Handbook of Family Resilience

556 Pages·2013·4.457 MB·English

by  William C. Nichols (auth.), Dorothy S. Becvar (eds.)

Handbook of Family Resilience
wwwwwwwwwwww
Dorothy S. Becvar
Editor
Handbook of Family
Resilience
Editor
Dorothy S. Becvar
School of Social Work
Saint Louis University
St. Louis, MO 63103, USA
ISBN 978-1-4614-3799-4 ISBN 978-1-4614-3917-2 (eBook)
DOI 10.1007/978-1-4614-3917-2
Springer New York Heidelberg Dordrecht London
Library of Congress Control Number: 2012942607
© Springer Science+Business Media New York 2013
This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved by the Publisher, whether the whole or
part of the material is concerned, speci fi cally the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of
illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on micro fi lms or in any other physical way,
and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software,
or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. Exempted from this
legal reservation are brief excerpts in connection with reviews or scholarly analysis or material
supplied speci fi cally for the purpose of being entered and executed on a computer system, for
exclusive use by the purchaser of the work. Duplication of this publication or parts thereof is
permitted only under the provisions of the Copyright Law of the Publisher’s location, in its
current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer. Permissions for
use may be obtained through RightsLink at the Copyright Clearance Center. Violations are liable
to prosecution under the respective Copyright Law.
The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this
publication does not imply, even in the absence of a speci fi c statement, that such names are
exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use.
While the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of
publication, neither the authors nor the editors nor the publisher can accept any legal responsibility
for any errors or omissions that may be made. The publisher makes no warranty, express or
implied, with respect to the material contained herein.
Printed on acid-free paper
Springer is part of Springer Science+Business Media (www.springer.com)
Preface
It seems appropriate to recall that early efforts to understand the ways in
which families function typically made use of a de fi cit model, typically focus-
ing on structure rather than on process. Such structural dimensions as family
type (e.g., divorced, single parent) or father absence were thus the primary
topics of concern. It is also important to note that this use of a de fi cit model
was consistent with a national concern about family problems that goes as far
back as the early days of this country, with forecasts of impending doom a
common occurrence from then until now. However, beginning in the 1970s,
many scholars began to acknowledge the limitations of a negativistic, struc-
tural approach to the study of families. Awareness of the fact that no one
structure necessarily predicted success or failure grew, and studies of the
characteristics of families who functioned well began to appear along with
recognition that a variety of family forms could be supportive of healthy
development. Beginning with a consideration of family strengths, more
recently the focus has shifted to explorations of family resilience.
At the same time, as studies of family dynamics have continued to grow
and evolve, there has been ever greater awareness of both the diversity and
the complexity of families. Certainly such complexity is evident as we seek
to understand family resilience. From efforts to de fi ne the concept, to meth-
odological issues related to its study, to practice considerations relative to
the facilitation of resilience in a variety of contexts, social scientists and
mental health professionals are faced with enormous challenges. Indeed,
the more we explore the more we may recognize that if our goal is to con-
duct research and/or interact with families in a manner that enables them
not only to survive but also to thrive in response to life’s vicissitudes,
whether expected or unanticipated, the more a variety of perspectives will
be essential to the ful fi llment of this task.
In an attempt to respond appropriately to the various dimensions of this
challenge, this volume purposely includes a variety of perspectives, some of
which overlap to a degree, some of which take opposite points of view, but all
of which help to shed light on many of the crucial concepts and processes that
are subsumed by the term family resilience. Although some aspects of family
resilience may not be addressed, as broad a sweep of relevant topics as is pos-
sible within one book also are examined. Finally, a variety of professional
orientations are included as well, with chapters authored by a remarkable
array of scholars representing the fi elds of counseling, education, human
