Lilo and stitch family report

Ohana Means Family: A Lilo & Stitch family assessment Nate Ring CSUSM 2020

The Pelekai Family Lilo Lilo is 6 years old. She is a little sister to Nani and owner of her pet, Stitch. She loves dancing Hula and photography. She is rambunctious, emotional and disobedient. She frequently gets into trouble. She desperately wants to fit in with her peers but she sees herself as an ugly duckling. She occasionally lashes out aggressively. She is searching for a friend that won’t leave her. Psychosocially, she is in the industry vs. inferiority stage and cognitively she is in the concrete operational stage.

Stitch

Nani is 18 years old. She is the older sister and guardian to Lilo and the main provider for the family. She loves surfing and swimming. She is hard-working, loving and strong but she is overwhelmed in her new roles. Psychosocially she is in the identity vs. role confusion stage and cognitively she is in formal operations.

Stitch is an alien that was created by a mad scientist. He is the pet “dog” to lilo. He is mischievous and unruly and causes chaos and destruction wherever he goes.

Initially he lacks empathy but he evolves emotionally and yearns for a sense of belonging, purpose and love.

David becomes Nani’s boyfriend and is the male role model figure in Lilo’s Life. He loves surfing. He is loyal and relentless in his support to Nani.

Nani

Family Dynamic Lilo and Nani recently lost their parents in a car accident and are struggling to cope with this big change and their new family dynamic. They refer to their small family as ‘broken’ but retain a great sense of pride.Although the focus is on Lilo, the role of Nani is the backbone of the theme of family the runs throughout the film. Nani is in the psychosocial stage of identity vs. role confusion and she is struggling to find a balance between her roles as sister, mother and young adult with a unique identity. Although Nani loves Lilo, supports all of her hobbies and fiercely protects her, she continually falls short.

The threat of losing Lilo is an ever present stressor. In the first scene with the social worker, Nani leaves Lilo home alone all day, she is late to pick her up from dance class, she has left the stove on all day and the house is a mess. Later, Nani loses her job, Lilo almost drowns while surfing, and their house burns down. Despite her best efforts and intentions, Nani has neglected Lilo. She is young, overwhelmed and forced to quickly mature and forgo a personal life to assume her new role as a mother figure. Although much of the chaos is caused by Stitch, the social worker deems Nani unfit to be the legal guardian of Lilo and is ready to take her away.

Lilo also struggles to cope with the loss of her parents and new family structure. She struggles to find her role and sense of purpose as she is in the industry vs inferiority stage of psychosocial development. She is curious and independent but she has frequent tantrums, she bites and hits her peers and she disobeys her sister. She feels lost and alone and is searching for a friend that won’t leave her. She feels like she is different from her peers and desires to fit in. Adopting Stitch gives her a new sense of purpose, confidence and a friend that won’t run away.

Although they refer to their family as “broken” they frequently return to the idea of Ohana. Ohana means family and family means nobody gets left behind or forgotten. It takes a destructive genetically engineered alien to make them realize that they will always have each other and the importance of family.

Duvall Developmental Stages After creating the developmental theory and family life cycle theory, which focused on the life cycle of families and represented normal stages of family development, Duvall and Miller created the 8 stages of family development.

The stages are based on the oldest child and attempts to describe expected developmental changes in families that are raising children (Kaakinen et al., 2015). Although this theory attempts to describe a “normal” path of family development, the Pelekai family structure is unique. Lilo and Nani’s parents have passed away leaving Nani to assume the parental role. The death of their parents can be described as a non normative situational transition, or trauma, in which they must reorganize family roles and tasks (Kaakinen et al., 2015). Their new family is in the preschool/school age children stage, as Lilo is 6 years old does not yet attend formal schooling, and Nani is forced into her new family career in a parental role. Task 4 of Duvall’s theory highlights the importance of facilitating the role learning of family members (Kaakinen et al., 2015). Nani tries to provide the basic necessities such as food, shelter and emotional health for Lilo. She is encouraging, supports her in her dance class, takes her surfing and adopts a pet for her. She maintains a positive attitude while providing emotional support to Lilo by holding her, making her laugh, and praising her. She recognizes that Lilo is having trouble emotionally and socially, so she provides reassurance and adopts a pet for her for companionship. She disciplines Lilo by sending her to her room and by yelling at her, but is quick to apologize and provide comfort. Nani puts her own dreams on hold to care for her little sister and eventually accepts help from David. Nani takes responsibility, she is light and fun, and she gives Lilo a good life.

Culture

The Pelekai family have a strong sense of hawaiian culture. They love surfing and swimming in the ocean. Lilo and David both practice tradition polynesian dancing styles of Hula and fire dancing respectively.They enjoy traditional Hawaiian food and music such as ukulele. Lilo can be seen praying in one scene and David speaks in the traditional Hawaiian accent pidgin throughout.They embody the harmonious spirit of aloha through compassion, peace and a love for the nature.

Communication “Communication is an ongoing, complex, changing activity and is the means through which people create, share, and regulate meaning in a transactional process to make sense of their world. It is through communication that families find ways to adapt to changes as they seek family stability (Kaakinen et al., 2015)�

Nani’s communication style varies throughout the film as her family role evolves. The pattern of communication is first a conflict, reacting as an emotional big sister, transitioning into loving caregiver. At first she yells and threatens Lilo and chases her to her room as a sister would. In her motherly role, Nani expresses appreciation for Lilo, and physically comforts her. Nani and Lilo communicate their roles by saying they like each other better as sisters. Stitch uses non verbal communication with dramatic facial expressions of curiosity and disgust but learns to speak at the end opening up a new level of expression and emotional connection.

