Assignment #1

! Error retrieving assignment external tools "

! Error retrieving assignment external tools "

Due Sep 30 by 11:59pm Points 25 Submitting a file upload Attempts 1
You are
Allowed Attempts 1 not currently logged in, possibly due to a long
Available Sep 10 at 12am - Dec 15 at 11:59pm 3 months
! period of inactivity. "
Login
This assignment was locked Dec 15 at 11:59pm.
You are not currently logged in, possibly due to a long
CNPS 364 ! period of inactivity. "
Login
ASSIGNMENT #1 Fall 2021

25 marks

READ THE FOLLOWING INSTRUCTIONS CAREFULLY:

To complete this assignment, you need to answer each question.

Please include the question and question number when writing your assignment.
Please note the length allowed for each question. PLEASE AVOID LONG RUN-ON SENTENCES.
Keep your sentences to a moderate length.
Please include the source and the page number for all your answers even though you will NOT be
quoting. For example: (Bigner, 2019, p. 121). To cite a Module: (CNPS 364, Module 2, 2020)
In order to answer the questions well, you need to have studied the material so you can show that you
have learned and understood all the concepts.
Please write all your answers IN YOUR OWN WORDS. Do not quote the textbook or the readings, use
your own words
DO NOT WORK ON THE ASSIGNMENT WITH ANYONE ELSE and DO NOT CONSULT ANYONE TO
HELP YOU WRITE THE ASSIGNMENT. This has to be YOUR original work. Please read the syllabus
and the introduction in Module 1 for information on academic dishonesty. I am very strict on this.

PART 1.

Question # Maximum Length

1. Provide the definition of family provided for the

purpose of this course. 3 sentences

2. What is a nuclear family? How did they come

about? 3 sentences max
3. Based on the Vanier Institute fact sheet, describe 5
statistical facts about Indigenous Families in Canada 5 sentences total

4. Describe two approaches to family consultation 8 sentences

5. When talking about diversity, what are the

concepts and differences we should consider? 4-6 sentences.

6. What is a discourse?
2-3 sentences

7. Provide 3 examples of diverse mothering practices

from different cultures (not from other times in history, 3 sentences each (9 sentences
but from different countries that practice different total)
culturally).

PART 2

1. Read the following passage and answer the questions found below the passage.

Tiffany

Tiffany is married to Ian and they have 3 children, Mariana12, Jonathan 12 and Maribel 14. Ian and Tiffany
had a good relationship and they were happy to have their three kids. Tiffany worked as a lawyer part-time
and Ian was a physician.

One day, Tiffany started to notice that her daughter Maribel was losing weight rapidly. She began to worry
and to observe that her daughter Maribel was not eating and tried to avoid eating meals with them. She
was very distressed and wondering what to do. She talked to her mom, Irina (the grandmother to the kids)
and told her what was happening. Her mother, who tends to be quite blunt, said to Tiffany, “I am not
surprised, you and Ian work too much and your kids end up being without constant supervision!” Tiffany was
quite offended and hurt that her mom would say something like that. So, Tiffany dropped the topic and
changed the subject of the conversation.

Tiffany was very distressed, so she decided to Google eating disorders in teenagers. She read that teens
who restrict their food intake and lose weight drastically can be diagnosed with anorexia. Tiffany became
very anxious and did not know what to do. So she kept googling trying to understand what was happening
to her daughter.

She read that when mothers are busy or authoritarian, they can trigger an eating disorder in their kids. She
was mortified. The article she read suggested that since mothers started working outside of the home, their
absence was detrimental to their kids and could contribute to issues of mental health and eating disorders.
It also said many young people who have an eating disorder often have a parent that is too controlling and
that it is usually the mother.

Tiffany began to question herself and wonder if she has been absent or if she has been too controlling when
she has tried to be strict and have strong boundaries. She began to wonder if she should have stayed
home when her daughter was born rather than continue to work. She called many clinics to ask for help in
order to get some help for her daughter.

