Family Therapy and Understanding
Family therapy focuses on understanding people within their own family contexts, and for this reason it is important for therapists to know different ethnic or cultural groups. That is because understanding people in their family context using social constructionism allows therapists to see a larger interplay between individual and family behaviors and wider social and cultural influences. As Sanner et al. (2021) point out, families are always going to be socially constructed.
Understanding people in context involves recognizing that peoples behavior cannot be fully understood in isolation from their environment. For ethnic and cultural groups, this means acknowledging the different factors affecting their livesthe historical, social, cultural, spiritual, economic factors. For example, a family's coping mechanisms may be influenced by their cultural background, immigration history, experiences with discrimination, religious beliefs, spiritual practices, economic condition, and so on. Family therapists need to know about this so that they can implement interventions that are culturally sensitive and relevant.
Social constructionism, however, emphasizes that our understanding of reality is constructed through social processes and interactions (Berger & Luckmann, 2023). Having a social constructivist view means seeing how cultural norms and values influence family behavior. Different ethnic or cultural groups may have different beliefs about family roles, family goals, communication, expectations, conflict resolution, etc. For example, collectivist cultures would put family cohesion and interdependence first, while individualist cultures would elevate personal freedom. With a social constructivist view, therapists can avoid imposing their own cultural biases on families and instead work within the framework of the clients' cultural norms. In practice, these ideas encourage therapists to have a culturally competent approach. They need to continuously be learning about different cultural practices, reflecting on their own work to recognize biases, and working with clients to understand their cultural context.
References
Berger, P., & Luckmann, T. (2023). The social construction of reality. InSocial theory re-
wired(pp. 92-101). Routledge.
Sanner, C., Ganong, L., & Coleman, M. (2021). Families are socially constructed: Pragmatic
implications for researchers.Journal of Family Issues,42(2), 422-444.
