Multi-Impact Family Therapy: An Approach to Working with Multi-Problem Families

Poor families span the continuum with regard to ethnic background, type of family structure, level of functioning, and the number of generations embedded in poverty. Some are working poor, some are temporarily unemployed while others are chronically unemployed. The poor families referred to in this paper are African-American families who face the triple jeopardy of being economically poor, politically weak and discriminated against because of race. They face frequent crises (e.g. inadequate housing, untimely deaths) and stress is persistent. They have insufficient concrete resources and must rely extensively on governmental institutions to help meet basic needs.