Deck 2: Dimensions That Influence Dynamics

Question 1

Which of the following is a fundamental family survival task?

A) welcoming new ideas and diverse people into the home
B) promoting rugged individualism in the children
C) sustaining stable expectation for each member regardless of developmental stage
D) providing emotional and physical nurturance and safety to the members

Answer 1

D

Question 2

When did extended families fragment into smaller, close knit family units?

A) prior to the Civil War in the United States
B) during and after the Industrial Revolution
C) after WWII
D) the beginning of the 21st Century

Answer 2

B

Question 3

What is an example of the bi-directional responsibility of society and families?

A) parents restricting adolescent children from playing team sports
B) family members participating in cultivating a community garden
C) parents and children socializing only with extended family members
D) state government limiting funding and access to health care and childcare

Answer 3

B

Question 4

What do individualistic cultures foster?

A) assertion of ideas and opinions
B) reliance on family for setting goals
C) reluctance in open expression of differing ideas
D) respect for the elders' views

Question 5

Who has the most power to make decisions and influence family members in a family unit?

A) help-rejecting complainer
B) elders of the family
C) parents who have access to resources and skills
D) the children

Question 6

Salvador Minuchin focused on ______ in his work as a family systems theorist and therapist.

A) moments of shared experiences that strengthened relationships
B) hierarchies in the family structure
C) destructive use of power in the family
D) the importance of individuation in healthy family development

Question 7

Which of the following scenarios is a hierarchical parental concern that shouldn't be shared with children?

A) consequences for children's misbehavior
B) parents' job relocation and need to move to another community
C) visiting arrangements with grandparents or other extended family members
D) parents' sexual and intimacy difficulties

Question 8

What is the difference between an absent estrangement and a secondary one?

A) A secondary estrangement involves someone being forced to take sides.
B) A secondary estrangement involves someone getting drawn into a feud they don't want to be involved in.
C) An absent estrangement is centered on family loyalty, or lack thereof.
D) An absent estrangement involves someone being dragged into a feud because their relationship with the people feuding.

Question 9

Which of the following statements is true about an enmeshed family?

A) This family dynamic often results in a feud or estrangement.
B) It is seen as a positive form of functioning.
C) Enmeshed families are typically too close to each other.
D) It often results in minimal interest on the parts of the children.

Question 10

______ emphasized the process of individuation in healthy individual and family development.

A) Salvador Minuchin
B) John Gottman
C) Avner Barcai
D) Murray Bowen

Question 11

When a family is experiencing a crisis, such as their home being flooded from a hurricane, the members tend to ______.

A) count more on each other and seek out closeness with each other
B) demand time to be away from each other
C) express anger at other family members
D) have unrealistic expectations of the power of other family members

Question 12

A family member breaking a covert rule may result in ______.

A) limited focus or discussion about the infraction
B) more severe consequences
C) less serious punishment or no punishment at all
D) inconsistent and confusing response by those holding power

Question 13

When a rift or cut-off occurs with an ex-partner or spouse in an immediate family, the ______ often experience the most deleterious and hurtful effects.

A) parent responsible for initiating the cut-off
B) grandparents
C) family friends
D) children

Question 14

Conti (2015) found that in nuclear family contexts, estrangement from ______ as the most frequently occurring form.

A) siblings
B) biological fathers
C) grandmothers
D) biological mothers

Question 15

Intergenerational family feuds or cut-offs tend to have which of the following characteristics?

A) They are forgotten by the younger generation because they have not heard any of the conflictual issues from their parents or grandparents.
B) The feuds are typically connected to linear or cause and effect patterns.
C) The cut-offs or feuds can be easily rectified by family mediation or legal intervention.
D) The feuds are very complicated with many layers of misunderstandings

Question 16

When a person initiates a cut-off, they typically intend to have which effect on the individual being cut-off or ostracized?

A) cajoling the other person in making amends
B) seriously offending or causing emotional pain to the other person
C) demonstrating their commitment to reuniting
D) showing respect for the need to have some distance during times of conflict

Question 17

John Gottman found that ______ is one of the most dangerous interpersonal weapons.

A) nagging at family members
B) stonewalling in the attempts at reconciliation
C) making disparaging remarks about family members to those outside of the family
D) being cynical with family members about reconciliation

Question 18

______ described the process-person-context-time (PPCR) concept as the complex connection of the ecological systems in which individuals develop and exist.

A) Urie Bronfenbrenner
B) Salvador Minuchin
C) Murray Bowen
D) John Gottman

Question 19

A distinction between the mesosystem and the exosystem in an individual's life can be described as the ______.

A) closeness or distance of the members of the individual's family system
B) extent of influence of the socio-historical events in an individual's life
C) indirect influences of society and culture on the individual's life
D) level of influence on an individual of the connections, from those of school and peers to community and legislative agencies

Question 20

Which of the following is an example of a chronosystemic influence in an individual's life and development?

A) the election of Barack Obama and his 8 years as president of the U.S.
B) an individual's family moving to another home
C) a parent getting a new job
D) sharing holidays with family and friends

Question 21

Parents in collectivistic cultures encourage their children to assert their unique ideas and opinions.

Question 22

Cultural traditions play a key role in hierarchical respect and family power positions.

Question 23

Celebrating and spending time together are more important than trust in forming family bonds and commitment.

Question 24

A study with university students (Conti, 2015) revealed that family estrangement was relatively uncommon among the students.

Question 25

Compare the layers of influence in your ecological system with that of your parents.