The article “Psycho-educational program for parents of dysfunctional backgrounds” discusses parent education outlining the effective methods of parenting for people with dysfunctional backgrounds. The operation of dysfunctional families has been generalized.
The author has outlined one particular pattern of parenting exhibited by parents who grew up in dysfunctional families. Although this phenomenon presents itself in different ways, there is the possibility of its effects being similar effects on members of a given family.
The author describes a responsive psycho-educational program meeting the needs of participants despite the varying groups. The program’s framework involves four areas. These are information giving, increasing self-awareness, developing specific skills and monitored practice.
Adults raised from dysfunctional families may portray dysfunctional behaviors from the past. These behaviors affect them negatively as revealed by their parenting. However, some few individuals, although brought up in dysfunctional families have developed into reasonably functional adults.
The author describes a parent education program where parents are supposed to participate as referred by their therapist. The author has effectively represented the possible operation of a dysfunctional family in general. Initially, parents may articulate inappropriate expectations for children without providing them with the appropriate guidance.
Children would then find themselves in difficult situations because they cannot comprehend their parents’ expectations. Eventually, this may lead to conflicting relationships among family members. Some children may oppose their parents’ stand resulting in family divisions.
The author disapproves of such a situation despite the fact that in some cases children are not suppose to side with their parents without questioning the legitimacy of their stance. In my opinion, children should only support their parents in doing what is right.
For example, children should not help their parents in committing crime. There may be inappropriate ways of expressing affection in families. Some parents may think that they love their children, but in the real sense, they are doing the opposite.
I think that the author should have disused more examples for the reader to better understand and appreciation the topic of discussion.
Due to poor communication and secrets in the family, openness and transparency are discouraged. This strains the relationship among family members especially those who may not share what they consider personal.
Poor communication in a family is the main reason for poor parenting since it leads to various assumptions. In addition, children growing up in these settings end up with low self-esteem and lack self-confidence.
This is demonstrated when children from these families associate with the outside world. Although the author has successfully shown how dysfunctional families operate, he has failed to show how such occurrences can be eliminated.
Parents who grew up in dysfunctional families may have challenges in their parenting. These parents may exhibit behaviors such as being quick-tempered, inconsistency, confused expectations, distorted attributions and pendulum swings. In my opinion, I tend to think that these behaviors present themselves in either the functional or dysfunctional family set ups.
The author describes a program to help parents raised from dysfunctional families fulfill their parental roles. The program can be summarized in four stages fused into sessions. The author emphasizes the sessions as opportunities for participants to check their parenting roles if they conform in parenting.
In this article, the author comprehensively covers all types of dysfunctional families both single and groups. However, the content seems to be applicable only to those who have experienced dysfunctional families.
Therefore, the article may not be appealing to some members of the society. This is because of the program’s design, which demands a lot of time and resources.
Lastly, throughout the author arguments, an opinion is established that he only focuses on parents from dysfunctional backgrounds. As a critic, I think he should have focused generally on failed parenting.