Navigating post-trauma realities in family systems: Applying social constructivism and systems theory to youth and family trauma

IF 0.7 4区 心理学 Q4 FAMILY STUDIES
Ray Eads
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Abstract

Trauma affecting youth and families takes a variety of forms, from random one-time events such as accidents and natural disasters to chronic and highly personal trauma from child abuse or intimate partner violence. Though trauma has received increasing attention in theory and intervention research over the last several decades, the prevailing theories and treatments have limitations due to a linear perspective focused on the trauma problems of the individual. This is particularly concerning given the high dropout rates for trauma-focused treatments and the complexities of intergenerational trauma that cannot be adequately conceptualised at the level of the individual. To inform and improve family-based treatment of youth and family trauma, this paper proposes a theoretical framework informed by social constructivism and systems theory. Social constructivism upholds that reality is constructed through communication as an adaptive process for survival, with multiple potential realities possible. Systems theory promotes a non-linear view of causality within a system, such that the structure and properties of a system determine outcomes more than the inputs that go into the system. Together, the principles of these meta-theories contradict the orthodox focus on traumatic events causing trauma symptoms, and instead imply that family-based treatment should focus on helping families shift assumptions and dynamics that sustain the problem in the present. The joint application of a social constructivism–systems theory framework for trauma introduces several new principles to inform family-based treatment: (a) post-trauma realities; (b) mutual survival; (c) power–justice balance; and (d) adaptive reorganisation. The implications of these principles for youth and family trauma treatment will be discussed. Future intervention development and research should consider these principles in the ongoing effort to improve family therapy for youth and family trauma.

Abstract Image

在家庭系统中导航创伤后现实:将社会建构主义和系统理论应用于青少年和家庭创伤
影响青年和家庭的创伤有多种形式,从偶然的一次性事件,如事故和自然灾害,到儿童虐待或亲密伴侣暴力造成的长期和高度个人化的创伤。虽然在过去的几十年里,创伤在理论和干预研究中得到了越来越多的关注,但由于对个体创伤问题的线性关注,主流的理论和治疗存在局限性。考虑到以创伤为重点的治疗的高辍学率以及无法在个人层面上充分概念化的代际创伤的复杂性,这一点尤其令人担忧。为了了解和改善以家庭为基础的青少年和家庭创伤治疗,本文提出了一个以社会建构主义和系统理论为基础的理论框架。社会建构主义认为,现实是通过沟通构建的,是一种生存的适应过程,可能存在多种潜在的现实。系统理论提倡对系统内因果关系的非线性观点,即系统的结构和性质比系统的输入更能决定结果。总之,这些元理论的原则与传统的创伤事件导致创伤症状的观点相矛盾,相反,这意味着以家庭为基础的治疗应该侧重于帮助家庭改变目前维持问题的假设和动力。创伤的社会建构主义系统理论框架的联合应用引入了几个新的原则,以告知基于家庭的治疗:(a)创伤后的现实;(b)相互生存;(c)权力正义平衡;(d)适应性重组。这些原则对青少年和家庭创伤治疗的影响将被讨论。未来的干预发展和研究应该考虑这些原则,以不断努力改善青少年和家庭创伤的家庭治疗。
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来源期刊
CiteScore
1.60
自引率
14.30%
发文量
40
期刊介绍: The ANZJFT is reputed to be the most-stolen professional journal in Australia! It is read by clinicians as well as by academics, and each issue includes substantial papers reflecting original perspectives on theory and practice. A lively magazine section keeps its finger on the pulse of family therapy in Australia and New Zealand via local correspondents, and four Foreign Correspondents report on developments in the US and Europe.
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