Strengths

Challenges

Pelekais have a strong sense of family and cultural identity through the concepts of Aloha and Ohana. Nani radiates positivity and David is consistently present offering support and assistance. Despite their situation, they rely on each other and always make time for fun. Nani shields Lilo from the stress of her new role as best she can and keeps their days light and fun. They have strong morals instilled by their parents and look out for each other.

The major challenge to the Pelekai family is the loss of their parents in a car accident. They are forced to assume unfamiliar and stressful roles. Nani must give up her personal life and mature quickly to provide for her sister. Lilo is young and desperately wants to fit in but has emotional attachment issues stemming from her parents death and she lashes out at her friends. The dark cloud of the social working threatening to remove Lilo constantly lurks above Nani’s head. Nani loses her job and they have low socioeconomic status. Stitch’s destructive nature adds to their problems and eventually, their house burns down.

Family Theory

“Duvall’s (1977) Family Developmental and Life Cycle Theory described a process of developing over time that is predictable and yet individual, based on unique life circumstances and family interactions. Although the life cycle of most families around the world follows a universal sequence of family development, it is important for childbearing family nurses to recognize that wide variations exist in the timing and sequencing of family life cycle phases (Kaakinen et al., 2015)” Although one of the major criticisms of this theory is it’s focus on traditional heterosexial, two parent families progressing predictably, it does address how families evolve over time and adapt to developmental changes. Specifically, the death of the Pelekai parents can be described as a non-normative, situational transition. The death of their parents causes a change in the personal relationship between Nani and Lilo, as well as a change in role and status. They are under a great amount of stress as they learn their new individual roles as well as how these roles relate to each other and the context of their environment. Nani struggles to provide for Lilo and Lilo struggles to fit in with her peers. The film is an exploration of a family in transition attempting to redefine themselves and incorporate new members, Stitch and David into their blended family unit.

Interventions and outcomes

“Family Developmental and Life Cycle Theory help nurses organize assessments and manage the predictable and unpredictable experiences childbearing families encounter.

Transitions are central to nursing practice because they have profound health-related effects on families and family members. Family transitions are events that signal a reorganization of family roles and tasks (Kaakinen et al., 2015)�

Relevant related NANDAs include: Interrupted family process, caregiver role strain, and ineffective family coping 1.

Asses for safety and health of the family’s home environment, food, security and other child care resources, community resources, or other support systems (Kaakinen et al., 2015).

Connect Nani with two social support resources such as local food bank or low income child care providers.

2.

Encourage contact with others who are in the process of taking on the parenting role, especially if the parents are isolated and adolescent (Kaakinen et al, 2015).

Connect Nani with one Hawaiian, adolescent, new parent and verbalize feelings of confidence in caring for Lilo.

3.

Identify normal family routines that need to be adapted and assess for positive coping strategies for both Nani and Lilo Teach Nani and Lilo 1 new coping strategy such as meditation, journaling or exercise.

References Ackley, B. J., Ladwig, G. B., & Makic, M. F. (2017). Nursing Diagnosis Handbook (11th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Elsevier.

Capriotti, T., & Frizzell, J. P. (2016). Pathophysiology: Introductory concepts and clinical perspectives. Philadelphia, PA: F. A. Davis Company.

Denham, Sharon A., et al. Family-Focused Nursing Care. Davis, 2016.

Kaakinen, Joanna Rowe, et al. Family Health Care Nursing: Theory, Practice, and Research. 5th ed., F.A. Davis Company, 2015.

Lay Hoon Goh, Choon How How, Kar Hui Ng, Goh, L. H., How, C. H., & Ng, K. H. (2016). Failure to thrive in babies and toddlers. Singapore Medical Journal, 57(6), 287–291. https://doi-org.ezproxy.csusm.edu/10.11622/smedj.2016102 Mallette, J. K., Futris, T. G., Brown, G. L., & Oshri, A. (2019). Cooperative, Compromising, Conflictual, and Uninvolved Coparenting Among Teenaged Parents. Journal of Family Issues, 40(11), 1534–1560. https://doi-org.ezproxy.csusm.edu/10.1177/0192513X19842239 Perry, Shannon E., et al. Maternal Child Nursing Care. 5th ed., Elsevier, 2014.

Image References Image 1https://mickeyandcompany.tumblr.com/post/79483757858/lilo-stitch-phone-backgrounds-set-2-feel-free/amp Image 2 https://www.pinterest.at/pin/349169777354157291/ Image 3https://aminoapps.com/c/lilo-and-stitch/page/blog/best-character-from-lilo-and-stitch/RrzQ_bnecwuLW62bGDoPaEkr4oW0Bn7VjrG Image 4hIttps://thedisneywoman.wordpress.com/2015/10/12/nani/ Image 5https://www.pinterest.com/pin/527343437590619019/ Image 6https://thoughtcatalog.com/dominique-beatrice-la-victoria/2015/03/10-reasons-why-nani-pelekai-is-the-best-big-sister/ Image 7https://www.purewow.com/news/lilo-and-stitch-live-action-remake-disney Image 8 https://mayoglamping.wordpress.com/2014/05/27/number-12-in-20-reasons-to-go-glamping-in-mayo/ Image 9https://www.forbes.com/sites/scottmendelson/2018/10/03/will-disneys-live-action-lilo-and-stitch-remake-suffer-from-lilo-and-stitch-syndrome/#25e519746379 Image 10 https://www.etsy.com/listing/617852926/scrump-lilo-and-stitch-crochet-scrump Image 11https://movierob.wordpress.com/2014/07/20/genre-grandeur-lilo-and-stitch-2002/ Image 12 https://thedisinsider.com/2020/02/04/exclusive-lilo-stitch-disney/