Family Schema Research Articles

The imprint of trauma on family relationships: an enquiry into what may trouble a ‘troubled family’ and its implications for whole-family services

For some families facing complex difficulties, an underlying issue can be the impact of traumatic experiences, such as child abuse or domestic violence. While the impact of trauma on individuals is relatively well understood, its impact on the functioning of family or relational systems is less well theorised. This article takes forward the development of an original theoretical framework by which to understand both the impact of trauma at a collective level and the resources that people may need in order for them to overcome its legacy – building principally building on concepts of family schema and recovery capital. This discussion is grounded in the practice context of whole-family support and decision-making services, and is explored through an analysis of narrative data obtained as part of a wider national study into whole-family approaches.

Integrating Social Justice into the Practice of CBFT: A Critical Look at Family Schemas.

Many families come to therapy struggling with the negative consequence of social inequity. Family therapy modalities have been developed to address these negative consequences and attend to power and social equity (Transformative family therapy: Just families in a just society. Boston, MA: Pearson Education; Socio-emotional relationship therapy. New York, NY: Springer). We argue that many family therapy modalities can be adapted to include social equity (Applying critical social theory in family therapy practice. AFTA Springer Series. New York, NY: Springer Publishing). Specifically, cognitive behavioral family therapy can be used to address the inequality in social systems that negatively affect the family system. We focus on schema formation and suggest an emphasis on societal schemas within the therapy milieu as a tool to help families see how societal inequality can affect the problems faced in family life.

Optimising column family for OLAP queries in HBase

Apache HBase is a column-oriented NoSQL key-value store built on top of the Hadoop distributed file-system. Logically, columns in HBase are grouped into column families. Physically, all columns in one column family are stored in the same set of files. Therefore the division of column families is closely related to the response time for a specific row query. In this paper, a new evolutionary algorithm is designed and applied to group columns and find the optimum column family schema for the given user queries. The reading performance of the optimised column family schema is evaluated on a real dataset provided by ZANOX. It is shown that by using the found optimised column family schema, the reading performance while executing OLAP queries is improved with a statistical significance. Queries from a test set show that the average response time is reduced by up to 72% compared to reference column family schemas.

Low‐income and Middle‐class Mothers Gendered Work and Family Schemas

AbstractConflict between the demands of paid work and motherhood has been studied primarily from the experience of middle‐class and professional mothers in dual‐earner families. Recently, with the reform of welfare, a number of studies have focused on the problems of poor mothers in meeting the demands of paid employment and caring for children. This article explores the moral discourse of judgments about paid work and motherhood and how this differs for low‐income and married middle‐class women. It reviews research that considers why poor single mothers are seen as irresponsible when they leave work due to family demands when professional and middle‐class married mothers are seen as acting selflessly. It examines how gendered schema differentially influences the work and family choices of married middle‐class and professional mothers compared to poor and low‐income mothers.

A Theoretical Comparison of Relational Maintenance and Closeness as Mediators of Family Communication Patterns in Parent-Child Relationships

This investigation sought to elaborate Koerner and Fitzpatrick’s theory of family communication by testing two theoretical models of family communication patterns (FCP), child-to-parent inclusion of the other in the self (IOS), and relational maintenance. Participants included 374 young adults recruited from two universities in different regions of the United States. Results best supported a model positioning maintenance as a mediator of the association between FCP and IOS, as compared to an alternative model with IOS as a mediator of the association between FCP and maintenance. These findings extend Koerner and Fitzpatrick’s theory by highlighting communication as the means by which overarching family schemas influence relationship-specific schemas; additionally, they commend the self-expansion model as a useful theoretical approach to relational maintenance behavior in family contexts.

“GET OVER IT”: PERSPECTIVES ON DIVORCE FROM YOUNG CHILDREN*

Young children's perspectives on divorce were examined using a multimethod assessment. Forty‐one children ages 3.5 to 7.5 were recruited from a preventive intervention program for divorcing parents. Most children gave simple but accurate descriptions of divorce processes. Play themes centered on wishes for parental reunion, concerns for security, and complexities of having two homes. Despite the prevalence of fantasy reunion play, most children drew parents as apart in the family drawing, suggesting realistic shifts in family schemas. Intervention group children exhibited clearer, more balanced views of their fathers and displayed more coherent and less affectively disrupted play sequences.

