Roles and Behaviors

You will be watching the film A Bug’s Life for this component of the assignment (1998). You will apply the knowledge to answer the following questions about group dynamics and conflict. If you don’t have it on DVD, you may watch it for free online at http://disneycartoonsonline.blogspot.com/2015/05/watch-a-bugs-life-1998-full-online-for-free.html.

1. This film is divided into three distinct groups. What exactly are they? Which characters belong to which group?

Group\sCharacters

Grasshoppers are a type of insect.

Hopper\sMolt\sThumper

a swarm of grasshoppers

The Ants and their Ant Colony Friends

Princess Atta Dot Flik

The monarch

Cornelius\sThorny

Flora Slim, M.D.

Francis\sHeimlich

Rosie\sDim

The ant colony

The Circus Bugs

Manny

Gypsy

Tuck

Roll

P.T Flea

2. Describe the central conflict within the movie? How did the characters overcome this conflict?

The central conflict in the movie is the fact that the gang of marauding grasshoppers come to the colony to oppress and bully the ants to give them the food the colony has worked so hard to gather. The conflict is solved by an inventor ant, Flik, who leaves for the bug city to amass other bugs that can help to rebel against the grasshoppers and eventually defeat them. The story however takes a different turn when there is a misunderstanding between Flik and the Circus bugs he brought back to the colony about the reason for their presence in the colony. While exiling, the circus bugs save Dot, a young aunt from the royalty of the colony, from a bird that had captured Dot. They then return to the colony where they are treated well because of the help they grant the royalty of the colony. Flik and the circus bugs come up with a plan to construct a fake bird to scare away the grasshoppers, so as to get rid of the bullies and peacefully send the circus bugs away, without the colony realizing the misunderstanding they had had.

The grasshoppers find out about the fake bird and plan to get back at the colony and the circus bugs for scaring them with a fake bird. The colony also realizes this and banishes Flik out of the colony where he sets out. The grasshoppers plan to execute their plan by first killing the Queen, prompting Dot to find Flik and bring him back to the colony. Hopper kidnaps Flik when he returns, and Atta comes to rescue him. This gives Flik a chance to lead Hopper to the bird’s nest where he is fed to the bird’s chicks and the grasshopper oppression comes to an end.

3. Which character(s) did you find most beneficial in resolving the conflict? Why/ how?

The most beneficial characters were Atta, Dot, Flick, and the circus bugs. This is because they contribute in different ways to the defeat of the grasshoppers, rescuing the ant colony from the grasshopper oppression. Flik finds the circus boys and comes up with ideas that scare and eventually lead to the killing of Hopper, the leader of the grasshopper gang. When Flik is exiled by the colony, Dot discovers that the colony will be destroyed without Flik and heads out to get him and brings him back to the colony. When Hopper kidnaps Flik, Atta comes to rescue him and gives him the opportunity to lead Hopper to the bird’s nest, where he meets his death. The circus bugs were also beneficial for collaborating with Flik to help the colony overcome the oppression from the grasshoppers.

4. Which character(s) fit within each of the group roles?(Note:You may not have a name in every section, may have more than one name in each section, and/or may have a name in more than one section).

Task Oriented Roles

Initiator

Flik

P.T Flea

Bird

Hopper

Opinion Seeker

Dot

Atta

Flik

Opinion Giver

The circus bugs

Flik

Clarifier/Elaborator

FLik

Hopper

P.T. Fleas

The queen

Atta

Dot

Rosie

Summarizer

Atta

Dot

Rosie

Cornellius

Evaluator

Flik

Cornellius

Rosie

Maintenance Roles

Harmonizer

The Queen

Atta

Gate-Keeper

Bird

Encourager

Slim

Francis

Hiemlich

Compromiser

Rosie

Flik

The Circus Bugs

Flik

Thumper

Consensus Tester

Thorny

Disruptive Roles

Dominator

Hopper

P.T Flea

Recognition-Seeker

Thumper

Molt

Self-Confessor

Dr. Flora

Thorny

Angry-Aggressor

Hopper

Thumper

Blocker

Hopper

P.T Flea

Non-Talker/Withdrawer

Hopper

P.T Flea

Family Roles

For this portion of the assignment you will be watching the movie The Family Stone (2005).It is available online from http://putlocker.is/watch-the-family-stone-online-free-putlocker.html

You will use the information to answer the following questions related to family dynamics and roles. Use the information on family roles found at in the lecture notes as well as from: http://www.kellevision.com/kellevision/2009/05/family-roles.html

Family Member Name

Leadership Role

Way(s) they fit and do not fit this role

Kelly Stone

Patriarchal head of the Stone family

Kelly Stone fits into this role thanks to his ability to bring out the traditional titular leadership of the family. He also lets Sybil dominate the family as most mothers do. He also has a low-key personality that creates a calming influence on his five children.

