Meet the Griffins 1
Running Head: MEET THE GRIFFINS
Meet the Griffins: A Case Conceptualization of the Griffin Family
Emil Cunningham
Counselor Education 530
The Pennsylvania State University
Meet the Griffins 2
Meet the Griffins: A Case Conceptualization of the Griffin Family Family Name: The Griffins Counselor Name: Emil Cunningham
Identifying Information:
The Griffin family is a middle class, white family that lives in the suburbs of Quahog in Rhode Island. The household is comprised of one family pet, three children, and two parents. In order, they are Brian Griffin, Stewart Griffin, Chris Griffin, Megan Griffin, Peter Griffin, and Lois Griffin. The following is a more detailed description of each family member.
Brian, the family pet, is a dog. His age is unknown and although he is a dog, he has on occasion maintained several jobs, varying from a film director to a businessman. Currently, he is unemployed and continues to write his novel, which has been a work in progress for over three years. Brian’s highest degree attainment is some college. Brian initially dropped out of college and then upon returning for his senior year, he officially failed out and has not desired to return to complete his degree since. Although Brian is a family pet, he is often asked to complete similar tasks as any human would ask of another, such as driving the children to the store, babysitting, or taking on a job to acquire extra money for the family.
Stewart, who prefers to be called Stewie, is the youngest child of the Griffin family, at only one year old. Due to his age, he does not maintain any employment and has not had any educational training.
At thirteen years old, Chris is the middle child of the family. He is currently in middle school. As a part time job, he has a paper route in the neighborhood.
Megan, who prefers to be called Meg, is the eldest of the Griffin children at 17 years old. She is currently in high school and has worked several jobs ranging from a waitress at a diner to a store clerk.
Peter, age 42, is the biological father to all of the children and husband to Lois. He has had multiple jobs over the past years. At his current job, he works at a local brewery in an office. His educational background is unknown. He met his wife over 17 years ago while working on her father’s country club as a towel boy.
Lois, age 40, is the biological mother to all of the children and wife to Peter. She is currently employed as an in house piano teacher and she is a homemaker. Her educational background is some college although what amount is uncertain.
Presenting Problem:
The family was referred to me by the local day care center. Stewie has been having problems interacting with other children in his day care class. He has been caught fighting, trapping students in the closet, making inappropriate sexual gestures towards the other children, and constantly speaking of how is going to kill another child whenever he/she/ze interrupts him Meet the Griffins 3 during his play time. Stewie has been attending the same day care center for several months now, and his behavior has only worsened as his language acquisition and understanding has improved. His interactions with the family resemble much of the same exchanges that he has in his day care center. While at home, he often speaks of trying to kill his mother and devises multiple plans to do so. Stewie also has a very strained relationship with the family pet, Brian. He and Brian often engage in severe physical and verbal violent acts towards one another.
The family’s response to Stewie’s behavior varies greatly. Although Stewie targets his hate and violence at Lois, she only continues to love him unconditionally and treat him as if nothing were wrong. Lois has even watched Stewie tie up another child for attempted thievery of his tricycle. When approached about the situation, Lois only acknowledged the behavior as a children’s game. Peter does not react to any of Stewie’s presenting behavior. He is often not around when Stewie presents himself in this manner. However, it has been explained that at one point in the past, Peter attempted to gain some affection from his youngest son by physically abusing Lois. Both Meg and Chris are also not typically around during Stewie’s violent episodes. If they do happen to be around, then it is because all three children are engaged in an act of violence towards each another.
When Stewie is violent in day care, it often results from another child doing something to hinder Stewie from accomplishing his goal. When in the household, he acts the same way with his family. Stewie is very adamant about inflicting harm on his mother when he is refrained from either playing a game or using a new toy. It is at these times that Stewie typically chooses to take the opportunity to inflict harm on Lois while she is performing daily household chores such as cleaning or doing the laundry. Most of Stewie’s attempts go unnoticed by Lois or are passed off as simply Stewie going through a phase.
Stewie, however, is not always engaged in violent behaviors, such as when he is playing a game, watching a television show, or interacting with the entire family. When Stewie is doing something that is either family related, such as watching television, or playing by himself, such as having a tea party with his dolls, he does not try to hurt anybody else. These behavioral exceptions are quite revealing. They may prove that if a treatment plan is not produced, then as Stewie becomes older and is forced to interact with more people outside of his family on a regular basis, he may display more violence towards others.
Although reported to me by the day care center, Brian also noticed Stewie’s behavioral problems. The love-hate relationship, that Brian and Stewie have, enabled Brian to more clearly notice Stewie’s violent behavior. The remainder of the family does not acknowledge that a problem exists with Stewie. Lois is concerned about the family because a worker at the day care center recommended Stewie to me. Peter, Chris, and Meg all seem to agree that their time in counseling could be better spent elsewhere, although they feel some obligation to attend to Stewie’s need for Lois’s sake. The day care center and the family have never really had a strong relationship with each other and as such, the family should be commended for visiting my office from the recommendation from the day care center.
