1. Family Values & Beliefs (chpt. 8, pg 135)
A. Fundamental Societal Beliefs
Western Thinking: many people believe in a “just” world. Belief system values control & mastery. Effort = Outcome
Blaming the victim
Belief that bad things don’t happen to good people
Influence family views/perceptions of their own functioning and issues.

2. B. Locus of Control Key issues: Mastery vs. Fatalism
Mastery: Ability to control a situation & its outcome.
Active coping
Belief in one’s ability to solve a problem
Do not need to accept negative or problematic situations.

3. b. Fatalism
Sense of powerlessness over situations and/or their outcomes.
Cope more passively: there is nothing we can do…..
Eastern cultures are more fatalistic
1. Need to accept situations because you can’t control them.
2. Tends to be harmful when present in the long-term.
Professionals need to determine a family’s values & beliefs.

4. Active coping behaviors are more functional than passive behaviors.
Rigid traditional role socialization
Males in charge
Females - supportive role
is a barrier to family stress management.

5. Therapeutic Focus 1. Goal: Increase tolerance for stress/ambiguity.
Minimize ambivalence, immobilization & denial
Increase sense of mastery.

6. Family Context Internal Factors External Factors Negative Positive
Boundary Ambiguity
Boundary Clarity
Denial
Acceptance
Fatalism
Mastery
Ambivalence
Certainty
External Factors
Negative
Positive
History Development Culture
Economy Heredity