CFT360-TWA1

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Sociology

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Apr 3, 2024

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Brigiette Lytle CFT 360-1002 Professor Perkins February 29, 2024 Family Vitality: Characteristics of Strong Families All families have strengths and weaknesses. Read the article and complete the evaluation at the end. 1. Identify and briefly discuss two areas of strength in your family. There are 12 different characteristics of strong families. The two characteristics that I believe align most with my own family are both a strong marriage and expressed appreciation. I have a family of four that consists of my husband Thomas, my 6-year-old son Zain, my 4-year- old daughter Zora, our 18-week-old puppy Alphonse, and myself. Unlike my husband, I did not grow up with examples of strong healthy marriages in my environment, so that has played a critical factor in how I built a strong foundation with my spouse prior to us expanding our family. Rupured and Quick (1997) believed that healthy marriages overall are impactful on a family’s well-being and can spill over into the various other relationships we have with the rest of the family. Clear communication, mutual respect, and self-disclosure are all key components to a strong family dynamic. My spouse and I are always considerate of one another’s feelings, we never argue in front of our children, we always leave room for transparency when it comes to expressing our feelings whether they are positive or negative, and we also prioritize couple’s therapy weekly. Expressed appreciation is also very critical to having a strong foundation for your family. It’s important to not only just feel appreciative, but to also put effort in expressing
that emotion through actions and words so that person can feel special (Rupured & Quick, 1997). Some of the most common things I do to express my appreciation towards my own kids and spouse is to always tell them I am thankful for everything they do and return favors that suit their own likes and needs. 2. Identify and briefly discuss one area of improvement that would benefit your family. Include your idea(s) of what changes would bring about improvement in this area.   Strong families can typically handle a crisis effectively whenever they arise. This is referred to as “looking on the bright side of things”, or having a positive outlook (Rupured & Quick, 1997). This is an area in my family that I can admit is challenging, especially for myself. I am very expressive of my emotions, and due to experiencing so much trauma in my life, especially recently, it’s hard for me to have faith in humanity or be trusting of a crisis-like situation working out in my favor. On the other hand, my spouse has the characteristic of always being optimistic about every crisis that arises in our family, and I honestly admire it. He’s usually able to map out our problems for me in a way that helps me see the light at the end of the tunnel with the situation at hand. Some of the lifestyle exercises I practice to improve my lack of having a positive outlook daily is to focus on gratitude, give myself grace, put myself in environments and around people that make me feel good, and utilize my internal dialogue to identify when I am overthinking and being too hard on myself or others. 3. Describe what you can do to help strengthen your family/relationships To work on the strength of my family and relationships, I believe good communication skills play the biggest role. It’s important to not only be open to listening,
but also understanding, even with instances where I may not agree with my loved ones. I also believe that it’s important to always set goals for the family and celebrate every milestone each person reaches so everyone feels the same level of importance. Quality time together is also something I feel can be strengthened as I often get lost in school and miss out on the most beautiful memories with my children. I aim to practice detachment from my phone, laptop, and even the television so that my family has my complete undivided attention when it’s needed. Family Vitality: Time Together 1. Describe the importance of family spending time together. How does it help relationships between family members? Quality time with family is very important to maintain a healthy and happy relationship between family members. Eating, working, playing, vacationing, and sharing spiritual practices together are all characteristics of a healthy family. Spending genuine time with your family shouldn’t feel like an obligation but more-so an anticipated enjoyable experience (Rupured & Quick, 1997). When I spend time with my parents, siblings and their children, or my in-laws, and we have our annual holiday traditions, or board game nights, I always feel so much warmth in my heart. It’s a satisfying and encouraging feeling to have a village to call family who enjoys spending time with you just as much as you enjoy spending time with them.   2. Describe two ways/activities family members can spend time together that can strengthen their relationships with each other.
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Frequently setting aside quiet time for one-on-one conversations with your spouse or children about their day at work or school is a great method to spend quality time together while also strengthening the relationship between the two. “What was something that made you feel good today?” or “Did you learn anything new today?” are great examples of conversation starters with your loved ones. Another great way to connect with your family through quality time is by having a picture potluck. Extended family members hold a potluck, where not only do you bring a dish to eat, but also a box of old family photos to share and reminisce about after dinner. 3. Describe one experience in which a family activity helped strengthen the relationships in your family. When I was a child, I was always dreading chores especially since we had to do it daily. My mom had a mild form of being a “clean freak”, and often if things were not clean to her standards, we faced severe consequences. As a mother myself now, I was very adamant about creating methods to get chores done that will not give my children a negative experience about cleaning. I have a chore board that also includes myself, and their father so we are always working as a family unit to avoid the children ever feeling as though they are doing it alone. We do surface cleaning at the end of every day and deep clean on Sundays. Whenever we are cleaning, we play music and take turns choosing the playlists while cleaning and dancing around. I always enjoy the rewarding at the end, which is usually a family trip to get Boba or ice cream cones! These positive routines I’ve instilled eventually helped my kids learn to clean on their own without feeling dreadful about it.
The Magic of the Family Meal 1. Describe two benefits for families that come with regularly eating family meals together. Regularly eating family meals together has many benefits for families. One of the most impactful benefits is how it can help promote balance, sustain culture traditions, and identity. Eating together is a time where special memories can be told and created in unison, jokes and laughter are shared, and life as a family can be analyzed with one another (Rupured & Quick, 1997). Another great benefit to eating regularly with family is how it teaches the children how to communicate properly with others, learn big vocabulary, and manners. 2. Describe the benefits to the physical well-being for children that come with regularly having family meals. Children who regularly have family meals are less likely to get depressed, develop eating disorders, partake in drugs and alcohol, and consider suicide. Having family meals often help children learn healthy eating habits, excel in school, and even delay having sex. 3. Describe the behavioral benefits for children that come with regularly eating meals as a family. Family meals together get better through practice (Rupured & Quick, 1997). One of the behavioral benefits for children that come with frequently family mealtimes is the confidence, self-esteem and security boost they feel towards their parents. These kids are often found to mainly get A’s and B’s in school, and feel more connected to their family, with a sense of importance or contribution.
4. In your opinion, why is having regular meals together so good for families? Regular meals together are great for families because they have a positive long- lasting influence on not only just the children’s values, but also the parents. Having parents who value the time spent with their children at the dinner table who are very interested in their well-being, how their day was spent, their experiences outside of the home with peers, etc., helps create a foundation of trust and belonging. This foundation built can help families understand one another better, settle any conflicts or disagreements in a safe space, and help teach useful skills in communication, sharing, and even cooking.
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