Student Teaching Experience

La’Quadra Neal

Whitney McNabb

Carson Garand

Ashley Bares

Ashley Magee

Anwar Francis

Taylor Henry

Shoko Morikawa

Jennifer Jones

Abbey Bickmore

Overview of Presentation

Prior Strains & Stress Pile Up La’Quadra Neal

Internal vs. External Stressors Whitney McNabb

Normative vs. Non-Normative Stressors Carson Garand

Resilience Ashley Bares

Boundary Ambiguity Ashley Magee

Overview cont. Ambivalence

Anwar Francis

Coping Behaviors Taylor Henry

Resistance Resource Shoko Marikawa

Palliative Behaviors Jennifer Jones

Vicitimization Abbey Bickmore

Stress Pile-Up Stressor: a situation for

which the family has

had little or no prior

preparation and must

be viewed as problematic

aA. (Double ABCX) pile

up of events family

hardships and prior

strains

St. Vincent de Paul Example

A young lady that is currently pregnant

and has a toddler

Internal vs. External Stressors

Internal Stressor Event

An Internal Stressor is an event that began

from within a person or from a person within

the family boundaries.

Such as: addiction, suicide, and violence

External Stressor Event

An External Stressor is an event that begins

from someone or something outside the

family.

Such as: floods, hurricanes, or terrorism

Internal v. External Stressors There is almost never one reason why a

person finds themselves in a situation such as homelessness

It is often a consequence of internal and external stressor events leading to the crisis situation. Being late for work (caring for a sick child) leads

a person to getting fired, which leads to no gas in the car to find a new job, which leads to the rent not getting paid, which leads to seeking help from a predatory lender, which leads to increased debt, which leads to losing your car to collections agencies, which leads to losing your home…the cycle is vicious.

St. Vincent De Paul is a resource for individuals to find refuge in despite the origin of their circumstances

Normative v. Non-Normative

Stressors

Defined by Boss 2002:

Normative stressor: “events that are

expected during the life course” (p. 51).

Pregnancies, deaths, marriage, aging, and

retirement are some examples.

Non-Normative Stressors: “unexpected

events, the result of some unique situation

that could not be predicted and is not likely

to be repeated” (p. 52).

St. Vincent de Paul Examples

Normative stressor example: Ms. Smith’s

story

Aging

Non-Normative stressor example: Ms.

Walker’s story

Loss of family member

Family Resiliency

Definition: the ability of the family to

develop and/or maintain healthy family

functioning and successfully adapt to

life’s challenges and risks

St. Vincent de Paul Example

We played and colored with a little girl which allowed us to get to know her mom, who told us about her job at Sonic.

She claimed that her job was nothing special but she was excited to tell us that she was an assistant manager at two different store locations.

The mom being homeless with her children is an extremely stressful situation.

She seemed to take pride in her efforts at work

She communicated well with her daughter

Boundary Ambiguity

Uncertainty about who is in or out of the

family

Creates role confusion and can

immobilize family

Affects families in crisis because of

homelessness

Boundary Ambiguity, cont.

Separation of male children older than 12

Mother who left children with family in

North Carolina

“Who is together?” vs. “Who is in the

family?”

Ambivalence

Ambivalence: uncertainty or fluctuation,

especially when caused by inability to make

a choice or by simultaneous desire to say or

do two opposite or conflicting things.

Ambivalence (psychology): the coexistence

within an individual of positive and negative

feelings toward the same person, object, or

action, simultaneously drawing him or her in

opposite directions.

St. Vincent de Paul Example

I spoke with a young woman at the shelter who was the mother of one child. As I spoke with her and her young daughter, the mother mentioned that she was done having kids. She stated that she did not want anymore. But almost immediately, she back-peddled. The mother said she would like to have another child, but not until she could create a more stable situation for her daughter and herself. The mother is experiencing ambivalence about the decision of whether or not she wants to have more children.

Coping Behaviors

Coping Process- The cognitive appraisal

of what is happening

Coping behaviors-are the actual

responses to this appraisal

Emotion-focused coping vs. Problem-

focused coping

What Do Coping Behaviors

Look Like?

Emotion focused coping:

Can be displayed in blowing off steam

Works at solving symptoms, not issue at

hand

Problem focused coping:

Focus on mastering the stressor at hand.

Resistance Resource

A resistance resource is defined as…

Available resources that are effective at

combating psychological stress and

achieving resilience

People must recognize and be willing to

seek them in order to use them to their

advantage

Ex. Student health center, walk-in/after-

hours clinics, fitness clubs, friend’s or other

family member’s house

St. Vincent de Paul is a

Resistance Resource

St. Vincent de Paul = Resistance Resource!

Shelter for the homeless

Thrift stores/Donation drop box centers

Dining Room

“Uniforms for Kids” program

Community pharmacy

Disaster relief

Palliative Behaviors

Actions or thoughts which make a person

feel more calm

Soothing behaviors

St. Vincent de Paul Example

Some of the women at the shelter

develop routines while they are there.

These routines give a sense of stability in

an otherwise unstable situation, therefore

they are palliative behaviors for them.

Victimization

Definition: the overpowering of a person or family with physical or psychological trauma that results in feelings of helplessness, distrust, and shame.

When victimization occurs within a family, a loss of pride is felt, as well as their resilience as a unit

Victimization occurs when there is a loss

Loss of power

Loss of control over what is happening

Loss of self-esteem

Victimization cont.

An offender has been effective in

victimization when the victim feels

immobilized, helpless, and has a loss of

self-respect

At SVDP, there is a woman who shared her

story of how she ended up at the shelter

and what she was doing to help pick

herself back up.

Summary Stress Pile-Up

A situation with little to no preparation

Internal v. External Stressors that occur within

the family or outside of the family

Normative v. Non-Normative Stressors that are life events

v. unique experiences

Resilience A family’s ability to adapt

Boundary Ambiguity Confusion about family

roles

Ambivalence Uncertainty surrounding

decisions

Coping Behaviors The physical response to a

crisis

Resistance Resource Resources used to achieve

resilience

Palliative Behaviors Calming actions or behaviors

Victimization When a person is left feeling

helpless or immobilized

References Boss, P. (2002). Family stress management: A contextual approach (2nd ed.).

Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Chaney, C. ( September 3, 2013). Conceptual Models of Family Stress.

Lectured conducted in CFS 4064 (Family Stress Management), Louisiana

State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Chaney, C. ( September 5, 2013). Family Stress Theory Defined. Lectured

conducted in CFS 4064 (Family Stress Management), Louisiana State

University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Chaney, C. (September 24, 2013). College Students & Stress. Lecture conducted in CFS 4064 (Family Stress Management), Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Chaney, C. (October 3, 2013a). Ambiguity and Ambivalence in Family Stress

Management. Lecture conducted in CFS 4064 (Family Stress

Management). Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

Society of st. vincent de paul - baton rouge. (2009). Retrieved

from http://www.svdpbr.org/

Vandsburger, E., Harrigan, M., & Biggerstaff, M. (2008). In spite of all, we make it: Themes of stress and resilience as told by women in families living

in poverty. Journal of Family Social Work 11(1), 17-35.