HBSE-1 Section 014: Midterm Paper October 28, 2013 Ellen Foster by Kaye Gibbons is the story of a young white girl, Ellen, who shares her life experiences over the course of two years. In that time, both of Ellen’s parents pass away, she moves multiple times to temporary homes until she finally finds a safe welcoming place in a foster home. Ellen’s story is rich because it is told in first person narrative and the readers are given context not only to what Ellen is experiencing, but context of the environment she is experiencing it in. To better understand and analyze Ellen, we can view Ellen, and everyone and everything in the novel from a biopsychosocial and systems perspective. Everything in existence can be viewed as a …show more content…
And I will crawl in and make room for myself. My heart can be the one that beats. And hers has stopped” (Gibbons, 1988, p. 10). This scene is very revealing of many systems’ and subsystems’ transactions. On a physical and emotional microsystem level we see Ellen open her individual boundaries and allow an adult to nurture her in a sense as a child needs to be nurtured. Also the heart beating for her mother and then her mother passing away besides her is a traumatic event that Ellen struggles with; and goes on to carry that burden of guilt. Although she felt fear to seek help from the threats of her father, she felt an internal struggle to protect and save her mother as she had already assumed the role as her protector. When she failed to do so it had lasting impacts that would linger and resurface later on with the death of her grandmother. The day of the funeral Ellen’s house is filled with people who have come to share their condolences. The reader starts to see how multiple systems outside of the family transact and impact Ellen. Ellen chooses to stay in the bathroom and watches everyone through a crack in the door. Ellen states she watches them until she can’t anymore because of all the gossip she overhears about her family. She hears people say, “What did you expect? Marry trash and see what comes of you” (Gibbons, 1988, p. 14). Ellen contemplates making a scene by stuffing her dress to appear as though she has a large chest so all the guests could have
Parents who use drugs or alcohol are likely to overlook their children leaving them to their own diplomacy. Since such parents are often lost in their addictions, they are unable to provide the proper leadership that children need particularly throughout their growing days (Sindelar & Fiellin 2001). Teenagers bred in homes where a dear blood relation uses alcohol or drugs, have a superior propensity for developing the dependence afterward, generally because the family is more relaxed in terms of drugs use. The result of alcohol or drug abuse on relations involved and results may differ between families based on a numerous factors. Families affected by substance abuse have one thing in comparison; they reside in homes where traits
At the age of ten, most children are reliant on their parents for everything in their lives needing a great deal of concentration and concern. However, Ellen, the main character and combatant of the novel Ellen Foster, demonstrates a significant amount of self-reliance and mature, impartial thought as a ten-year-old girl. Ellen is a bantling even though she was not deserted, she was impoverished of a normal childhood. Her life as a child was immensely hard, physically and emotionally. She never had a mother or father take care of her through her entire youth. The recent mortality of her mother sends her on a journey for the optimal family, or anywhere her father, who had shown insensitivity to both she and her frail mother, was not. Kaye Gibbons’
Although all sorts of families can be devastated by addiction, but single parent units (the most common lower class structure) are the most obscured. Behavioral Health of the Palm Beaches supports, “In every family unit, each person plays a role (or multiple roles) to help the family function better and to maintain a level of homeostasis, stability and balance. When substance abuse is added to this dynamic, the family roles naturally shift to adjust to the new behaviors associated with drug or alcohol use, and to continue maintaining order and balance.”4 In single parent units there is an inability of a second parent to fill the void role of the addicted parent. The National Center for Biotechnology Information states, “Frequently, children may act as surrogate spouses for the parent who abuses substances. For example, [young] children may develop elaborate systems of denial to protect themselves against that reality of the parent’s addiction. Because that option does not exist in a single‐parent household with a parent who abuses substances, children are likely to behave in a manner that is not age‐appropriate to compensate for the parental deficiency.”2 So a child growing up in a compromised family unit where addiction is present may develop altered norms and mature into an addict themselves.4
A person, especially a parent, who is dependent on alcohol or drugs destroys a family because family members not only see how miserable the addicted really are, but they also witness, firsthand, the way substance abuse can deteriorate a person’s physical and mental body, as well as the fact that family members notice the money that is spent on the abused substances, which sometimes leaves families living in poverty for no reason other than the simple fact the addict has to have their fix. Addicts are the destroyers of happiness, self-worth, and any amount of money.
