Laura Fruggeri

Family microtransitions: observing the process of change in families with adolescent children

The aim of the study is to explore the process of microtransitions in families with adolescent children. Original methodological procedures were designed in order to have families as the objects of study and to analyze data with particular attention to the family process of change. A family interview focused on the adolescent and family change was conducted with 12 families having an adolescent child. As indicators of change, we used coordination and oscillation. Our results highlight different patterns of family interactions, illustrating various ways through which families deal with change. Conclusive remarks focus on the theoretical relevance of the study, the method and the implications for family practice and policy.

Larger Systems? Beyond a Dualistic Approach to the Process of Change

The power metaphor, the control desire and war-like language have been frequently used as a reference in the analysis and treatment of the supposed larger system. In discussing epistemological assumptions of this model, the authors illustrate how the most recent elaborations of systemic thinking allow for a different approach to the so-called larger system. The new perspectives they refer to: (a) affirm the observer-dependent nature of the system; (b) adopt an analysis model based on the autoreferential and constructivist rapport between theoretical framework, observer and system; (c) recognise that change is a function of the system’s structure; and (d) use a framework of categorisation based on complementarity. The new model of analysis and intervention emerging from this ecosystemic perspective is elaborated through a case-example.

Microtransitions and the Dynamics of Family Functioning

This paper presents a qualitative observational study aimed at exploring microtransitions in the relational dynamics of family functioning when the children are adolescents. Three concurrent levels were considered central for family functioning in this period: the acknowledgment of emerging competences, the redefinition of the power structure, and the regulation of interpersonal distances. Twenty-eight non-clinical Italian families with at least one adolescent child were interviewed and video-recorded in their homes. A stance-taking process analysis was carried out on the family interactive sequences arising in the course of the interviews. This analysis was based on the stances taken by all family members in relation to their reciprocal evaluations, positions, and alignments, which allowed us to point out the interlocking of competences, power and distances. Out of all the possible theoretical combinations of these three dimensions, we identified four forms of interaction. In two forms, the emerging changes were not incorporated in the families’ interactive repertoires by either reconfirming family stability or resisting family changes. In these ways of interacting competences, power, and distances were not reorganized. In the other two forms, instead, family microtransitions were observable in the extent to which family members either explored family changes or legitimated family reorganizations. In these processes, they could redefine and readdress their ways of interacting.

Family functioning in microtransition and socio-emotional competence in preschoolers

Microtransitions can be identified as those exchanges that occur during everyday life when family members negotiate a change in their interactions. This study aims to highlight how certain aspects of family functioning during microtransitions could influence the development of childrens socio-emotional competence in their interactions with peers. In order to achieve this aim, 24 family triads (mother, father, and preschooler child) were observed in a laboratory during semi-structured play activities for a total of 57 interactive sequences; the children were also observed in their nursery school context, where their socio-emotional competence was assessed through the analysis of 142 interactive sequences video-recorded during semi-structured play, and of a questionnaire filled out by teachers. The results indicated that children in families showing a higher degree of coordination were more relationally and socially competent with peers both during the video-observed play and in the descriptions of the teachers.

Family Microtransitions: An Observational Study

This research aimed to study the processes that take place during family microtransitions, that is, when family members move from an interactive form characterized by specific roles (active or peripheral) to another form that requires a change in these roles. For this purpose, 21 normative triads composed of mother, father, and a 4-year-old child were observed in a laboratory while playing together in a setting where they were asked to change their interactive configuration three times. The data revealed different ways of family functioning in coping with the microtransitions. Two groups emerged from the analysis that presented different characteristics. In particular, the family triads that completed the assigned task showed a significantly higher level of coordination and emotional tuning, a larger number of processes implied in the triadic dynamics, and a greater communicative coherence between the verbal, the expressive, and the corporal channels, compared with the group that did not complete the task.

