SSW Family Systems 3 — Questions and Answers
Question 1: Which concept from strategic family therapy refers to a therapist assigning a symptom as a deliberate task to reduce resistance?
- Reframing
- Paradoxical directive (Correct answer)
- Enactment
- Externalizing
Correct answer: Paradoxical directive
A paradoxical directive prescribes the symptom or resistance, which can disrupt the family's pattern and create change through the resulting reaction.
Question 2: A school social worker observes that whenever a child acts out, the parents stop fighting and unite to address the child. This pattern illustrates:
- Differentiation
- Homeostasis maintained through the child's behavior (Correct answer)
- Disengagement
- Role flexibility
Correct answer: Homeostasis maintained through the child's behavior
The child's acting out maintains family homeostasis by redirecting parental conflict, a common function of the identified patient in family systems.
Question 3: In contextual family therapy (Boszormenyi-Nagy), 'relational ethics' centers on which concept?
- Fair balance of give and take (ledger of entitlements and obligations) across generations (Correct answer)
- Strict enforcement of family rules by the dominant parent
- Neutrality of the therapist in all family disputes
- Elimination of loyalty conflicts through cutoff
Correct answer: Fair balance of give and take (ledger of entitlements and obligations) across generations
Contextual therapy emphasizes the relational ledger — the sense of fairness, trust, and reciprocal obligation between family members across generations.
Question 4: A school social worker is meeting with a single-mother family where grandparents frequently override the mother's parenting decisions. This reflects a problem with:
- Triangulation between siblings
- Hierarchical boundaries and executive subsystem clarity (Correct answer)
- Emotional cutoff from extended family
- Lack of family rituals
Correct answer: Hierarchical boundaries and executive subsystem clarity
When grandparents undermine the parent, the parental subsystem's authority (executive hierarchy) is compromised, causing structural dysfunction.
Question 5: Which term describes a family's tendency to resist change and return to its previous patterns of functioning?
- Morphogenesis
- Homeostasis (Correct answer)
- Equifinality
- Entropy
Correct answer: Homeostasis
Homeostasis refers to the family system's tendency to maintain stability and resist change, even when the existing pattern is dysfunctional.
Question 6: During a family session, the social worker asks each member how they think their behavior affects others in the family. This technique is consistent with:
- Psychoeducation
- Circular questioning (Correct answer)
- Structural enactment
- Narrative re-authoring
Correct answer: Circular questioning
Circular questioning explores how each family member perceives the relationships and behaviors of others, revealing the systemic nature of interactions.
Question 7: A child with a chronic illness in a family where siblings feel neglected is an example of:
- Disequilibrium challenging family resource allocation (Correct answer)
- Functional enmeshment benefiting the ill child
- Normal family lifecycle development
- Appropriate sibling rivalry
Correct answer: Disequilibrium challenging family resource allocation
A child's chronic illness creates stress on the family system, often straining resources and attention in ways that affect all subsystems including siblings.
SSW Family Systems 3
Which concept from strategic family therapy refers to a therapist assigning a symptom as a deliberate task to reduce resistance?