Analysis of Individual, Couple, and Family Crises

Comparative Analysis of Individual, Couple, and Family Crises

Walden University

When people are in turmoil it is natural for the fight or flight risk factor to kick in. Unfortunately, some people constantly live in crisis and are unable to deal with concepts of ever being free. The way any crisis impacts an individual can have an immeasurable impact on their life and need only different intervention strategies to assist an individual in coping.

When looking at the crisis of letharity, self-induced annihilation. Many situations can lean one to thinking about taking their own life. There are also different models such as the deficiencies – embedded in the mental illness tradition, escape – suicide that is of a flight from a situation sensed by the person as intolerable, and hopelessness theory – when individuals believe that highly desired outcomes will not occur or aversive outcomes will occur and here is nothing that can be done about it (James & Gilliand, 2017).

Partner violence is yet another crisis that individuals can suffer. It makes an individual feel much like those that are in a letharity crisis, a state of hopelessness and escape. The two crises are much alike; they both make individuals feel hopeless, as if there is nothing they can do about the situation they are in, which can lead the individual that is in a domestic situation to think about suicide. The rate at which women suffer when in a domestic violent relationship and feel there is no way out, they are ultimately committing suicide. Partner violence is never the answer; however, a recent study indicates education, income, employment and cohabitation without marriage are determining factors for violence in intimate relationships (Bent-Goodlet, 2007).

As a child I watched I watched different cousins that were involved in domestic partner relationships. It was very hard for them to leave those abusive relationships simply because they felt the act of violence was a true act of love. Spousal abuse dates back many ages, as far as the patriarchal system; common law in the United States early acknowledged the right of a man to chastise his wife for misbehavior without being prosecuted for doing so (James & Gilliand, 2017). In the case of the State of North Carolina v. Oliver in 1874, the court ruled that if no permanent injury has been inflicted, it is better to draw the curtains, shut out the public eye, and leave the parties to forgive and forget (James & Gilliand). Can you imagine that the court made this ruling? I could hardly believe what I read. The strategies for helping an individual that is in a domestic partner relationship are the crisis line, where woman can call into the line for support and or help.

Workers that assist with the crisis line must employ active listening to help these women. They need to see the strength and power that they still have. The strategies involved with lethality are the three I’s, inescapable (unable to get away from the pain), intolerable (suffering beyond any other person), interminable (if something does not get gone it will go on forever) addressing the perturbation the I’s are causing (James & Gilliand, 2017). The best strategy to use are those that imply active listening when dealing with both individuals that are contemplating suicide and those that are suffering domestic abuse.

In addition to listening, one can impose the three I’s by changing the feeling of the three I’s. Recognizing that emotional pain will not be constantly intense and interminable using cognitive therapy techniques such as cognitive restructuring, emotional regulation, and changing destructive behaviors (Thompson, n.d.). Implementing strategies is a wonderful way to help individuals find a balance. No one will see hope, trust, or faith if they have nothing to believe in. If they feel their current situation is the end to all, they must be given hope to trust that this is not the end, that it does not have to be the end. Workers must help individuals believe there is more, and one must be positive to trust the power they have within to believe there is more.

In conclusion, no one wishes to go through one crisis after each other. Sometimes the decisions we make are not the best decisions, but perhaps the best option we have during the current time. We all need something and someone to believe in; having strategies to assist those that are in need are greatly if employed correctly. Knowing how to implement the strategies and employ active listening is how we can help turn those lives around. As human service workers, we have to see the positive side and help individuals see the positive even though they have gone through negative times in their life. No one said it would be easy, however, I would choose the road less traveled than the road that is broad and leads to nowhere. This is part of the hope that we must employ for those that we assist.

References

Bent-Goodley, T. B. (2007). Health disparities and violence against women: why and how cultural and societal influences matter. Trauma Violence Abuse. 8(2): 90-104. Retrieved from https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4242409/

Thompson, D. (n.d.). Crisis of lethality: Intervention strategies. [PowerPoint]. Retrieved from https://www.slideshare.net/decaturdon/8-crisis-of-lethality