In the past, the family has made some attempts to solve Stewie’s behavioral problems. Lois retells of a situation wherein Stewie began misbehaving at the dinner table, and she disciplined Meet the Griffins 4 him with the use of corporal punishment. Lois stated that this seemed to work until she noticed that Stewie not only stopped acting out, but also became extremely terrified of her and began to avoid her. Brian states that when Stewie has been overly violent towards him, Brian then proceeds to wait until the opportune moment to find a way to react violently towards him as well and unfortunately only reinforces the cycle of abuse. When Chris notices that Stewie needs something, he simply provides him with his desire to keep Stewie happy, and then proceeds along his own path. Peter and Meg do not tend to notice the behavior. Because they are often not the recipient of Stewie’s violent outbursts, they have not made any attempts to rectify the problem.
Clinical Hypothesis:
The Griffin family appears to have clearly defined family roles. Peter is the father to all three children, the husband to Lois, and the breadwinner of the family as well. Lois is the mother to all three children, is the wife to Peter, and seems to have distinguished herself as the gatekeeper of the family. Lois presents her gatekeeper role when a problem arises, and people outside the family attempt to address it. She informs the family that it is either time to leave a situation or makes decisions that the remainder of the family seemingly complies with. Meg appears to be the scapegoat of the family. She is the person whom everybody blames things on. When Peter finds himself in a compromising situation, he will blame Meg for his fault, and then contribute to the fault finding that occurs. Both Chris and Stewie do not appear to have specific roles and maintain their statuses as brother and son only.
A typical hierarchy seems to exist within the Griffin family, such that Chris and Stewie are considered more important than Meg. On several occasions, when the family has encountered life threatening situations, Meg has consistently been the one whom the family forgets about, opts to leave behind, or sacrifices. As a result, most of the subsystems that take place in the Griffin family are against Meg. Some of the subsystems that appear to exist in the Griffin family are Lois and Peter against the children, Lois, Peter, Chris, Stewie and Brian against Meg, and Peter and Chris against Lois and Meg. The only subsystems that seem to incorporate Meg into it are the seemingly common one of the entire household against Meg and when Peter and Lois are arguing or engaged in physical violence, Meg sides with her mother as Chris sides his father. The only healthy subsystem that exists within the family is that of Lois and Peter against the children. Lois and Peter seem to have a very healthy parental subsystem in place that is not often bothered by the children.
The Griffin family seems to have several unwritten rules about self-governance. Almost all of the rules appear detrimental to the family’s functioning. One rule is that Peter is allowed to drink excessively, even if it is to the detriment to the family. Along with that exception, the family appears to allow Brian to drink excessively as well. Stewie appears to have a rule associated with him wherein his destructive and violent behavior is excusable because he is a child. Another rule seemingly associated with Meg is that regardless of if her logic is correct, she is always wrong and never appreciated. The last rule that appears to be associated with the Griffin family is that Lois is always right regardless of the circumstance or the situation. This unwritten rule is contradictory, however, to the way the Griffin’s make decisions regarding their family since Peter always makes the decisions. The only exception to this rule appears to be when Lois is Meet the Griffins 5 adamantly upset about a situation or a decision. The three children in the family do not appear to have any say in the decision making process either.
The Griffin’s family boundaries are actually fairly intact. Normal boundaries exist from Peter to Chris, Stewie, Brian, and Lois, as well as from Lois to Chris and Peter. The family appears to suffer from close hostile relationship boundary issue between Brian and Stewie because their rapport constantly switches between being best friends and worse enemies. An enmeshed hostile relationship exists between Stewie and Lois. Stewie is seemingly consistently hostile towards Lois, and Lois appears overly enmeshed with Stewie. This may be to her detriment because she cannot see how violent Stewie is and has become. Meg unfortunately appears to suffer from a distant relationship with everybody in the family. The closest relationship she has is to her mother, Lois, who like everybody else appears to present herself as emotionally abusive towards her, but at times offers words of comfort.
As demonstrated by Lois’ communication towards Meg, the Griffin family’s quality and quantity of communication is difficult to understand. The majority of the family appears to communicate fairly well with one another, except for with Meg. The quality and quantity of communication towards Meg seems consistently harsh, abrasive, and curt. The family seems to constantly insult and demean her as well. Lois has at times shown herself to be the harshest with her communication style. Although she does not speak condescendingly towards Stewie, she regularly condescends Peter.
Looking at the genogram (see attached) it appears that alcoholism runs in the family. Both of Lois’ parents, Peter’s father, Peter, and Brian are all alcoholics. The family’s abusive relationships towards each other, Peter’s addiction to alcohol exemplify strong suggestions as to why Stewie is a violent child.