The Friedman Family Model Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2750 words

The Friedman Family Model - Essay Example The Friedman Family Assessment Model outlines six assessment categories, but the two most relevant to the Morrison family are family structure and family functions. When the parents die, the children are left to take care of themselves, with some assistance from neighbors such as Mrs. Stanovich. Prior to the parent’s death, Mr. Morrison had received some education that had enabled him to get employed at a local bank. He was the head of the family and took care of his mother, brothers, and sisters. After the death of their parents, Mart and Luke have taken over as the heads of the family and have had to provide for their younger sisters. Luke gives up his teaching training to take care of his sisters. He had hardly noticed the existence of Bo when their parents were alive, but after their demise he takes over the role of her father. In a family where siblings have a large age difference, there is a minimum interaction between them according to Friedman et al.. The elder childre n feel threatened by the birth of other children and show rivalry towards the newborns. Matt is also forced to work for the Pye family, their neighbors, in order to supplement the family income. (Lawson, 2002). Matt acts as an idol to Kate due to his academic excellence, but when he makes Marie pregnant and is unable to join the university, Kate considers him to be a loser. Older boys in a family serve as stimulators or models (Friedman, Bowden, & Jones, 2003). There are several explosions of anger and frustration between Matt and Luke, which make Kate be withdrawn. This makes her unable to communicate with Matt despite their tight bond immediately after the death of their