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Helping ‘Well’ Families to Change: A Pilot Study
Author(s) -
Praetz Helen,
Eastman Moira
Publication year - 1980
Publication title -
australian journal of social issues
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.417
H-Index - 30
eISSN - 1839-4655
pISSN - 0157-6321
DOI - 10.1002/j.1839-4655.1980.tb00678.x
Subject(s) - project commissioning , experiential learning , task (project management) , conflict resolution , publishing , psychology , process (computing) , public relations , social psychology , sociology , political science , pedagogy , computer science , management , social science , law , economics , operating system
This article describes a time limited, inter‐generational project which offered ‘well’ families an opportunity to define priorities and needs and practise changed behaviour within a secure group. The program lasted for twelve weeks and emphasized an educational rather than a treatment bias. Experiential learning techniques were used to teach family dynamics and alternative means of conflict resolution to whole families. In this task, the contracting process came to be an increasingly valuable tool for managing conflict within the group and within each family. Some evidence is cited to show that participation in the group enabled families to change disabling patterns of interaction.