Description

This is a case study for my marriage and family therapy class. They suggest models that we look at are Structural, Strategic, and Behavioral and also what intervention strategies to use:

An Iranian family is referred to you by the family court. They have been in the U.S. for about a year. They tried to bring their parents with them but were not able to get papers for them, so the extended family is still in Iran. Only the father and the two children, a girl, age 10 and a boy, age 11 speak English. The mother only speaks her native language. They were referred by the family court because of some child abuse allegations. A neighbor reported that she saw the father hitting the children on several occasions. The entire family comes to some initial sessions. The father is distressed at the referral to counseling, as he feels he’s done nothing wrong. He loves his children and simply believes in having some discipline in the home. The children deny that their father hits them, but also state that they want to “do some of the things the other kids do”, i.e. watch TV, listen to certain music, wear certain clothes, but say their parents won’t let them. The father states that he doesn’t want his children to be negatively influenced by these things. The mother states (using her son as a translator), that the family has financial stress, and she would like to go to work, but her husband feels she should be at home with the children at this time. The father and mother speak to each other in their native language several times during the session​ but do not indicate to the therapist what they are saying. You learn that the family lives in a two bedroom apartment, and there are also two cousins staying with the family at this time.

1. Considering the reading assignments in both texts, what do you see going on with this family?
2. What treatment interventions from both texts might you use with this family?

15.What cultural issues come to mind when working with this family?

16.What legal and ethical issues would you need to consider?