Gifted Analysis Paper

Running head: FAMILY SYSTEMS ANALYSIS PAPER 1
Family Systems Analysis Paper
Emily Honeybone
University of Georgia
HDFS 3920
Dr. George
November 8, 2020

FAMILY SYSTEMS ANALYSIS PAPER 2
Family Systems Analysis Paper
The family that was analyzed in regard to the Family Systems Theory throughout this
paper is from the movie Gifted. This movie told the story of a little girl, Mary, whose mother,
Diane, committed suicide and was taken under her uncle, Frank’s, care (Lunder & Cohen, 2017).
Mary was an intelligent, unique girl which brought up difficulties in determining the best living
situation for her; she could either live with Frank, who simply listened to his sister’s wishes, or
her grandmother, Evelyn, who wanted to push her past her limits after noticing her skills in
mathematics. This family experienced many adversities and therefore, it was essential to use the
Family Systems Theory to understand the dynamics and functioning of it.
Part A
Families have different strategies when it comes to managing the four first-order tasks
within the Family Systems Theory, which include emotional climate, boundaries, maintenance,
and identity (Anderson & Sabatelli, 2011). Within each task is a cluster of patterns, rules, and
interactions that can determine the strategies that a family needs in order to function properly and
accomplish cohesion. The first one that will be analyzed in regard to the family from Gifted is
emotional climate.
Emotional Climate
It is vital to have a strong and supportive emotional climate in order for the family to
efficiently manage the other three first-order tasks (Anderson & Sabatelli, 2011). The family in
Gifted display a variety of emotional climates within each subsystem. Mary and Frank are
members of the parental subsystem where a secure emotional environment is present as they are
able to communicate and understand one another, ensuring that they use specific strategies
needed to manage conflict. For example, Frank lashed out at Mary one morning when she had

not abided by his rule of not being allowed in the home on Saturdays until noon. Mary becomes
distressed, quickly running away and shutting him out, as she respects Frank’s authority more
than anyone else’s. He immediately admits he was wrong and apologizes, displaying the direct
communication and his ability to use his authority in a legitimate manner. Mary’s respect for
Frank helped to develop his authority, as he put in the effort to build a relationship with her and
acts as a support system for her. The subsystem containing Mary and Frank is very adaptable
because Frank had to alter his prior strategies that he may have used in times of stress and
conflict in order to incorporate a child.
The way that they manage conflict and tension is developmentally appropriate in regard
to Mary because she acts older than her age. He treats her at the level of her intelligence and
maturity, which seemingly makes her an equal to Frank. The strategies they use individually
complement one another. For example, Frank is honest and open while Mary uses sarcasm and
quietness as a defense mechanism. This allows for Frank to talk it out with Mary when she gets
upset which encourages her to vocalize when she feels betrayed. Although Mary and Frank
display a healthy, accepting emotional climate with one another, Frank and his mother, Evelyn
do not.
Evelyn and Frank’s emotional climate is very unstable. They are not able to effectively
communicate in order to manage the conflict and tension between them regarding Mary’s
wellbeing. Frank views Evelyn as an illegitimate figure of authority as she attempts to dictate
what is going to happen to Mary and her future. She uses denial when it comes to the conflict
that occurred between her and Mary’s mother, claiming that Diane was grateful when she
interfered in her professional and love life. Although Frank and Evelyn’s emotional climate is

unhealthy and toxic due to their inability to manage conflict with effective communication, this
luckily did not bleed into Mary and Frank’s emotional climate.
Boundaries
Mary and Frank have specific limits that define acceptable behaviors both in and outside
of their family. There are internal and external boundaries that distinguish the subsystems and
determine the amount of outside interaction that comes in and out of the family (Anderson &
Sabatelli, 2011). The internal boundaries between Mary and Frank are neither fully enmeshed
nor disengaged, however, display examples of both. For example, when Frank tells Mary about
how her biological father had testified in court in her grandmother’s defense, Roberta explained
how there are some things that she does not need to know. This displayed more of an enmeshed
boundary as he decided that this was vital information and that his business was her business.
They are very open and honest with one another, but there is room for individuality and
for both of them to have their own lives, making their internal boundaries also disengaged. This
was demonstrated through Frank’s rule that Mary was to stay at Roberta’s every Friday night and
could not come back until Saturday at noon. This rule was important as it gave Frank his
autonomy and independence without Mary, and exposed Mary to people other than him. Frank
promotes individuality in regard to Mary forming her own opinions and thoughts. Specifically,
when she asked him about religion and if God was real, he claimed that he does not know and
that he has opinions about those things but that they could be wrong. The way that he maintains
these boundaries is by disciplining her, but also getting eye level with her as they sometimes use
language with one another that would otherwise be inappropriate with a child that is not of the
same maturity level.

