declines to help the family pay bills which cause disagreement between the two.

The family undergoes financial constrain because Manny’s job does not provide enough income for the family. Manny feels that Derek should also contribute in paying for the bills. The family would have less conflict if it were not for financial problems it experiences. This affects Janice too, and she cannot wait to leave school so that she finds a job. Manny is uncertain of his future at the construction company. The company is soon retrenching some of its workers. Consequently, Manny considers the need of seeking help from Derek; however, Derek declines the request.

Janice is suffering from depression, and this leads her to isolate herself. Janice has had remarkably little contact with her biological dad, and this seems to affect her growing. She lives with her step-father who has been the father figure to her. Her biological father does not contribute to her financial support, and this seems to have also affected her since she feels that no one cares for her. Her upbringing does not give her the treatment she deserves, and this eventually results to depression.

Therapeutic strategies aim at helping people with mental problems overcome their problems. Eclectic technique is a therapy that can help Janice overcome depression. The technique uses group meetings whereby patients come together to have open discussions with the therapists issuing out directives to the patients (Andersen & Taylor, 2013). Eclectic technique encourages patients to focus. This allows each patient to air his or her beliefs and values. The therapist encourages the patient to do this without any fear.

Therapist also teaches patients to accept responsibility, which is an outstanding value for enhancing recovery. They also emphasize the importance of paying attention to various things. Other goals of the technique include developing sensitivity, building a sense of identity and creating self awareness that helps one to overcome the feelings of isolation (Andersen & Taylor, 2013). This technique mostly brings together people with problems in socializing, maintaining attention, trust issues and emotional immaturity. Such patients usually have a history of harsh treatment by the society, poor parenting, and impractical educational upbringing.

This technique mostly brings together people with problems of the same nature. Major issues include; depression, loss and grieving, personality disorder, substance abuse, obsessive compulsive disorder and bipolar disorders among others (Meggs, 2007). A therapist chairs the group and encourages patients to contribute in the various issues they discuss. This method is extremely effective and relevant to Janice’s case. Through her interaction with the group members, Janice will be able to reduce fear and reduce the negative concerns that she experiences. Therapists give advice after every session. These pieces of advice contribute to ones well-being thus crucial to Janice.

Federal Policy

Kentucky State provides Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF). It does this by providing cash assistance to families with dependent children. This is though the Department of Health and Human Services. It has a maximum of 60 months of benefits in one’s lifetime (Kornblum & Smith, 2011). Through this, the Morenos can benefit from it since they are eligible because of the financial constrain they undergo.

The state of Kentucky has passed legislation that aims at helping families with financial constrains. The state of Kentucky introduced family preservation services whereby short-term services that are family-based help families improve their parenting. This also helps families function properly in maintaining children’s safety. Introduction of the service was in 1970 after the realization that children’s safety is a necessity. Separation of children from their family is always traumatic and always affects them negatively (Andersen & Taylor, 2013). Janice’s separation is an illustration of such a situation. The last interaction she had with her biological father was when she was at age 9.

The state of Kentucky allows the unemployed to file for Kentucky extended unemployment benefits (Andersen & Taylor, 2013). President Obama signed an additional emergency unemployment compensation. This programme allows a total compensation of upto 79 weeks. The addition of the extended benefits program means that unemployed residents will be eligible to get two years of unemployment assistance. This can help Helen a lot since she is unemployed. Therefore, she will be able to provide for the medication of her sick mother. Moreover, she will be capable of catering for her family’s needs.

The Kentucky Federal law provides child care under The Child Law Center (Kornblum & Smith, 2011). This allows parents not to worry of their children’s welfare. This is through the breakdown of barriers to child care for parents with low income. Therefore, this allows parents to focus on other matters that affect their families. The Morenos might decide to put Janice under this programme so as not to encounter much trouble from her. The will also protect her from drug abuse.

The Kentucky state also provides Health Insurance Assistance Program. This aims at providing information, counseling, and assistance to seniors and disabled individuals, their family members and caregivers (Andersen & Taylor, 2013). Particularly, the program educates the Medicare beneficiaries so that they make better decisions about their healthcare. This programme can help Helen help her ailing mother in providing treatment to her.

Kentucky State also provides social security services to its residents (Andersen & Taylor, 2013). This is a service that the Federal Law supports and helps the people with disabilities, old age and survivors. Helen’s mother can apply for this program because she qualifies. Through the program, she will be able to get financial assistance that will help in her medication

Through Kentucky Community and College System, the state provides education to the needy (FitzPatrick, 1999).. The college provides training to students from poor backgrounds. This is through special application to the college for a chance. Considerations are made and they choose deserving students. The Morenos should consider this programme apply for Janice as she is soon finishing school.

