Grape Family Case Study

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IV. Development/Life Cycle The Grape family exhibits various health issues that contribute to a lack of appropriate role development within the family. First, the mother’s presumed depression and anxiety disorder impact the family in a hugely negative way. She is also severely obese and does not appear to take care of her physical, spiritual, or emotional needs, nor the needs of her children. Overeating and extreme fatigue are some of the many symptoms of depression, which if left untreated can increase one’s risk for developing heart disease and demonstrate how the mother is neglecting her own health (Skinner, Haines, Austin, & Field, 2012). Because the mother’s depression is left untreated, not only does she disengage from her family and neglect her personal responsibilities to her family unit, but she becomes an additional burden for her children to take on as they must take care of her needs in addition to their own as she is unable to meet them herself. The oldest daughter, Amy, demonstrates negative consequences as a result of the mother’s chronic illness. She cooks, cleans, and takes care of her mother and is isolated at home because she is too busy managing the Grape household.…show more content…
Family influence is pivotal in shaping adolescent behavior (Spoth, Schainker, & Hiller-Sturmhoefel, 2011) and promoting healthy habits. Health promotion is the process of enabling people to improve their health (World Health Organization, 2015). Ideally, children learn this from their parents. The Grape family had a mother that was physically present for her children, but did not take on the role of being their mother. In addition, their father left the family, so he was not a father figure to learn from. Gilbert and Amy had to step in as the parental figures for the Grape’s. This lead to the lack of development of health promotion from their mother and the children were missing developmental

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