Family myths

Related to this is that so-called tough love from family members and friends is important for the client to succeed, which is another myth (as mentioned in... 

I mention all of this not to inform my reader of the less-than-interesting details of my personal effort to feed a family, but because this career of mine is now the only and best evidence that something extraordinary, perhaps something of historical importance, may have happened at La Chorrera. For the loquacious mushrooms encountered there have spun a myth and issued a prophecy, in quite specific detail, of a planet-saving global shift of consciousness. They have promised all that has happened in my life over the last twenty years, and they have promised much more for the future. If you read onward you become a part of this tale. Caveat lector. 

In sharp contrast to the genetic/disease theory, Szasz, Laing, and the existential analysts stress the familial/social origins of schizophrenia, and its existential significance. Unlike physical illness, Szasz (1961) considers "mental illness" a culturally relative myth that subtly strips the "patient" of personal responsibility and basic human rights. He also em-... 

Myth 1 First is the idea that the generation gap is wider today than ever. Evidence suggests the opposite. The gap has been closing for the past several years. Families are getting together more, not less. Communication is improving. 

Myth 2 The second myth is that conflict within families is always bad and should be avoided. Some conflict and negotiation is present in all relationships and should be anticipated. Too often parents avoid problems that need to be discussed because they fear conflict. The same is true, perhaps more so, with adult children. Confronting problems can be healthy otherwise they may remain unsolved for years. 

This book is for prospective parents who are weighing the pros and cons of an only child family, and for actual parents with a single child who, by voluntary choice or involuntary circumstance, are not going to add more to the one they already have. For either group, this book is intended to help these adults understand some of the problems and possibilities that go with parenting an only child. Most important, it is to help parents of only children dispel two myths. 

Gonzalez-Ramos, G. (1990). Examining the myth of Hispanic families resistance to treatment Using the school as a site for services. Social Work in Education, 12, 261-274. 

In the first stages of society, education was purely domestic. Children were educated by their fathers, either by working with them or by being instructed by them in such arts as they knew they received from them the small stock of traditions that made up the history of the tribe or of the family they learnt the various myths that were preserved and they acquired a knowledge of the national customs, principles or prejudices which constituted a crude moral code. Songs and dances and military exercises were learnt in the company of friends. 

The reason I took Lear is that as a myth it seems central to people s experience. Lear is the family tragedy, magnified to the dimensions of political tragedy, state tragedy, and it seems to deal with very fimdamental desires and fears that people have. It s a fascinating play [...] and I felt that somehow I wasn t living in the real world until I dealt with that myth on my own terms [...] I think it s the greatest play written, and it s the play I get the most out of. Nevertheless, it doesn t work for me, and in a sense, I have to criticize it. (Qtd in Roberts, 1985, p. 24)... 

There is sometimes a sense of shame combined with this fear. A middle-class parent might have thought that only families of lower socioeconomic status could get lead poisoning and feel that they have failed to keep up a level of care for their children that is expected of a middle-class family. The idea that only poor inner-city children can be lead poisoned is a myth. Families of all social classes fall victim to the disease. 

A Citizen s Guide to Radon, The Guide to Protecting Yourself and Your Family from Radon, http //www.epa.gOv/radon/pubs/citguide.html myths (accessed June 2010). 

Nutrition experts—Millions of people pose as self-styled nutrition experts. Some of these are content to ply their trade on themselves and their families. Others give their advice free to all who will listen. Still others are the modern counterpart of the medicine men of old— they sell their expertise. Television, newspapers and magazines, best-selling books—all feed us information and advice that s a mixture of scientific fact, half-truths, and just plain nonsense. (See FOOD MYTHS AND MISINFORMATION, section headed "The Medicine Man of Old.")... 

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