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An examination of blaming behavior in families
Abstract
The theorized influence of Milan systemic family therapy on family constructions of responsibility and blame was examined. It was predicted that family members would accept more responsibility and engage in less blaming behavior of one another as family therapy progressed for four sessions. Feminists have criticized Milan systemic family therapy since it failed to consider gender issues in the family's constructions of problems. The differences between men's status and women's status within the family was not considered by the Milan theorists to be important. This has led to the concern that women may be viewed as more responsible for the family problem by therapists using the Milan model (Luepnitz, 1988). The issue of equitability as to which parent was blamed or perceived as responsible for the family problem was also examined. The participants of the study were members of three families participating in Milan systemic family therapy offered at a local university training clinic. Sessions were videotaped and then coded using the Cognitive Constructions Coding System (Friedlander, 1991). Results partially supported the predictions that families would increase the number of responsible statements and decrease the number of blaming statements made over the course of four sessions. Partial support was also found for the predictions that parents attributing responsibility to themselves for the family problem, or denying responsibility for the family problem, would decrease these statements by the fourth session.
Subject Area
Psychotherapy|Social psychology|Families & family life|Personal relationships|Sociology
Recommended Citation
Miller Evans, Peg Marie, "An examination of blaming behavior in families" (1996). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI9623631.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI9623631