Interconnecting Work and Family: Race and Class Differences in Women's Work Status and Attitudes

SHIFTING WORK-FAMILY REALITIES The interdisciplinary work-family field has grown apace in recent years, as scholars, writers, and policy makers have all focused renewed attention on women's status and attitudes. Much of this resurgence, however, has addressed the behaviors and attitudes of middle- to upper-class white women and their decision to or parent. But this narrow focus limits our research and theorizing and overlooks how women respond in creative ways by interconnecting (or weaving together) their and family lives (Garey 1999, 14). Although this work-family reality is relatively more recent for middle- to upper-class white women, it is a much older reality for many working-class or poor women and women of color. In this essay, I broaden the research focus to a more diverse group of women. My goal is to understand how different women respond to new work-family realities.1 STRUCTURAL CHANGES IN THE WORK-FAMILY LANDSCAPE New work-family realities are best reflected in the structural mismatch between changed family demographics and partially changed customs, norms, and organizational practices (Moen and Roehling 2005; Roos, Trigg, and Hartman 2006, 201- 2). Women's dramatic entry into the labor force, and changes in their pattern of participation, now mean that they more closely resemble men in their labor force participation. Blau and Kahn's (2005, 42) analysis of Current Population Survey data reveals that between 1980 and 2000 women's status became less sensitive to both their own and their husband's wages, and they now supply their labor much as men do. Increased labor force participation has been most stark among married women and women with children, those most subject to work-family conflict. Dualearner families are now the most common household type: by 2000, 62 percent of married couples were dual earners, compared with 44 percent in 1975 (Costello, Wight, and Stone 2003, 203). Since 1970 women have also made significant inroads into more demanding male professional and managerial occupations (Reskin and Roos 1990). Careers are less likely to unfold in a predictable progression of jobs within single organizations, and workers move frequently across firms in boundaryless careers. Both men and women compete as ideal workers in an increasingly global market, scheduled around a 24/7 economy. The resulting time bind negatively affects workers, especially those with higher education and in time-intensive professional and managerial jobs (Jacobs and Gerson 2000). Entry into professional and managerial occupations is more likely to characterize the changing prospects of white women, even though black middle-class women preceded their white counterparts into the labor market by many years (Landry 2000, 91). BEYOND SEPARATE SPHERES The popular and scholarly literatures rely on dichotomous language to describe and family. Garey (1999, 8) faults researchers for relying on separate spheres terminology to describe women as either work-committed or domestically oriented (e.g., Gerson 1985), or as women who to or work to live (e.g., Mason 1988). More recent (e.g., BlairLoy 2003) theorizes the existence of a devotion to schema, where greedy workplace demand all our time and commitment, and a devotion to family schema, where intensive mothering is a woman's major commitment, regardless of her role. Blair-Loy argues that these cultural schemas powerfully shape women's attitudes and behaviors and are embedded in the beliefs of their husbands, the practices of employers, and workplace institutions more generally. In this view, women are seen as committed to either or family, a cultural divide that emerges from a malebreadwinner-female-caregiver gender ideology that creates naturalized boundaries that working women must cross (Gazso 2004, 465). The changing landscape of the American (now global) labor market makes the choice between and family largely the prerogative of the privileged (Johnson, 2002) and diverts our attention from the restructured realities of women's lives. …

A piece of the puzzle — the role of ethnic health staff in hospitals

The role of ethnic health staff in hospitals has not been clearly articulated for managers and practitioners. This paper describes findings from a study based on ethnic and allied health staff interviews and observations of ethnic health staff interactions. Care was provided to language concordant patients directly and by assisting practitioners to work within the patient's cultural paradigms and family schema. The scope of practice involved: engaging patients in a therapeutic relationship, patient assessment, linking assessment with care options, facilitating communication between patients and practitioners, education, smoothing hospital experiences, referral and interpreting. Ethnic health staff displayed a range of specialised skills that managers need to harness within multidisciplinary teams to reach patients from diverse backgrounds.

