The number of children identified as emotionally disturbed has been increasing. The success rate for these children has been disappointingly low in both their academic and post-academic lives. The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between children identified as emotionally disturbed and their families, and to recommend strategies and family services that could increase the success rate of this particular population.Information was obtained from two self-report instruments, FACES II and a Personal Information Questionnaire, and from social-developmental histories and psychoeducational evaluations. The Family Adaptability and Cohesion Scale (FACES II) is a 30-item, self-report instrument that scores a family's view of flexibility and cohesion on the Circumplex Model grid. The Circumplex Model of Marital and Family Systems is a family typology that is based on the family's degree of flexibility and cohesion. The Personal Information Questionnaire was a demographic instrument used to obtain marital status and economic factors. Grade levels and incidents of child abuse were obtained from social-developmental histories and psychoeducational evaluations.Data were collected from families with children identified as emotionally disturbed. A total of twenty-seven children, ages eight to eighteen, and one parent of each child were included in the study (N = 54). Responses to FACES II and items on the questionnaire were analyzed usingchi-square analysis.Seventy-four percent of the families were classified as dysfunctional based on their responses to FACES II. Less than half of these families rated as disengaged on the cohesion level and more than half of these families rated as rigid on the flexibility level. The school levels of these children were also significant. A higher percentage of families with children in high school were dysfunctional as compared with families with children in elementary school. Parent relational status was not significant. The functional level of the family was not affected if the parents were married, divorced, or widowed. A relationship did exist between families with children identified as emotionally disturbed and reported incidents of child abuse. The dysfunctional families had a higher rate of reported child abuse while those families who were more balanced had fewer reported incidents of child abuse. Finally, socioeconomic status was not a factor in the functional level of the families.Findings from this study may assist school personnel when providing services for children identified as emotionally disturbed and their families. Teachers of students who are emotionally disturbed and general education teachers who will service these students require an accurate understanding of the etiological factors associated with the development of a child identified as emotionally disturbed. By assessing the family's specific areas of strength and weaknesses, school and community services could be provided to meet the needs of the families and their children. / Department of Special Education
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:BSU/oai:cardinalscholar.bsu.edu:handle/180714 |
| Date | January 1998 |
| Creators | Shepherd, Terry L. |
| Contributors | Merbler, John B. |
| Source Sets | Ball State University |
| Detected Language | English |
| Format | ix, 131 leaves : ill. ; 28 cm. |
| Source | Virtual Press |
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