The ability to handle hardships in the world can come easy to some and to others it may be so completely out of their own grasp that they give up without even trying. During the time frame of Kaye Gibbon’s novel Ellen Foster, the world was divided; the rich verses the poor. Others could view the nation as the whites verses the blacks. Ellen Foster is right along the middle of this division. Ellen is a white eleven year old child who faces hardship one after another. A main theme in Ellen Foster is how she deals with her pain by distracting herself with self-determination as well as comedic relief.
It is important to understand the complex role that families can play in substance abuse treatment. They can be a source of help to the treatment process, but they also must manage the consequences of the IP’s addictive behavior. Individual family members are concerned about the IP’s substance abuse, but they also have their own goals and issues. Providing services to the whole family can improve treatment effectiveness. Meeting the challenge of working together will call for mutual understanding, flexibility, and adjustments among the substance abuse treatment provider, family therapist, and family. This shift will require a stronger focus on the systemic interactions of families. Many divergent practices must be reconciled if family therapy
The crippling effects of alcoholism and drug dependency are not confined to the addict alone. The family suffers,
Drug abuse is thought to be a multidetermined, maladaptive way of coping with life problems that often become habitual and leads to a progressive deterioration in life circumstances. Drug abuse is a disease in its own way. It’s damaging, mentally, physically and emotionally with each party involved. When it comes to each party involved that also means family members as well. Youth will find a way to but some sort of blame of the family for their drug addiction. Family members can be a crucial part or a great aspect of the therapy depending the situation or how important that family member plays a role in their life. Family plays an important role in our emotional development since each individual in the family system impacts and its impacted by the others. Its design to address issues that affect the health of family and the addict’s life transition or mental health conditions.
Recently, there has been an emphasis on the adverse effects of children 's exposure to violence between their adult family members and the
One in five adults can identify with growing up with an alcoholic relative and Twenty-eight million Americans have one parent abusing or dependent on alcoholic (Walker, & Lee, 1998). There are devastating and ubiquitous effects of alcoholism, which vary from psychological, social, or biological problems for families. Counselor’s treating this problem all agree that the relationships within a family, especially between a parent and a child is one of the most influential within a system, but what are the effects on the family when a parent is an alcoholic? Contemporary research has found there is a higher prevalence of problems in the family when alcohol is the organizing principle. In addition, there is copious research on the roles
While many therapists in this field have come to see addiction as a family disease, and recognise many family members to be suffering from codependency, there is much diversity in the extent of engagement of family members and the application of the systemic approach in therapeutic work. Much attention is usually focused on their individual disease processes, rather than on the family dynamics and interactions that continue to sustain the addictive
The family is the fundamental source of attachment, socialization, and nurturing (Zimic & Jakic, 2012). When attachment needs are not met as the result of substance use multiple aspects of the family are affected. These include experiencing unmet developmental needs, poorly developed familial relationships, financial difficulties, and emotional and behavioral problems. In addition, children living in this environment have an increased risk of developing attachment and substance use disorders as well (Zimic & Jakic, 2012). The consequences of substance use disorders have a profound impact on the family system (Landers, Howsare, & Byrne, 2013). The family environment carries information indicating how substance use disorders begin and evolve. Substance use disorders create a dysfunctional family unit perpetuating emotional and behavioral patterns that result in negative outcomes (Landers et al.,
How Does Substance Abuse Affect the Family Unit? A Closer Look at What the Implications are and Treatment Options.
In today 's society substance abuse is a common problem throughout the United States of America. The objective of the experiment is to show the correlation between substance use behaviors of parents and their children’s substance use initiation and other risky behaviors. The experiment is focused on the role of mothers and fathers as a separate study. The surveys that take place through a series of interviews include two people from a selected household, one parent and one child. This topic was of interest to me because I grew up with an alcoholic father. Alcoholism has affected my family in many ways, and I am interested in seeing the correlation between my behavior and my fathers.
Including families in the treatment of substance use in adolescents has been a debate for several years in the addictions world. Some claim that involving families may hinder the client’s ability to improve due to not being honest, fear, and the lack of relationship one may have with their family members, specifically parental figures. Adolescents may not be honest with themselves or family members due to fear of disappointing or fear of punishment. Many providers and policy-makers do not view family member involvement as essential for successful treatment and recovery and see family as part of the problem rather than part of the solution (Hornberger & Smith, 2011). However, some researchers have found that families are an important resource for young people as they journey through substance use treatment.