Exploring young adults' perspectives on communication with aunts

Women are typically studied as daughters, sisters, mothers, or grandmothers. However, many, if not most, women are also aunts. In this study, we offer a preliminary exploration of the meaning of aunts as familial figures. We collected 70 nieces' and nephews' written accounts of their aunts. Thematic analysis of these accounts revealed nine themes, which were divided into two categories. The first category represented the role of the aunt as a teacher, role model, confidante, savvy peer, and second mother. The second category represented the practices of aunting: gifts/treats, maintaining family connections, encouragement, and nonengagement. Our analysis illuminates important aspects of aunts in family schema and kin keeping.

A Cognitive-behavioral Approach to Reconstructing Intergenerational Family Schemas

This article suggests the use of cognitive-behavioral techniques, namely cognitive restructuring combined with family-of-origin sessions, for reconstructing intergenerational family schemas. A case example portrays the use of the techniques as an effective intervention for addressing ingrained schemas, such as in the case of spousal abuse.

Language teaching

05–372Alcón Soler, Eva (Universitat Jaume I, Spain; alcon@ang.uji.es), Does instruction work for learning pragmatics in the EFL context?System (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) 33.3 (2005), 417–435.05–373Butler, Yuko Goto (U of Pennsylvania, USA), Comparative perspectives towards communicative activities among elementary school teachers in South Korea, Japan and Taiwan. Language Teaching Research (London, UK) 9.4 (2005), 423–446.05–374D'Angelo, James F. (Chukyo U, Japan; dangelo@lets.chukyo-u.ac.jp), Educated Japanese English: expanding oral/aural core vocabulary. World Englishes (Oxford, UK) 24.3 (2005), 329–349.05–375Ebunlola Adamo, Grace (Delta State U, Nigeria), Globalization, terrorism, and the English language in Nigeria. English Today (Cambridge, UK) 21.4 (2005), 21–26.05–376Facella, Melissa A., Kirsten M. Rampino & Elizabeth K. Shea (Lesley U, USA), Effective teaching strategies for English language. Bilingual Research Journal (Tempe, AZ, USA) 29.1 (2005), 209–221.05–377Gourlay, Lesley (Napier U, Edinburgh, UK), OK, who's got number one? Permeable Triadic Dialogue, covert participation and the co-construction of checking episodes. Language Teaching Research (London, UK) 9.4 (2005), 403–422.05–378Hardison, Debra & Chayawan Sonchaeng (Michigan State U, USA; hardiso@msu.edu), Theatre voice training and technology in teaching oral skills: integrating the components of a speech event. System (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) 33.4 (2005), 593–608.05–379Hassan, Abdullah (Sultan Idris, U of Education, Malaysia), Language planning in Malaysia: the first hundred years. English Today (Cambridge, UK) 21.4 (2005), 3–12.05–380Hato, Yumi (Fukui Prefectural U, Japan), Problems in top–down goal setting in second language education: a case study of the ‘Action plan to cultivate “Japanese with English abilities”’. JALT Journal (Tokyo, Japan) 27.1 (2005), 33–52.05–381Ho, Judy Woon Yee (Lingnan U, Hong Kong, China), Metaphorical construction of self in teachers' narratives. Language and Education (Clevedon, UK) 19.5 (2005), 359–379.05–382Hui, Leng (Edith Cowan U, Australia & Liaoning Normal U, China), Cultural knowledge and foreign language teaching and learning: a study of Chinese Family schemas in language, culture and intercultural communication. Hong Kong Journal of Applied Linguistics (Hong Kong, China) 9.2 (2004), 17–37.05–383Kim, Sun Hee Ok (U of Auckland, New Zealand) & Catherine Elder, Language choices and pedagogic functions in the foreign language classroom: a cross-linguistic functional analysis of teacher talk. Language Teaching Research (London, UK) 9.4 (2005), 355–380.05–384Koike, Dale April (U of Texas, USA; d.koike@mail.utexas.edu) & Lynn Pearson, The effect of instruction and feedback in the development of pragmatic competence. System (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) 33.3 (2005), 481–501.05–385Lacorte, Manel (U of Maryland, College Park, USA), Teachers' knowledge and experience in the discourse of foreign-language classrooms. Language Teaching Research (London, UK) 9.4 (2005), 381–402.05–386Macedonia, Manuela (Linz U, Austria; manuela@macedonia.at), Games and foreign language teaching. Support for Learning (Oxford, UK) 20.3 (2005), 135–140.05–387Martínez-Flor, Alicia (Universitat Jaume I, Spain; aflor@ang.uji.es) & Yoshinori Fukuya, The effects of instruction on learners' production of appropriate and accurate suggestions. System (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) 33.3 (2005), 463–480.05–388Morrison, Richard & Mathew White (Chukyo U, Japan; Morrison@lets.chukyo-u.ac.jp), Nurturing global listeners: increasing familiarity and appreciation for world Englishes. World Englishes (Oxford, UK) 24.3 (2005), 361–370.05–389Myhill, Debra (U of Essex, UK) & Pauline Warren, Scaffolds or straitjackets? Critical moments in classroom discourse. Educational Review (London, UK) 57.1 (2005), 55–69.05–390Qiang, Niu (Tongji U, China; donna_niu@yahoo.com) & Martin Wolff, Is EFL a modern Trojan Horse?English Today (Cambridge, UK) 21.4 (2005), 55–60.05–391Rose, Kenneth R. (City U of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, China; ken.rose@cityu.edu.hk), On the effects of instruction in second language pragmatics. System (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) 33.3 (2005), 385–399.05–392Sakai, Sanzo & James F. D'Angelo (U of Chukyo, Japan; ssakai@lets.chukyo-u.ac.jp), A vision for world Englishes in the expanding circle. World Englishes (Oxford, UK) 24.3 (2005), 323–327.05–393Scott, Robert A. (Adelphi U, USA), Many calls, little action: global illiteracy in the United States. Language Problems and Language Planning (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) 29.1 (2005), 67–82.05–394Takahashi, Satomi (Rikkyo U, Japan; satomit@rikkyo.ne.jp), Noticing in task performance and learning outcomes: a qualitative analysis of instructional effects in interlanguage pragmatics. System (Amsterdam, the Netherlands) 33.3 (2005), 437–461.05–395Yoshikawa, Hiroshi (Chukyo U, Japan; hyskw@lets.chukyo-u.ac.jp), Recognition of world Englishes: changes in Chukyo University students' attitudes. World Englishes (Oxford, UK) 24.3 (2005), 351–360.