Parents fail at times to cooperate with those who offer these services. Neglect of responsibility arises when one notices that there is another person who can assist them with a certain task (Andersen & Taylor, 2013). They sometimes end up in forgetting their relatives who are under such service. However, this policy also has advantages whereby family friends can still actively involve themselves in care giving. The caregivers also offer support to the family as a whole. This brings benefits to the family as well as helping the affected person.

The main problem in the Moreno family is financial constrain. Supposing that the construction company offers him with financial support that will enable him to pay his bills, there will be no many problems in the family (Meggs, 2007). The state should also consider providing welfare security to its residents. The policy should be able to support anyone in the state and not only those who pay for the care giving services. This will ensure that every family accesses such services. Providing services to those with the ability to pay for the services only would be discrimination.

Moreno’s community consists of people with low income. Manny, who is the breadwinner, strains to pay for the bills. He even decides to ask Derek to help in paying the bills with the money that he earns from his part-time job. Derek, however, turns down the request claiming that he is saving so that he moves in with his girlfriend in the near future. The fact that Derek strains too to move in with his girlfriend shows that he is from a low income family (Kornblum & Smith, 2011). The society that the family lives in too does not come in to help Moreno’s. People living around them also earn less money. Higher income families always support the needy in any society. This does not happen with the Moreno’s thus an indication of the existence of low income community around the family.

The Morenos lack the money as an asset. Manny is employment provides less income in relation to the amount of bills he has to settle. He opts to request Derek to help in settling the bills, but Derek does not accept this suggestion. Janice’s desire to leave school and find a job shows the insufficiency of money in the family (Andersen & Taylor, 2013). Derek is also saving money from his part time job so that he moves in with his girl. Helen is not able to go out and help because of her ailing mother who needs close attention, and only leaves when she has someone who can do this for her. All these cases illustrate the insufficiency of money.

The family also lacks support from the surrounding community. Even with the financial, constrain that the family undergoes, no one helps Manny’s family. Manny is uncertain about the future of his employment, and this worries him. Helen is the only caretaker to her terminally ill mother, and this limits her movement (Andersen & Taylor, 2013). This makes her dependent on her low-income job of her husband. On realizing the lack of support from the community, Derek decides to find a temporary job in order to save money for his oncoming move out with his girlfriend.

It has become difficult for the family to maintain their upkeep in that the bills are becoming difficult to pay, they cannot afford to provide better treatment for Helen’s mother and Janice is also contemplating leaving School and finding a job so that she moves out. Insufficiency of money to pay for the bills highly affects Derek’s relationship with his father. Manny thinks that Derek should contribute to the payment of bills, but Derek feels that he should focus on moving out first. This issue brings about a tense relationship in the family (Kornblum & Smith, 2011). Manny also feels that Derek should move out because he has a part time job. He considers Derek’s stay in the family contributes to the financial strain that the family experiences. During financial difficulty, Manny takes into heavy drinking, which results to physical abuse of his wife and the kids.

A community in which members understand each other’s needs would best suit the Morenos. For instance, Janice’s teachers are to understand the problems her family is experiencing instead of planning to expel her from school (Meggs, 2007). They should also work on helping her to focus on her studies. The community should also help Helen with her ailing mother. Individuals may act as the source of problems in a given community. This helps tracking the actual cause of a problem in the society among everyone in the community. The Moreno family can benefit from this as every member of the family gets to evaluate their problems (Meggs, 2007). They outlined the causes for family misunderstanding and provided comprehensive solutions to the problems. The aim of the analysis was to bring to unite the family and make members acknowledge each other. The analysis highlights that solutions to family problems are always within the family setting. In essence, communal effort from all family members is capable of providing the ultimate solution to conflicts that are experienced in families.

References

Andersen. M. L, & Taylor, H. F. (2013). Sociology: The essentials. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth, Cengage Learning.

Bryant, A. N. (2012). Complete guide to federal & state garnishment: 2013 edition. S.l.: Kluwer Law International.

Fitz Patrick. C. S., Center on Budget and Policy Priorities (Washington, D.C.), & Kentucky Youth Advocates. (1999). Poverty despite work in Kentucky. Washington, D.C: Center on Budget and Policy Priorities.

Kornblum, W., & Smith, C. D. (2011). Sociology in a changing world. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning.

Meggs, G. (2007). Family conflict: Its forms, causes, cycles, consequences and solutions. Victoria, B.C: Trafford.