SW 405 Family Disequilibrium: Stress Points in the Contemporary Family

3 credits

Families as a unit can be viewed as living organisms with real and symbolic structures such as functions and boundaries. The goal of the family is survival and growth. This course focuses on the major problems contemporary families face, including poverty, violence, grief, economic stress, and care of dependent elders. An emphasis is placed on family strengths and resiliency and understanding family dynamics. Families are viewed through the subsystem and supra systems in which they live. Family stress theory is critiqued and ten dimensions of family stressor events are outlined. While stress is an inevitable part of the ever-changing dynamics of families, this course will examine the triggers, stress responses, impact that stress has on family units.

Prerequisite(s): SW 100 or permission of instructor