Clinical Implications of Family Resilience

Family resilience is becoming an increasingly visible concept in the family field. This article discusses resilience as a family level construct and offers several ideas about how viewing families as resilient may affect clinical work. These include a focus on strengths, recognizing resilience as a developmental pathway, a search for commonalties among diverse paths of resilience, and an emphasis on helping families identify and develop a useful family schema. A case study utilizing these ideas is presented and discussed.

Relationship of family schema to family adaptation to brain injury

The relationship between family schema and family adaptation to brain injury was investigated. Participants were 87 primary caregivers of persons with brain injuries in Wisconsin who are part of a comprehensive, longitudinal study of family adaptation to having a member with a brain injury. Stepwise multiple regression of variables measuring family schema on family adaptation indicated that manageability and meaningfulness were predictive of family adaptation. Thus the hypothesis that family adaptation can be predicted from variables measuring family schema was supported. Family intervention and research implications are discussed.

Using a cognitive-behavioral family model in conjunction with systems and behavioral family therapy models

Abstract Practitioners and family scientists can use cognitive-behavioral family theory (CBF), along with systems and behavioral theories, to gain deeper understandings of and to facilitate change in the family unit. CBF states that every individual has a family schema. This construct contains the complete set of cognitions that guide individuals as they behave, react, perceive, and process information in the family unit. Following an overview of CBF, the paper illustrates how practitioners and family scientists who use CBF in conjunction with other models can gain richer understandings of individual and unit-level explanations of family stability and change.

Understanding Personal, Cultural and Family Schema in Psychotherapy

No abstract available for this article.

On the classification of families. A progress report.

A review of the literature over the last 20 years on family classification is presented with an aim toward integration of existing approaches. Family schemas are organized into the following groups: (1) style of adaptation, (2) developmental family stage, (3) initial problem or diagnosis of the identified patient, (4) family theme or dimension, and (5) types of marital relationship. Six family types are presented based on a descriptive comparison of the schemas as grouped above, and implications for clinical course and prognosis are summarized. A multidimensional as opposed to a typological model for family classification is suggested.