The external boundaries of this family are seen in this movie as both open and closed. For
example, Frank is very open allowing Roberta and Mary’s teacher to engage with Mary and
speaks to them about their family issues. However, Frank is very closed when Evelyn arrives,
describing her as uncompromising, controlling, and distrusting. Frank becomes more private
about his and Mary’s life as he knows Evelyn would try anything to take Mary away from him.
Throughout the movie, Evelyn and Frank are very hostile with one another. Mary accepts Evelyn
into her life, knowing that she had a connection to her mother, however, she knows that Frank is
the one that she wants to live with. They practice morphogenesis, which is when a family can
revise their strategies to develop ones that work more effectively when circumstances in the
family change (Anderson & Sabatelli, 2011). This was demonstrated throughout the movie when
Frank was closed off when Evelyn first arrived, but then continued to open up to her about his
sister’s past and what she would have wanted for Mary.
Maintenance
Maintenance includes tasks that are involved with providing food, shelter, and education
to members of the family (Anderson & Sabatelli, 2011). Frank takes care of Mary and
consistently gets her where she needs to be while also providing her with necessities and leisure
activities. This is evidenced through the many boat rides and beach trips that Frank takes Mary
on, ensuring that she has fun aside from mathematics and school. Although one of the main
points of conflict throughout the movie is the instability surrounding Frank’s living and financial
situation, he continues to enrich Mary’s life by exposing her to meaningful experiences and
people. Frank used the resources he had wisely to ensure Mary had everything she needed,
displaying organization in the home as the basic necessities were met and allowing her to choose
her path in regard to her education. Prior to Evelyn intruding into their family, Frank was the

decision-maker and held the power. However, Evelyn quickly took over and disturbed the
hierarchy within the family. This created instability in the family’s resources as the fight for who
could provide the best life for Mary became stronger, as did the wish to connect her with her
family identity.
Identity
The identity of a family is very important when it comes to establishing one’s individual
identity and noticing themes that are passed down through generations (Anderson & Sabatelli,
2011). In Mary’s case, her intelligence in mathematics was something that was passed down
from her grandmother and mother, making it their family legacy. Although Mary was not alive to
experience her mother’s skills, Evelyn told stories about Diane to Mary. Evelyn wanted to
reinforce the idea that Mary could be as successful as her mother if she utilized her talents at an
early age, wanting to continue to live vicariously through her as she did with Diane. This can
potentially risk Mary’s individuality as she is constrained into her mathematic family pattern.
This identity is healthy in terms of Mary’s intelligence; however, Frank explains how she does
not need to be reassured that she is different.
There is differentiation in this family when Mary is sent to another school that is not for
the talented and gifted but continues to stay true to her talents. Frank explains how his family has
had history with those types of schools and Mary did not need to conform like the rest of them.
Frank encourages differentiation with Mary, wanting her to form her own opinions and beliefs
on life and her future. She is able to think for herself but stays emotionally connected to Frank.
Overall, this family carries a theme throughout several generations which is reflected in Mary,
however, Mary is able to form her own life without the pressures of Evelyn or Diane to become a
mathematician herself.

Part B
Family Life Cycle
The family life cycle is a series of stages that a family passes through over time. The
family in Gifted are currently in the school-aged stage of life. During this stage, the parents focus
on encouraging their child to become more independent while also staying emotionally
connected to the family. In this family’s case, Frank did not experience the typical stages leading
up to parenthood but then suddenly had to learn how to act for the welfare of Mary and could no
longer act only for himself. Accepting a new member into the system meant Frank had to make
adjustments to accommodate both of their schedules and therefore, had to expect that caring for
another human would make things more draining. He had to take on the role of a parent, rather
than a single adult. According to Hill (1986), accommodation due to external demands as well as
changes in member’s needs and competencies is likely to require role misfit and reorganization
to achieve role fit. Developing relationships outside the family system is vital during the school-
age stage, which is what Frank encourages Mary to do. She is learning how to have her own
opinions, while also finding friends so that she and Frank can have separate lives, clearly
identifying the boundaries in their subsystem. Frank and Mary both had to learn how to become
more independent than most at specific ages due to the nature of their family life cycle and the
stages that they had to experience.
Social Influences
There were several social factors influencing the family functioning in this movie.
Socioeconomic status is a social factor that affects Frank and Mary’s life daily in their
maintenance tasks. As Frank is on the lower rung of the income ladder, he cannot provide Mary
with everything that she wants, such as a laptop and piano. Evelyn attempts to intrude by gifting

