Vocabulary Terms
What is the definition of a family?
A continuing system of interacting persons bound together by processes of shared roles, rules, and rituals, even more than shared biology
What is the definition of internal?
events that begin from someone inside the family. examples: addition, suicide, violence, running for election
What is the definition of ambiguous loss?
Process of decision making, coping, and grieving are frozen
How are coping strategies earned?
families pass down rules at strategies, children learn how they live, functional or dysfunctional methods are learned
What is the attribution style of coping?
to achieve cognitive control over one's environment by explaining and understanding the causes behind behavior in an environment's occurences
What is the definition of a system?
a whole made up of interacting parts. you cannot add these parts together and get the total system- the system is more than the sum of its parts
What is the difference between pervasiveness and boundedness?
pervasiveness: events that affect the entire family system
boundedness: events that affect a limited part of the system
What are the types of ambiguous loss?
physical and psychological ambiguous
Who does coping effect?
the whole family system, it's a systematic process
What is ruminating? What are its consequences?
retracing mistakes, over-think or obsess about situations, make it difficult to cope
consequences: depression, anxiety,post-traumatic stress disorder, binge drinking or eating
What is the definition of a boundary?
"lines of demarcation" that indicate who is in and who is out of a system or subsystem
What is the difference between precipitate onset and gradual onset?
precipitate onset: events that occur suddenly, without warning
gradual onset: events that occur overtime, or you know that it is coming
What is the individual level of ambiguous loss?
ambiguity freezes grief, not knowing can create a chronic hyper vigilance, anxiety, attachment, chronic sorrow, depressive symptoms
What are some individual coping strategies?
an assessment of impeding harm (primary appraisal); an assessment of consequences of any coping action (secondary)
What is the "catch phrase" of the optimism cognitive style?
What is the definition of interdependence?
individuals and subsystems are mutually dependent and mutually influenced by one another
What is the difference between normative and non-normative?
Normative: evens that are expected, predictable
non-normative:catastrophic, situational, unexpected
What is the family level of ambiguous loss?
ambiguous loss ruptures relationships, blocks coping; disagreements happen; flexibility is key
How is intrapsychic form of coping used?
to reduce emotional arousal rather than to change the situation
What is the difference between isolation and connecting?
isolation- feeling of being cut of from the connections you need; increases frustration, despair, loneliness
connecting- reaching out to others- a friend, family, a professional
What is the definition of permeability?
the ability to enter or exit the system
What are some defining examples of the differences between normative and non-normative?
Normative: birth, puberty, adolescence, marriage, aging, retirement
Non-normative: loss of a young spouse, teen pregnancy
what is the community level of ambiguous loss?
little or no community support; extreme responses- treat like a death or pretend nothing happened; need support but not pressure to "move on"
What does the family focus on to cope?
protective factors
What steps make problem solving successful?
Problem identification and agreement, create options, evaluate alternatives, choose a solution, monitor the solution, evaluate the success of the plan