Abcx Model Of Stress In A Family

Each family experiences many different stresses. There are two possible outcomes to a stressful situation a family is put in, those are; a crisis, or not a crisis. The factors that determine whether or not an event is a crisis for a family are outlined by the ABCX model. This model gives guidelines to help us see what is really going on in a situation and whether or not it is an actual crisis. A, the first thing that we look at in the model is the actual stressor event and what difficulties and hardships it presents to the family. B, the second thing we look at is how the different members of the family manage that stress through coping. C, the third thing we look at is how the family defines the event, their thoughts and attitudes towards …show more content…
There was a man and a woman that got married, had three children, then got a divorce. There was domestic violence in the home and the wife needed to get away. Not long after the divorce, she married another man named Mike Choppin. That was when the Mike and Carolyn Choppin family was created and that was when things got even worse for this family. Mike brought 2 children of his own to the marriage, so together they had 5, then had another two together. With a total of 7 children, they had a full house, but also a very broken and emotionally messed up family. Between the seven children, they had 3 different fathers, and 3 different mothers. Every child in this family had already been abused from their previous living situations, but this one was the worst. Mike was a horrible abuser. Without going into too many details, there was incest; there was physical abuse, and very damaging emotional abuse. This whole family was affected in terribly negative ways from the things going on in their own home, the one place where any child should be able to feel safe and comfortable. The three girls were the most victimized within this home, but the boys were not excluded. They had a grandfather, Mike’s dad, who was a culprit of incest with his own grandsons. There are many aspects of this situation that are interesting, and it is very complexed and could be looked at from many angles because of the different units and connections and problems within this family. But for the purposes of this paper, we are going to apply the ABCX model to this family. The first thing we must realize is that there are many aspects playing into each one of these children’s lives. Every single one of them has had their own uniquely terrifying abusive experiences. Because of where they came from when they came into this family, they were already emotionally distraught, and the merging of these families, plus the continuing abuse