v
vi Preface
development and family studies, marriage and family therapy, nursing,
psychology, social work, and medicine.
Content
Part I of the book, Resilience in General, includes discussions related to the
evolution of a family resilience focus (Chap. 1), a consideration of method-
ological issues when attempting to study family resilience (Chap. 2), and
rami fi cations of and approaches related to the inclusion of family resilience
in clinical practice (Chap. 3, 4, and 5).
Resilience and Families, which is the focus of Part II, provides explora-
tions of family resilience relative to stepfamilies (Chap. 5), military marriages
(Chap. 6), parenting (Chap. 7), at-risk youth (Chap. 9), and high-risk situa-
tions (Chap. 10).
In Part III, Resilience and Ethnicity, resilience is investigated in the con-
texts of ethnic family systems in general (Chap. 11), Latinos families (Chap.
12), Native American families (Chap. 13), Black families (Chap. 14), and
Korean families (Chap. 15).
Part IV, Resilience, Loss, and Grief, offers the reader discussions related
to family resilience in the wake of loss (Chap. 16), as tolerance for ambiguity
(Chap. 17), in response to peri-natal loss (Chap. 18), relative to parental death
(Chap. 19), and in the process of aging (Chap. 20).
Resilience and Ability, the subject addressed in Part V, includes considerations
of family resilience relative to children with severe disabilities (Chap. 21), in
response to chronic illness (Chap. 22), in the context of children with autism
spectrum disorder (Chap. 23), relative to mental health challenges (Chap. 24),
and as strengthened through spiritual and religious resources (Chap. 25).
Finally, in Part VI, Resilience, Trauma, and Abuse, the topics addressed
include family and community resilience relative to the experience of mass
trauma (Chap. 26), resilience in African American adult children of alcohol-
ics (Chap. 27), fostering resilience in daughters of battered women (Chap.
28), family resilience and sexuality (Chap. 29), and r esilience in older women
religious sexually abused in earlylife (Chap. 30).
Format
Authors were requested to include in their chapters the following elements:
an introduction as well as the background of their topic; a discussion of the
signi fi cance of the topic; a literature review related to the topic; a delineation
of current issues relative to the topic; a consideration of clinical implications;
a review of research implications; a case example if appropriate; and a con-
clusion. Thus, the reader will fi nd that each chapter provides an in-depth
exploration of the given topic. Indeed, another goal of this volume was to cre-
ate a rich resource that would be meaningful to a diverse audience.
Dorothy S. Becvar
Saint Louis University, St. Louis, MO, USA
Acknowledgements
I would fi rst like to thank the many contributors, without whom, needless to
say, the production of this volume would not have been possible. I also want
to thank my editors at Springer, Jennifer Hadley and Sharon Panulla, for their
support during my 5 years as Editor of C ontemporary Family Therapy: An
International Journal , as well as for encouraging me to undertake the editing
of this handbook. Finally, as always, I want to express my gratitude for the
unwavering support of my husband, Ray, and my daughter, Lynne, as I con-
tinue my professional pursuits.
Dorothy S. Becvar
vii
wwwwwwwwwwww
Contents
Part I Resilience in General
1 Roads to Understanding Family Resilience:
1920s to the Twenty-First Century .............................................. 3
William C. Nichols
2 Operationalizing Family Resilience as Process:
Proposed Methodological Strategies ........................................... 17
Laura G. DeHaan, Dale R. Hawley, and James E. Deal
3 The Ramifications for Clinical Practice
of a Focus on Family Resilience ................................................... 31
Dale R. Hawley
4 Facilitating Family Resilience in Clinical Practice .................... 51
Dorothy S. Becvar
5 Community-Based Practice Applications
of a Family Resilience Framework .............................................. 65
Froma Walsh
Part II Resilience and Families
6 Resilience in Stepfamilies ............................................................. 85
Marilyn Coleman, Lawrence Ganong, and Luke T. Russell
7 Resilience in Military Marriages Experiencing
Deployment .................................................................................... 105
Jared R. Anderson, Yvonne Amanor-Boadu, Sandra M. Stith,
and Rachel E. Foster
8 Family Resilience and Parenting ................................................. 119
Ivelisse Torres Fernandez, Jonathan P. Schwartz,
Heejung Chun, and Ginger Dickson
9 Family Resilience and At-Risk Youth.......................................... 137
Michael Ungar
10 Family Resilience in the Context of High-Risk Situations ........ 153
Cynthia A. Lietz
ix