| Summary: | 碩士 === 國立暨南國際大學 === 社會政策與社會工作學系 === 95 === Through the lens of the Strength Perspective, the study aims at understanding the process of coping with pressure among high risk families. The study attempts to unmask what risk context among the families studied; to explore how high risk families deal with pressures, and what changes the families may have in the perception of stress before and after the intervention of the government; to examine what resources the families have, and what strengths the families may obtain from the governmental support system; to uncover what coping strategies have been used, and whether or not the strategies take effect; to construct a prototype about how high risk families cope with pressures for those who endeavour to assist the families . By using semi-structured interviews, the study adopted the phenomenology approach from the qualitative paradigm to obtain the require data. The study included ten participants who were either the parents or the primary care givers in high risk families. The study draws eight conclusions:
First, the stress context of high risk families: the sources of the stress faced by the families come from children who are developmentally and/or physically challenged and/or encounter behavioural problems, care givers who are unemployed or in an unstable working conditions, other family members who confront the challenge of poor health, dereliction, material abuse, penetration, ineffective parenting, and the family who encounters financial difficulties as well as poor living environment.
Second, the perception of the stress and the changes in dealing with pressures among the families: The perception can be distinguished as “negative denial” and “positive confrontation.” Besides, as time passes, two phenomenon occur in the changes of the perception of pressures: negative emotion decreases, and while the “negative denial” reduces, “positive confrontation.”increases.
Third, the context of and the changes of the resources for high risk families: The resources embedded in high risk families are diverse and abundant, including those from family members as well as the interior and exterior systems of the family. The resources from family members, family support and the solicitude for children should be recognized. The finding is consistent with one of priciples in the Strength Perspective, i.e. “communities are the oases of resources.” The resources from the informal system are affluent and act as an important pillar before the intervention of the government and related institutions takes place.
Fourth, the context and changes of the coping process and the result: There are four types of handling pressures including behavioral avoidance, cognitive avoidance, cognitive confrontation, and behavioral confrontation. The results of the coping process can be categorized into negative and positive consequences. In general, the decrease of avoidance happens first following with the increase of confrontation, particularly the increase of behavioral confrontation. In terms of the results, negative consequences are decreasing while positive consequences are apparently increasing in both their context and degree.
Fifth, the context of the adaptation in high risk families: The efforts of the care givers and family members and the prompt resources from the formal support system not only enrich the resources of the family but also inspire the energy of the family to deal with pressures. After adjustment, the family condition improves. First, children make progresses in development and behavior. Second, the pressures of the care givers are reduced along with higher self-value, more stable employment and emotion, as well as the willingness to look after children. Third, the health conditions of other family members are stabilized, and abilities of self-care is boosted. Fourth, the economic burden is reduced, the relationship among family members is ameliorated, parental abilities are enhanced, and the family supporting role is activated.
Sixth, the important adaptation factors in high risk families: First, care givers are willing to face the challenge of life, to take care of children, to treat the children in a positive way, and to promote their own knowledge as well as abilities. Secondly, the partners in the interior system of the family support each other, and regard children as sweet burdens. Third, the formal supporting system not only provide subsidy and parental education but also notify the family of its strengths and employment opportunities. And the last is the diversified supports from the informal supporting system.
Seventh, the share of beliefs in dealing with pressures: The beliefs include the courage to confront challenge and make changes, taking responsibilities, holding good will, seeking resources actively, thinking positively, and never ignoring children.
Last, the adaptation types of high risk families: After the richness of the resources that these families have, the context of the adaptive factors, and the critical events influencing the adaptation are taken into consideration, we can summarize four types of adaptation: independency, sharing, informal support, and formal support.
Based on the findings, the study generates discussions and draws suggestions for social work practice and future research.
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