Introduction
Developmental factors play a critical role in understanding the interactions between family members. These factors also determine the formation of identity and the development of social skills for younger family members. Equally important, good family relationships are based on trust and support, which helps cope with challenges and problems. This paper aims to analyze the developmental factors for the personal and case scenario families, compare these factors, and develop strategies to solve the issues present in the Reyes family.
Lifespan Developmental Factors Based on the Personal Genogram
The relationship between parents and children is an integral part of a child’s development. The family environment and support strategies directly influence the behavior of a child or adolescent. Behavioral strategies determine the ways of socialization, which affects the level of qualitative interaction with the world and the ability to establish social ties. Self-socialization is extremely important, as it can subsequently affect career and life success. The ability to socialize and maintain enriching relationships also reduces the risks of substance abuse and the manifestation of other types of deviant behavior. Scholars note that “substance abuse problems at ages 27–30 were best predicted, even after accounting for levels of substance use in adolescence, by adolescent-era markers of underlying deficits, including lack of social skills and poor self-concept” (Allen et al., 2021). Therefore, an unsatisfying relationship between parents and children is one of the main goals of a clinician.
Equally important, the relationship between parents and children directly influences and is a determining factor in identity formation. Support and assistance in maintaining identity is a first-order task for the family. A weak identity can lead to substance abuse problems, which can return even in adulthood. Equally important, if a clinician has weak social skills or identity, it will adversely impact the treatment practices. I have to admit that my family has been a huge support in building my identity and socialization skills. I am the oldest child in a family with six children and actively participating in many family social contacts helped me develop a versatile identity and play various social roles.
Sociocultural factors also significantly influenced my development as a child and adolescent. In my family, two people have an alternative understanding of their gender roles – my brother Antoine is homosexual, and my aunt Tara is in a lesbian relationship. Family experiences helped me better understand how simple gender issues are, and how unnatural it can be to condemn gender or sexual orientation choices. My brother Antoine takes his sexuality naturally and does not emphasize it, as my parents never treated him differently than my other brothers and sisters.
There were no substantial additional factors that impacted my development to a great extent. To be more precise, my father was in substance recovery for some time, which probably affected his relationship with his siblings. However, problems with the use of substances were temporary, and I know my father as a loving, understanding, and supportive person. He quickly overcame his issues, and my mother actively participated in his challenges, being a loving partner for him. Therefore, I did not feel the significant destructive impact of my father’s problems on my social bonds, especially since my brothers and sisters always protect and support me during emotional experiences.
My grandfather, my mother’s father, had a psychological illness, which may have led to my mother starting to smoke, and her brother Larry is suspected of drug abuse. Despite this, my mother formed a stable identity, and I never noticed that my grandfather’s problems hurt her significantly, since she always received support from her mother. According to Isen et al. (2021), “responsibility for persistent offending had a significant genetic origin (heritability = 67%), while genetic influences were negligible for lower-risk subgroups” (p. 3). Because I grew up in a stable environment, and I can classify myself as a lower-risk group, I believe that genetic influences have not had a significant impact on my life and personal development.
These factors are extremely important for understanding my family, as it largely determines the development of identity and the formation of social skills. Sociocultural factors are also critical as they may indicate other challenges faced by family members. Sociocultural factors reflect a more complex system of relationships between family members within the genogram. At the same time, sociocultural factors directly affect the perception of the environment and the attitude toward the world of younger family members. Additional factors such as divorce, substance abuse, or mental illness affect all family members. These challenges can be perceived positively when, through support or personal willpower, family members overcome these problems. However, if a family member does not cope, such problems can have complex consequences for children, spouses, and siblings.
Lifespan Developmental Factors Based on the Reyes Family Genogram
For the Reyes family, I decided to choose the factors that best explain the development of the relationships between the family members. The developmental phase of adolescence is of the utmost concern for this family, as Sam Wolter, who is 15, and Cass Wolter, who is 12, experience growing up difficulties related to the divorce of parents Emily Reyes and Ken Wolter. The midlife developmental phase is of no less concern since Emily Reyes and her new husband Felipe Reyes has some relationship difficulties due to spats over parenting. Dennis et al. (2018) note that “higher levels of parental stress can negatively impact a child’s behavior” and “is often associated with higher levels of both internal and external behavioral problems” (p. 129). In particular, disappointment in the relationship with the child, caused by initially high-stress factors, is the main predictor of general child behavior problems (Dennis et al. 2018, p. 130). This scientifically proven position perfectly illustrates the relationship between Felipe and Sam.
Sam is quite aggressive towards his stepfather, and his anger also extends to Emily, which creates a tense environment for all family members. The problem is exacerbated by the fact that, due to inflated guilt, Emily does not want to admit that the phase of life when she and her children went through a divorce from Ken is over, and she has entered a new phase of her relationship with Felipe, in which she, her children and a new husband are one family. Emily doesn’t seem to want to force a relationship with Felipe on her children, but in fact, she may be fearful of the future, unrelated to divorce guilt or pity for her children. While this fear may have no basis other than previous negative experiences, it has a severely damaging effect on Emily’s family life.