He however fails since his role is a little different from traditional patriarchs as he is still working even in his sixties as a college professor.

Sybil Stone

Matriarchal head of the Stone family

Sybil stone fits in this role as a strong willed woman who deals with the recurrence of cancer. She also holds the Stone family together and her success in bringing out the personalities of the character through expressing many and often conflicting emotions.

She fails in this role when she dies after her battle with cancer she leaves the family without its glue.

5. Use this table to identify the members of the Stone Family and their roles.

Family Member Name

Primary Family Role

Way(s) they fit and do not fit this role

Everett Stone

Eldest Son of the Stones

He fits the role by being a successful and over-achieving executive in Manhattan. He is also a submissive character who starts out as a straight laced and button downed personality.

He fails to suit this character towards the end of the story when his real personality of being very loose was the rest of the Stone family.

Susannah Trousdale

Eldest Daughter of the Stones

Susannah fits her role by following in the steps of her mother and starting her own Trousdale family. She accepts to be a stay-at home mother to raise her children. She is also seen expecting her second child.

Other than being matriarchal leadership role in her family, Susanna has no other role except being John Trousdale’s wife and the mother to Elizabeth and the new born.

Ben Stone

Second son of Stones

Ben is depicted as film editor and a smoker of marijuana for leisure. He suits his role since he is dramatic contrast from his elder brother, Everett. Ben’s character is so loose since he is also the free spirit in an already very loose family.

Ben ends up with Meridith showing his interest in his brother’s successful life. He therefore fails to suit this role when he takes off with Meridith to a local bar, after Meridith’s discovery that Everett was not going to propose to her.

Thad Stone

The Stones youngest son

He suits his role by being both gay and deaf, who lived with his partner, Patrick, in Boston. He is an architect who is looking to adopt a child with his partner.

By adopting Gus, Thad fails in role because he moves on from the Stone family and starts his own making him a responsible young son from a liberal family.

Amy Stone

The Stones youngest daughter

Amy fits her role as a school teacher who is pursuing her Master’s degree. She tries to keep the Stone family together, explaining why she disliked Meridith when she is introduced to her by Everett. The character goes through a dramatic arc; eventually bring her to her full circle.

She fails by her honesty, sardonic wit, and her uncensored openness, which since they make her very different from the rest of the liberal family.

6. Name a nursing theory that you could apply to this group and how you would apply that theory in their situation. (Note: Make sure to include the four metaparadigm concepts in your answer).

The Dorothy Johnson model, also known as the behavioral systems model, is the model I would apply in the situation of the Stone Family. The model comprises of a set of interactive, integrated, interdependent and organized subsystems. The first of these subsystems is the affiliative which examines the social bonds of the patients. The dependency assists to help or nurture the patients while the ingestive analyses the eating habits of the patient. The eliminative looks into the patient’s excretion, the sexual considers the procreation and gratification, and the aggressive analyses the patient’s preservation and self-protection. Finally, the achievement subsystem looks into the efforts to gain control and mastery.

This model maintains constancy in the biological, sociological, and psychological factors, through adapting and adjusting to the external and internal forces thus maintaining a steady state. The four metaparadigm concepts are also include in this concept since maintaining a steady state covers the person concept. The environment concept is however not specifically defined in this model, although there is an internal and external environment Balance and stability represents the health concept while the external regulatory forces only used when an instability occurs is the nursing concept.

7. Write an actual (not risk for) nursing diagnosis for the Stone family (not just the NANDA label).

The stone family suffers a high level of reactivity in an emotional sense towards each other, mostly exhibited between the mother and children. The father is also very calm and passive in the family. Stress between the characters and the large number of children promote triangling further complicating the relational interactions between the characters.

8. Name three things that you will take away from this assignment and incorporate into your practice.

The emotional physical and psychological pain that Cancer causes its patients

The acceptance of gay people into the community and into healthcare

How trials test family relationships