Structural

Question 1

goal of structural therapy

Answer 1

structural changes

Question 2

role of structural therapist

Answer 2

expert

Question 3

enactment

Answer 3

an interaction stimulated in structural family therapy in order to observe and then change transactions that make up family structure

Question 4

leading figures in structural family therapy

Answer 4

Salvador Minuchin and Braulio Montalvo

Question 5

3 different types of boundaries

Answer 5

rigid, defuse, and clear

Question 6

joining

Answer 6

a structural family therapy term for accepting and accommodating to families to win their confidence and circumvent resistance

Question 7

family structure

Answer 7

the way a family is organized into subsystems whose interactions are regulated by interpersonal boundaries

Question 8

subsystem

Answer 8

smaller units in families, determined by generation, sex, or function

Question 9

boundary

Answer 9

emotional and physical barriers that protect and enhance the integrity if individuals, subsystems, and families

Question 10

accommodation

Answer 10

elements of a system automatically adjust to coordinate their functioning; people may have to work at it

Question 11

boundary making

Answer 11

negotiating the boundaries between members of a relationship and between the relationship and the outside world

Question 12

_____ families accommodate to changed circumstances; _____ families increase the rigidity of structures that are no longer working

Answer 12

(1) healthy; (2) dysfunctional

Question 13

hierarchical structure

Answer 13

family functioning based one clear generational boundaries, where the parents maintain control and authority

Question 14

cross-generational coalition

Answer 14

an inappropriate alliance between a parent and child, who side together against a third member of the family

Question 15

general steps of structural family therapy

Answer 15

(1) joining and accommodating, (2) enactment, (3) structural mapping, (4) highlighting and modifying interactions, (5) boundary making, (6) unbalancing, (7) challenging unproductive assumptions

Question 16

intensity

Answer 16

Minuchin’s term for changing maladaptive transactions by using strong affect, repeated intervention, or prolonged pressure

Question 17

shaping competence

Answer 17

encouraging and reinforcing productive behavior rather than criticizing dysfunctional behavior

Question 18

complementarity

Answer 18

the reciprocity that is the defining feature of every relationship

Question 19

Answer 19

Clear Boundary

A clear boundary enables children to interact with their parents but excludes them from the spouse subsystem and establishes a hierarchical structure in which parents exercise a position of leadership. Considered “normal”/healthy

Question 20

Answer 20

Coalition, may be overt or covert. Cross-generational coalitions develop when one or both parents trying to enlist the support of the child against the other parent.

Question 21

Answer 21

Conflict

Question 22

Answer 22

Detouring - a type of triangulation. Detouring occurs when parents, rather than directing anger or criticism toward each other, focus the negativity on the child and the parent-child conflict thus serves to distract from the tension in the marital subsystem; sometimes called scapegoating

Question 23

Answer 23

Diffuse boundary.

In enmeshed families boundaries are diffuse and family members overreact and become intrusively involved with one another. Enmeshed parents create difficulties by hindering the development of more mature forms of behavior in their children and by interfering with their ability to solve their own problems.

Question 24

Answer 24

Involvement

Question 25

Ov

Answer 25

Overinvolvement.

Question 26

Answer 26

Rigid boundary. Rigid boundaries are overly restrictive and permit little contact with outside subsystems, resulting in disengagement. Disengaged individuals or subsystems are independent but isolated. On the positive side, this fosters autonomy. On the other hand, disengagement limits affection and assistance.

Question 27

Answer 27

Conflict between mother and father becomes a cross-generational coalition with the mother and child becoming enmeshed and excluding the father An alternate but equally common pattern is for the parents to continue to argue through the children. Father says mother is too permissive; she says he’s too strict. He may withdraw, causing her to criticize his lack of concern, which in turn causes further withdrawal. The enmeshed mother responds to the child’s needs with excessive concern. The disengaged father tends not to respond even when a response is necessary. Both may be critical of the other’s way, but both perpetuate the other’s behavior with their own. The result is a cross-generational coalition between mother and child, which excludes the father.

Question 28

Answer 28

Mother and father divorce and create a clear boundary separating the spouses but allow for contact with the children by father and mother. Mother remarries, and the family then readjusts to create functioning boundaries between the mother and children and the stepfather.

Question 29

Answer 29

Failure to integrate the stepfather into the family leading to enmeshed boundaries between mother and children, and a rigid boundary between stepfather and the rest of the family. Sometimes it’s hard for a mother and children to allow a stepfather to participate as an equal partner in the new parental subsystem. Mother and children have long since established transactional rules and learned to accommodate to each other. The new parent may be treated as an outsider who’s supposed to learn the “right” (accustomed) way of doing things, rather than as a new partner who will give as well as receive ideas about childrearing. The more mother and children insist on maintaining their familiar patterns without modifications required to absorb the stepfather, the more frustrated and angry he’ll become. The result may lead to child abuse or chronic arguing between the parents.

Question 30

Answer 30

Enmeshed boundary between Mother and Johnny lead to Johnny becoming disengaged from his outside interests

Question 31

Answer 31

Parents enmeshed with their children.

Question 32

Answer 32

Enmeshed family leading to child developing school phobia. Young children in enmeshed families receive wonderful care: Their parents hug them, love them, and give them lots of attention. Although such parents may be too tired from caring for the children to have much time for each other, the system may be moderately successful. However, if these doting parents don’t teach their children to obey rules and respect authority, the children may be unprepared to negotiate their entrance into school. Used to getting their own way, they may be unruly and disruptive. Several possible consequences of this situation may bring the family into treatment. The children may be reluctant to go to school, and their fears may be covertly reinforced by “understanding” parents who permit them to remain at home. Such a case may be labeled as school phobia, and may become entrenched if the parents permit the children to remain at home for more than a few days.

Question 33

Answer 33

Parents in conflict scapegoating their child to detour conflict. One problem often seen by family therapists arises when parents who are unable to resolve conflicts between them divert the focus of concern onto a child. Instead of worrying about each other, they worry about the child. Although this reduces the strain on father (F) and mother (M), it victimizes the child (C) and is therefore dysfunctional.