Stress in Families
1. Death of a parent and partner; the death of Carolyn the wife to Woody and mother to Troy, Clinton, Wendell, Nate and Joseph makes the family sad because of the loss of their mother and partner. Troy is the most affected family member as she is in denial about the death of her mother. After the death of her mother she becomes withdrawn at the church when her brother Clinton brother tries to comfort her. She also becomes angry as she yells at her aunt about the dress and hits Snuffy with a baseball hat drawing blood for making fun of her younger brother Joseph about their mother's death. Troy becomes restless and dreams of her mother. Her father tells her that the rest of the family has been wondering about when she was going to break, this also shows that the whole family had been grieving and it was only Troy who had not broken down.
Low social support and problems with neighbours: this shown when Joseph comes inside the house crying because Snuffy and Right Hand Man were laughing at him because of the death of their mother. Instead of the two offering some support to Joseph who is young and had just lost his mother, the two laugh at him which makes him to end up crying and he goes back to the house. Troy goes outside and hits Snuffy with a baseball hat drawing blood because he laughed at her brother.
Financial problems: Carolyn who is the sole provider of the family dies, before her death she and Wood had an argument about his music that was not bringing in any money and woody caused the family to have bounced checks. Their electricity is also shut off because they have not paid the electricity bill. Given those situations Carolyn's death only increases on their financial problems as Woody is not making much money which is also a stressor for the family.
2. Physical resources: even after Carolyn's death the family continues to be physically fit, they are healthy and are able to move from one place to another. With these resources the children can go to school and Woody can go to work. Troy is fit and she carries her brother on her laps and Joseph goes out to play this shows us that the family is healthy and are fit enough as they go about their normal lives after the death of their mother.
Finance resources: despite the financial problems they are going through the family can afford to buy food as is shown by: the family is able of taking care of Carolyn's funeral we do not see any where in the movie people fundraising for the funeral, also when Troy tell Joseph not to go far as dinner will almost be ready. Food is a basic need and the family is able to take care of their basic needs.
3. The family as a whole need to come together and talk about the death of Carolyn. Woody as the father has to step up and talk to his children about death and assure the children that they will be alright and death is something that happens to everyone. He mostly should talk to Troy who stills holds on to her mother's memories and tell her that she has to move on cause by holding to memories she will fail to move on in life and will always be sad.
Woody as the man of the house and the only surviving parent to his children should step up I n his career or better still get another job that can enable him provide for his family. The job can also help him get money that he will use in furthering his music career. Woody can also advice his older child Clinton to get a job that can enable him contribute to the family financial needs.
The neighborhood is crowded, noisy and has people who are problematic, it also has memories of Carolyn that Troy holds onto and this makes her sad and absent minded. Woody and the children can leave that area and go to a different neighbourhood as a way of starting a fresh and letting go the sad memories. A neighbourhood with few people will also be good for the family because it will help the to stay in a peaceful environment hence avoiding stress factors like noise.
4. Instead of yelling at each other and fighting like the way Troy hit Snuffy the family hold up a family meeting were each person expresses who he or she feels and then as a family they resolve whatever is disturbing them. Woody should also not allow his children to express their anger by fighting but teach them calmer ways of dealing with anger like talking to someone or lock up oneself in the room until one calms down.
With noisy neighbours who are problematic like Snuffy and Right Hand Man the children should not associate with such neighbours. Going for a trip like after the funeral instead of staying in the same neighbourhood can also be one of the best ways of dealing with the death of their mother and wife. Since the family has financial issues going to visit relatives who are in different towns would be the best solution especially for Troy, it could have helped her heal from the pain of losing her mother.