Mary with material things, disrupting the boundaries in Frank and Mary’s subsystem.
Additionally, the maintenance in their family is affected as Evelyn claims Frank does not provide
the best for Mary. However, Frank continues to uphold a healthy environment for her at home so
that she is comfortable and entertained. In the long run, according to Sarsour et al., (2011), low
socioeconomic status in childhood is associated with aspects of one’s adult health, such as
physical and cognitive functions. Therefore, it may have been in Mary’s best interest when he
decided to send her into a foster home.
The education system surrounding Mary is a significant factor when it comes to how her
family functions. Her family had mostly attended schools for the talented and gifted, where
Diane struggled with mental health due to the ongoing pressure from her unique intelligence.
Therefore, Frank knew Diane would want her to go to a practical school where they did not place
greater emphasis on the smarter children. Persson (2007) explained how the higher the IQ of an
individual, the greater the intensity they put forth in everything they do. Therefore, there is an
increased suicidal risk due to what is expected of a highly gifted individual (Persson, 2007).
Frank stressed the importance of allowing Mary to live a normal life with children of her age.
Mary continuously feels underchallenged, and lacks the social skills for such an
environment, struggling to make friends. According to Duan, Shi & Zhou (2010), gifted children
in normal education are not exposed to as much stimuli and therefore, should consider
accelerated education as it promotes optimal development and can help them become more
successful. In relation to Mary, her teachers realize that her skills are too high for the curriculum
of her grade and suggest she needs to move schools. This affected the family’s emotional climate
as Mary experienced several outbursts, feeling as if she was too smart for the other kids, adding
conflict into Frank’s life as he had to deal with the administration. Additionally, this conflicted

with her mother’s wishes which demonstrated how each option proved to somehow have
negative consequences.
Celebrations and Rituals
Celebrations and rituals are significant in the functioning of a family as it brings the
subsystems together as a whole. It is time that the family has dedicated to being with one another
where they can focus on finding the meaning behind their strategies that are used to accomplish
the first-order tasks. According to Spagnola and Fiese (2007), naturally occurring family rituals
and routines provide an emotional climate that supports early childhood development and a
predictable structure that can guide behavior. Specifically, Mary and Frank dedicate every
Saturday to watch the Ultimate Fighting Championship. This is an important weekly ritual for
them as it ensures they will have time to bond with one another, which strengthens their
emotional climate by building their relationship. Watching UFC could also serve as a coping
method for both Mary and Frank as they can escape the hardships they face daily from the
outside world.
Philosophy of Life
Frank maintains a specific view on life throughout the movie. He stressed how important
it was to be able to form your own thoughts and opinions about the world. For example, when
Mary asks about religion, Frank explains that he has his own opinions about it, but that they
could be wrong because they are just his. He uses Roberta’s faith to demonstrate how it is what
you think and feel in accordance to what is occurring in your life at the moment. This was
important to teach Mary as hearing about her grandmother and mother’s prodigy abilities may
have her feeling like her opinions are already thought out for her. This philosophy was
significant throughout the movie as it was subconsciously being portrayed in all aspects of Frank

and Mary’s life. Mary had to form her own opinions about the school she was at, who she
wanted to live with, who her family was, and what she wanted to be when she got older.
Conclusion
The family in this movie display a variety of complex strategies that aim to bring together
the different subsystems. Although certain subsystems contain stronger relationships than others,
there is mainly cohesion among individuals. For example, Mary and Frank support one another
through individuality and interdependence. This is important for Mary as she needs to understand
that although she contains the gift that has been passed down through her family, there is room
for her to use her gift to develop her own identity as well. There is also obvious conflict between
many members, however, at the end of the movie it all comes together, and they understand that
they need to respect each another’s wants and needs.

References
Anderson, S. A., & Sabatelli, R. M. (2011). Family interaction: A multigenerational
developmental perspective (5th
ed.). Allyn & Bacon of Pearson.
Duan, X., Shi, J., & Zhou, D. (2010). Developmental changes in processing speed: Influence of
accelerated education for gifted children. Gifted Child Quarterly, 54(2), 85–
91. https://doi.org/10.1177/0016986209355971
Hill, R. (1986). Life cycle stages for types of single parent families: Of family development
theory. Family Relations, 35(1), 19-29. doi:10.2307/584278
Lunder, K., & Cohen, A. (Producers), & Webb, M. (Director). (2017). Gifted [Motion Picture].
United States: Fox Searchlight Pictures.
Persson, R. S. (2016). The myth of the antisocial genius: A survey study of the socio-emotional
aspects of high-IQ individuals. Gifted and Talented International, 22(2).
doi:10.1080/15332276.2007.11673492
Sarsour, K., Sheridan, M., Jutte, D., Nuru-Jeter, A., Hinshaw, S., & Boyce, W. T. (2011). Family
socioeconomic status and child executive functions: The roles of language, home
environment, and single parenthood. Journal of the International Neuropsychological
Society, 17(1), 120-132. doi:10.1017/S1355617710001335
Spagnola, M., & Fiese, B. H. (2007). Family routines and rituals: A context for development in
the lives of young children. Infants & Young Children, 20(4), 284-299.
doi:10.1097/01.iyc.0000290352.32170.5a

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