Family Narrative Describe This Family Narrative Involved

Family Narrative

Describe

This family narrative involved an investigation of my family structure and the strengths and weaknesses of my family. It included an examination of how my family functions and how each family member impacts the family structure. In order to do this, I had my parents, siblings, and surviving grandparents complete a survey called Family Strengths (Duncan & McLane, Unk.). We were in different locations, but they all agreed to complete the survey and return the results to me via email. The survey had three options for each strength area: very strong, some growth needed, and much growth needed (Duncan & McLane, Unk.). It had nine different strength areas: caring and appreciation, time together, encouragement, commitment, communication, adaptive ability, spirituality, community and family ties, and clear responsibilities (Duncan & McLane, Unk.). The survey also included a goal-setting section, but, because I was focusing on family strengths, I did not ask my family members to focus on the goal setting part. However, I am certain that we encountered obstacles. Like most families, we want to think of ourselves as a well-functioning, supportive unit. Therefore, objective honesty may have been the greatest obstacle.

The general consensus in my family was that we needed some growth in our communication as well as our time together. The male members of the family indicated less need, while the women, particularly my mother and both grandmothers indicated a need for more time together and greater communication skills. We also decided that we are very strong in both caring and appreciation, commitment, and encouragement. Those elements were recognized by everyone in the family as very strong, and they have been passed down from my maternal grandmother to all of the people in the family.

Examine

The experience made me feel positive because my family readily helped participate in a project. The fact that they responded within a short period of time helped demonstrate our commitment as a family. It also helped demonstrate that our communication difficulties are not due to a lack of willingness to communicate, since everyone completed this survey, but perhaps to a lack of communication skills. I was somewhat surprised to find that some of my family members saw my family as spiritual because we do not engage in regular religious practices. It made me view some of them differently. My family is supportive, so I assumed that people would complete the survey. I was surprised to find that some of the family members felt like the family needed work in more areas than I had assumed.

Articulate Learning