The phase of adolescence already has significant negative contortions for Sam, and Cass is also under constant stress. Schroeder et al. (2018) note that “early postnatal life and adolescence represent distinct periods of vulnerability” in terms of exposure to negative stressors (p. 121). Notably, men are more susceptible to negative stress factors, although there are not enough studies comparing the effects for both sexes. In other words, scientists confirm that Sam and Felipe are in the most vulnerable position due to unstable family relationships.
Further, the sociocultural factor of spirituality is defining for the Reyes family, since Felipe is a serious Catholic, Emily is a paralegal Catholic, Cass is active in church, and Sam is not a fan of the church. The church and participation in its affairs are an indication of the role Felipe plays in the family as a father and head of the family. Cass supports Felipe, while Emily does not share his interests. This confirms the theory that the basis of the conflict between Felipe and Sam lies in the relationship between the spouses. Therefore, during therapeutic work, it is the marital relationship that will be the focus of attention.
The additional factors of divorce and re-marriage also mediate relationships within this family. The fact that the kids spend the whole summer with Ken is not a reasonable solution to the issue of communication with the father. Children would be more comfortable interacting with Ken during fall or spring break. Children should have space for their development: for example, they could spend the summer traveling or hanging out with friends at home. Cass doesn’t find enough satisfaction at Ken’s house as she can’t make new friends that quickly. Sam also spends his summers playing video games as he has to keep in touch with his friends from a distance.
Given the above, three second-order changes in the system will help the family to proceed developmentally. First, Emily must make up her mind to let the kids get out of close contact with Ken and let go of their past. As part of this strategic decision, she should keep the kids at home for the summer and let them see Ken during spring break. It is also desirable for children to spend winter and autumn holidays at home, as they experience difficulties due to an unstable home environment.
Secondly, Emily should reconsider her relationship with Felipe. The couple loves each other, but because of the fear of repeating painful experiences, it is difficult for Emily to realize that she is in a new stage of the relationship, when she and Felipe became parents to her children and are a family. To show her new attitude, Emily might initiate a joint summer vacation where all family members could feel comfortable. Equally important, Emily should pay more attention to Felipe’s interests, such as going to church with him to show her love and attention. Even though Felipe loves Emily, he feels separated and alone in his new family. It is for this reason that he clashes with Sam, who also suffers from instability and imbalance. These three steps will change the situation in the family, unite it, and allow all family members to feel warmth and support.
Working with Reyes Family
The developmental factors identified earlier have some similarities and differences for both families. Common features include the importance of parent-child relationships for identity formation and sociocultural skills. Remarkably, support, attention, and trust between partners also help them maintain each other’s identity, and that of their adolescent children. Families have different sociocultural factors, and these factors play different roles in families. For the Reyes family, sociocultural factors such as spirituality play a less important role than the sociocultural factors of gender for my family. Further, as an additional factor, the Reyes family is experiencing partnership communication problems due to divorce, while my family had parent-child relationship problems.
If I were a clinician for the Reyes family, I should be mindful of the differences outlined above and draw a line between the role that sociocultural and additional factors play in the Reyes and my family. The main difference is that an additional factor in the Reyes family lies in partnerships, so I should prioritize this aspect. Given the particularities of my background, I will probably be the most protective of Sam, since he is the elder child in his family. I will most likely be distant and reactive to the grandparents because in my family we do not have very close contact with my grandparents.
Given these characteristics, I should be less protective regarding Sam, and accept the role of Emily’s parents as grandparents who want to see their grandchildren and children. The first strategy in this direction will be to recognize that Sam is not a victim of Emily’s fears, and the partnership of the spouses has the same effect on the two children, only Sam reacts openly, and Cass hides her feelings. The second strategy is to define the role of Ann and Spencer Moss, such as inviting the family to discuss when they would like to meet and how grandparents could be involved in the grandchildren’s lives.
Conclusion
Thus, the developmental factors for the personal and case scenario families were analyzed. The strategies to solve the challenges in the Reyes family were created. The Reyes family must pay attention to partnerships, and Emily must get rid of the fears associated with divorce and the difficulties she had to face in this regard. Equally important, children should spend more time at home socializing with friends and pursuing their interests.
References
Allen, J. P., Loeb, E. L., Narr, R. K., & Costello, M. A. (2021). Different factors predict adolescent substance use versus adult substance abuse: Lessons from a social-developmental approach. Development and Psychopathology, 33(3), 792-802.
Dennis, M. L., Neece, C. L., & Fenning, R. M. (2018). Investigating the influence of parenting stress on child behavior problems in children with developmental delay: The role of parent-child relational factors. Advances in Neurodevelopmental Disorders, 2(2), 129-141.
Isen, J., Tuvblad, C., Younan, D., Ericson, M., Raine, A., & Baker, L. A. (2021). Developmental trajectories of delinquent and aggressive behavior: Evidence for differential heritability. Child Psychiatry & Human Development, 1-13.
Schroeder, A., Notaras, M., Du, X., & Hill, R. A. (2018). On the developmental timing of stress: Delineating sex-specific effects of stress across development on adult behavior. Brain Sciences, 8(7), 121.