In addition, she felt that she needed some help as well to cope and to change as she now was sure she was
a bad mother. So, she went to go see a counsellor. When she got to the counsellor, she told her that she
was a terrible mother. Her daughter was losing a lot of weight and she told the counsellor that she was to
blame. She was too busy working and left her daughter without the care she needed. The counsellor
listened carefully and empathized with Tiffany. She asked Tiffany if she thought that she was the only factor
that could contribute to why her daughter now has an eating disorder. Tiffany said, “well, that is what I
read.” The counsellor told her to try to guess what else could contribute to her daughter having an eating
disorder. Tiffany thought about it and said, well, there is a lot of images in the media that tell girls that being
thin is the way to be. And also, she wonders if her daughter is a sensitive girl who feels upset easily and
maybe not eating makes her feel like she can control something.

The counsellor agreed with Tiffany that she was right; some of those are some of the factors that influence
the development of eating disorders. The counsellor explained to Tiffany that nowadays, there are many
pressures on mothers to be perfect as mothers and that society tends to blame them for anything that goes
wrong with their kids.

She encouraged Tiffany to ask herself how she mothered. Did she mother in a way that she considers was
truly bad or abusive? Did she neglect her daughter? Was she truly controlling without any consideration for
what her daughter felt or wanted? Tiffany thought about it and said that she was very careful to be caring
and to always spend some one on one time with her daughter throughout the years. She usually didn’t yell
and scream at her, she was usually calm and had conversations with her daughter. And so on. As Tiffany
talked about it, she realized that she was not a bad mother. And yet, she was still wondering why her
daughter was restricting her food intake.

She couldn’t help but feel like she could have done something to prevent it. As she continued in
counselling, Tiffany began to realize that she was torturing herself with the idea that she was a bad mother.
She began to realize that society pressures mothers to be perfect and that if anything goes wrong, everyone
blames mothers. So she began to question what society expects from mothers and she realized that she
had to mother in the best way for her and her family and realized that her daughter’s eating disorder began
when her daughter’s figure skating coach kept telling her she has to stop eating that much because she had
to stay thin. Her daughter was a sensitive soul and she felt she had to stop eating so that she could keep
her coach happy.

Little by little, Tiffany began to question the expectations on her as a mother and started to make choices
that made sense to her. She asked her husband if he could please work together with her so that they
could support their kids. She began to realize that she needed to take care of herself as well rather than be
so dedicated only to her kids (this way she thought her daughter would also learn that a woman has a right
to take care of herself).

As she engaged in this process, she began to feel stronger and empowered. She realized that for years
she had been buying into being the perfect mother and that when her daughter developed the eating
disorder, she felt like she failed. And now she realizes that she cannot take responsibility for everything that
goes wrong with her kids and how she feels much better giving thought to what works best for her and her
family rather than try to do what society expects from her.

She decided to mother her way, and her feelings of inadequacy turned into feelings of empowerment. And
she became willing to rebel to societal expectations and make her own choices. She knew that she would
have to put up with people’s criticisms but realized that no matter how you mother, you will be criticized
because society is like that: people are full of opinions and judgments and they feel their way is the right
way. She learned to be respectful of other moms and how they mothered.

Tiffany went on to feel free and grounded and decided that she was going to be an empowered and
rebellious mother.

PART 2 - ANSWER THE FOLLOWING QUESTIONS:

1. Identify 3 ways in which the discourse of motherhood is affecting Tiffany. What are some of the struggles
she is going through? Please use the readings to answer the question. You need to have done the
readings to be able to answer this question correctly. This question is not about the list of tenets or
myths 3 SENTENCES PER STRUGGLE – 9 SENTENCES TOTAL
2. Define “tenet.” 2 SENTENCES
3. Identify 5 of the tenets “hidden” in the passage. Describe each tenet in your own words (as described in
your readings) and describe what is said in the passage that points to the tenet. For example: A tenet
that I identified in the passage is ________________________. In the passage, Tiffany
____________________________________ and that means that ______________________________
and ___________________________________. 3 SENTENCES PER TENET AND ITS
ELABORATION – 15 SENTENCES TOTAL
4. What does the counsellor help her realize? 3 SENTENCES
5. What does Tiffany do in the end that helps her feel better? What is this called in terms of your readings?
3 SENTENCES.
6. How did she rebel?
7. Write a 10 line summary of what you learned in reading Through the Maze of Motherhood.