Friedman Family Assessment Paper
Family Dynamics
Family dynamics can be very complicated. “According to Dr. Murray Bowen…families are complex units that are bonded by strong emotional connects. The ways in which members of the family interact with each other and in relation to the group as a whole are often referred to as family dynamics” (Bowles, 2011, para. 1). A following assessment of the BJ & BP’s family was completed using the Friedman Family Assessment Tool.
History of Family
BJ & BP meet at a mutual friend’s house in December 1999. They dated for almost two years before getting married on August 18, 2001. Their family is a blended family with three children CM, who is a 16-year-old girl, CJ. who is a seven-year old boy, and DM, who is a five- year old girl. The father, BP, is a 34-year-old Caucasian male of American Irish Catholic descent who has been working as a truck-driver for US Gas Company since 2006. During BP’s childhood he lived with his mother, then father, and then his grandparents and never received his high school diploma or GED.
The mother, BJ, is also 34-year-old American Caucasian of mixed heritage. BJ was a teen mom delivering her 1st daughter, CM, one month before her 18th birthday. BJ and CM’s father were married in July, prior to CM’s birth, after BJ graduated from high school. BJ and CM”s father divorced 4 years later. After the divorce BJ and CM lived with BJ’s mother for two years before BJ and BP married. BJ currently works at the Secretary of Illinois State’s office as a secretary/data entry clerk for the grand jury.
CM, CJ, and DM attend school within the Chicago Public School systems. CM’s high school is approximately one-mile from the home and CJ & DM’s elementary school is one-block from home. All three children walk to school and the after-school care for CJ & DM is given by BP’s uncle who comes to the home to watch the