According to Kaakinen, Coehlo, Steele, Tabacco and Hanson (2014), family dynamics refer to the patterns of interactions or relations between family members. Kaakinen et al. (2014) revealed that each family system often has unique dynamics. Nonetheless, this aspect usually affects the manner in which the members of a particular family views medical care. Such a claim has been confirmed across different media. A good example is The Fighter. Produced in 2010 by David O. Russell, the movie follows the lives of two characters; a professional boxer called Micky Ward and his elder half-brother. It is right to inform that the storyline of the film portrays enmeshed family dynamics, which makes the involved characters to develop unwinding perspectives on medical care. Nevertheless, as it will be explained in the present paper, those that realize the need for medical assistance is able to regain optimized mental well-being.
The enmeshed family dynamics is evidenced in different ways. For instance, Micky makes concerted efforts to differentiate himself from his claustrophobic family. Despite the family coming together in a bar, Micky sits apart from the rest of the members (Burgo, 2011). As a matter of fact, Micky’s physical separation can be taken as an illustration that the character is determined to move away from the family. In another scene, Alice is seen marginalizing his husband George and, through ridicule and contempt, makes him weak (Burgo, 2011). Further, Alice and his eldest son, Dickie, have a quasi-romantic relationship. Such scenarios clearly demonstrate the prevalence of enmeshed family relationships
The family process of the unit described in the movie under focus can be viewed in four important dimensions. One of these is the sociocultural dimension. As it can be seen throughout the movie, each member of the family seeks to engage in hard work in order to earn a living. Nevertheless, there is a lot of reliance among the individuals. The environment is another important dimension. As such, the family in the movie seems to interact well with the environment. They are seeking to take advantage of the various opportunities that their environment presents. In regard to communication, all the members of the family are in talking terms. However, there are several incidences in which the parents, especially the father is averse to sustainable positive communication with his wife and some offspring. The art of decision-making is seen with the siblings. Micky, Dickie, and their sisters clearly show that they have a high decision-making capacity. This is so as they hold on to their aspirations and desires. The parents, however, are not good in decision-making power.
Just as it can be seen in the movie, there is a high chance that enmeshed family dynamics can easily cause health problems including mental illnesses. While the family members in the movie under consideration might not be aware of it, they are suffering psychologically. Such characters as Alice is obsessed with the behavior of belittling his husband. As a psychological issue, obsession refers to a case in which a person persistently and frequently thinks about someone or something in a way that is not normal. In the light of this, behavior in which a family member thinks continuously about how he or she can facilitate the downfall of another family member is clearly an abnormal psychological process (Wallace & Roberson, 2015). A further mental problem that comes to the forefront in The Fighter is depression. As revealed earlier in this paper, some of the family members such as Micky are seeking to alienate themselves from the others. In all its appearance, this is an inherent characteristic of a depressed individual. Depression, according to Wallace and Roberson (2015), is a mood disorder. This is to say that the problem tends to affect the manner in which an individual thinks, how he or she handles the daily activities including social interactions. As a result, an individual is likely to show an indifferent behavior such as isolation from close people.
Despite the fact that the members of the family in the movie under focus have mental disorders, they seem to have developed adverse perspectives to medical care. As such, as such, they are all averse to seeking care for their problem. They appear to appreciate, through unwarrantedly, that the mental problems that face them are part of life, and thus, there is no need to seek medical attention. Part of this belief is the idea that the majority of the family members are not aware that they are experiencing psychological problems. Nonetheless, some of the family members are conversant with their abnormal mental states. However, they are not prepared to seek care as they believe that the situation will come to an end sooner than later. According to Kaakinen et al. (2014), when psychological issues within a family prevail, just as it is in the case of the movie, the members usually do not prioritize medical care. The main reason for this is that the family tends to think that the underlying issue is short lived and does not warrant any form of medical intervention. What they do forget is that with continued exposure, it follows that the condition might get worse such that it reaches untreatable extents, a thing that us indeed witnessed in the movie. As the various family members continued being exposed to enmeshed family dynamics and, subsequently, mental issues, the mental situation gets worse. Take an instance of Alice’s case. After she ignores the need for medical intervention for her obsessive behavior, the character ends up behaving against the expectations of all her relatives. She goes to the extent of attempting to murder people that come across her path, including those who she does not have any connections with. This is a good example of an incidence in which a health problem has pronounced as a result of harboring inadequate beliefs about health care.
Despite the case, according to Kaakinen et al. (2014), some family dynamics usually interact in a constructive manner with health care. To affirm this, the case of Micky can be adopted. Towards the end, it is apparent that Micky comes to know that he is indeed in need of medical intervention. He comes to such a conclusion after it dawns on him that he is losing boxing matches as a result of disturbances arising from the enmeshed family dynamics. Therefore, he decides that he should seek counseling services from a qualified practitioner. In this case, as Friedman, Bowden and Jones (2002) revealed, Micky comes to know that it is not possible to continue ignoring the essence of medical care even for simple-looking issues. In the light of this, it is apparent that some members of a given family, after initially degrading the role played by medical intervention in family relationships, tend to come to their senses (Wallace & Roberson, 2015). As such, knowing that they are not able to sustain the unwanted outcomes owing to enmeshed family dynamics, they usually come to recognize the potential help that can be delivered by medical practitioners.
The following are the ecomap and genomap of the family represented in the movie “The Fighter.”
Ward’s Family Genomap
Ward’s Family Ecomap
The Beavers Systems Model can be used to address the various components of the family found in the movie under consideration. The Beavers Systems Model is a dimensionalized approach to the classification of family functioning. The very first element is family functioning. Based on the Beaver paradigm, it is apparent that the family has a midrange family functioning. Apparently, there is relatively clear communication and a consistent effort to control. Nevertheless, the conflict that the father creates, especially due to his indifferent view of Alice and her adopted son, brings rise to the issue of anger and depression in the family. Mythology includes false beliefs about the present. In relation to Beaver’s model, it is perceptible that Ward’s family can be ranked as borderline. As it can be seen in the movie, the offspring tends to shift from chaotic to tyrannical control efforts. Micky’s beliefs seem to fluctuate from realistic too far reaching ones. In regard to autonomy, the family can be placed on the severely dysfunctional. Evidently, the boundaries between the family members are extremely poor. Communication is also inappropriate. The family process seems to be stereotyped, as well. The family affect and global appraisal of the family’s level of development can be said to be mid range.
References
Burgo, J. (2011). Enmeshed Family Dynamics in ‘The Fighter’ (2010). Retrieved from blogs.psychcentral.com/movies/2011/01/enmeshed-family-dynamics/
Friedman, M. R., Bowden, V. R. & Jones, E. (2002). Family Nursing_ Research, Theory, and Practice (5th Edition). London, UK: Pearson Education.
Kaakinen, J. R., Coehlo, D. P., Steele, R., Tabacco, A., & Hanson, S. M. H. (2014). Family health care nursing: Theory, practice, and research. London, UK: FA Davis.
Wallace, P. H., & Roberson, C. (2015). Family violence: Legal, medical, and social perspectives. London, UK: Routledge.
