Complexity, Family Change and an Integrated Family Assessment and Intervention Model

Period
December 1, 2019 to December 31, 2021
Duration
25 months
Abstract

Based on a theoretical model of the family as a complex system, this project aims to investigate processes of family and parental change, well-being and resilience, associated to the effects of emergent properties of family bonds, and its constraining and potentiating factors, with a special focus on multichallenged families, with at-risk or endangered children and youth. Additionally, the project aims to develop and evaluate resources and tools to support the assessment and promotion of the family’s potential for positive change, well-being in resilience, in different contexts. The project presents the following specific objetives:

• To identify and describe the structure and dynamics of the configurations of properties of family coupling and of emergent properties of the coupling associated with a positive potencial of family and parental changem in multichallenged families with at-risk children and youth, participating in integrated family assessment and interventions (in the context of the implementation of an Integrated Family Assessment and Intervention Model-IFAIM), as well as to the family well-being and resilience of families, in natural contexts;

• To identify the relation between the internal processes of change and other processes and conditions that appear as facilitating or constraining the potential for positive family and parental changes, in multichallengd families with at-risk children and youth;

• To identify conditions and indicators associated to the emergence, activation and promotion of the emergent potentials of family bonds and their relation to the internal family potential for change, well-being and resilience;

• To develop and evaluate resources and tools to support the assessment and promotion of the potential for positive change, well-being and resilience in multichallenged families with at-risk or endangered children and youth;

• To develop and evaluate tools to promote the complexity of the thinking of the practitioner, associated to case conceptualization and to the assessment and promotion of potential for family and parental change.

Keywords
complexity, change processes, family well-being and resilience, potential for family change