Psychology 632A
Refer back to the Structural Family Therapy Scenario: Taking Sides video in the lecture or read the scenario transcript.
Javier stays out two hours past his curfew until 2:00 a.m. When he arrives home his speech is slurred, and his father, Carlos, suspects that he has been drinking. The next morning, Javier is sitting at the kitchen table with his parents (Carlos and Lupita). Carlos says, “We told you that there would be consequences if you disobeyed your curfew again. You came home two hours late and you never called to tell us where you were. You also smelled like alcohol when you finally came home. As a consequence, you are grounded for the week, which means you will not be allowed to go to the concert you wanted to go to this weekend.”
Javier gets visibly upset, explains that his phone battery was dead, and he had to wait for a ride. Then he begs his father to let him go to the concert. When Carlos refuses, Javier gets angry, begins to cry and scream, and tells Carlos that he hates him.
Later that day, Javier talks to his mother, Lupita. He promises to do better and begs his mom to let him go to the concert. Lupita agrees that Carlos can be too harsh on Javier. Lupita tells him that she will talk to his father and convince him to let Javier go to the concert. Javier is grateful and thanks his mother repeatedly. When Carlos finds out that Lupita is allowing him to go to the concert, he becomes frustrated, shouts at Lupita for always taking his side, then leaves the house angrily to go hang out with his friends.
Instructions
Submit a 1-page analysis of this scenario using the concepts covered on Structural Family Therapy.
- Identify which of the SFT Concepts is represented by this scenario.
- Identify what interventions would be most helpful to this family