An extention of the school moral atmosphere construct, and its association with aggressive behaviours in secondary school

The first aim of this research is to introduce and to validate the new concept of School Normative Context, that revisits the concept of School Moral Atmosphere studied by Brugman and his colleagues through the SMAQ (1999) and validated also in the Italian context (Mancini & Fruggeri, 2005). The School Normative Context entails two new aspects: The first one concerns the interactive dimension of each specific school context and the second one concerns the perception of responsibility (internal vs, external) in the implementation of the norm. The second aim is to study the relation among adolescents perception of School Normative Context, adolescents’ orientation towards social rules and their aggressive behaviours against classmates at school. 268 students (mean age 17,01) attending three Italian high schools of three different educational levels (Lyceum, technical and professional) participated in this research. They filled a questionnaire composed of three parts: School Normative Context Questionnaire (SNC), Normative Orientation Scale (NOS) and Aggression Scale (Orpinas, Frankowski, 2001). School Normative Context has shown an acceptable degree of conceptual and predictive validity. The research has shown that the School Normative Context has an influence on the aggressive behaviours against classmates. Furthermore, it is a mediating factor between the adolescents’ orientation towards social norms and their aggressive behaviours at school.RésuméLe premier objectif de cette recherche est d’introduire et de valider le concept de Contexte Normatif Scolaire (CNS). Ce nouveau concept, développé à partir de la notion d’Atmosphère Morale Scolaire proposée et étudiée par Brugman et collaborateurs (1999), se distingue cependant de cette dernière à deux égards: l’étude du CNS s’appuie, d’une part, sur l’analyse des dimensions interactives relatives à chaque contexte scolaire considéré et, d’autre part, sur la perception de responsabilité s’agissant de l’application des règles sociales.Le deuxième objectif concerne l’étude des liens entre la perception du CNS de la part des adolescents, leur orientation à l’égard des règles sociales et leurs comportements agressifs envers leurs camarades de classes. La recherche a été conduite par le biais d’un questionnaire soumis à 268 élèves (âge moyen: 17,01 ans) provenant de trois écoles supérieures italiennes (un Lycée, une école technique et une école professionnelee). Le questionnaire comprend trois parties différentes. La première est finalisée à l’étude du CNS, la seconde vise à l’évaluation de l’orientation normaltive (NOS) et la troisième permet d’évaluer les comportements agressifs (Orpinas & Frankowski, 2001).Le Contexte Normatif Scolaire a montré un niveau acceptable de validité aussi bien conceptuelle que prédictive. Les résultats ont montré que le Contexte Normatif Scolaire influence les comportements agressifs envers les camarades d’école et qu’il intervient comme facteur de médiation entre l’orientation des adolescents à l’égard des règles sociales et leurs compotements agressifs à l’école.

The individual-system relationship: methodological cues from the stance-taking process analysis

The individual-system relationship is one of the core, and most controversial, issues that have animated family therapy discussions since their origins. We advance the idea that an important point of departure for addressing this issue is the contamination of family therapy with constructs and methods coming from systemic research into normal family processes, such as the notion of stance-taking. Relying on empirical data taken from a study conducted with families dealing with adolescents, we introduce and discuss the notion of stance-taking as an innovative methodological procedure that can illuminate the individual-system relationship while family interactions unfold. For the purpose of this article, we present and describe three selected family cases that document the potentialities of the stance-taking process analysis for studying the individual-system relationship, thus offering cues to systemic research and practice in family therapy. Practitioner points The stance-taking process analysis allows clinical practitioners to develop systematic and empirically informed hypotheses. Pointing out the different stances taken by each member during family interactions, therapists can make such variability into a resource to promote change. Therapists can be trained to observe how their stances shape the ongoing process, and act in the unfolding conversations to transform the emerging patterns.

Il contributo della process research agli sviluppi futuri della terapia familiare

I terapeuti familiari sono sempre piu sollecitati a documentare l’efficacia della terapia attraverso la ricerca d’esito, che valuta se la terapia familiare funziona; e la ricerca di processo, che descrive come funziona. Prendendo in considerazione il contributo di una serie di studi volti a documentare l’interazione fra terapeuta e famiglia e i processi di cambiamento osservabili nello strutturarsi del dialogo terapeutico, l’articolo riflette sulle implicazioni della ricerca di processo per la pratica e per la formazione nell’ambito della terapia familiare sistemica.