activity paper . (film the stone family.)
gdsqtei
chapter11.pdf
COMMUNICATION IN FAMILIES Chapter
11
Definition of family
FAMILY: “a network of people who create a sense of home, share a collective identity, experience a common history, and envision a similar future”
Key Question 1.
How does family nurture and protect
its members?
FAMILY FUNCTIONS - 1
Internal functions
Keep the family system running and serve individual members of the family
Family socialization: Teaching behaviors that are appropriate, expected, and moral
FAMILY FUNCTIONS - 2
Internal Functions – cont.
Providing care/protection, intellectual development, and emotional supports
“Myth of family dinner”
- Dinner makes a strong family: importance of family gathering in nurturing membership-
FAMILY FUNCTIONS - 3
External Functions
Transmission: Teaching how to belong to a particular cultural group (e.g., religious group, ethnic community)
What are some cultural practices you
learned from your family? How did your
family teach you these practices?
FAMILY STRUCTURE – AS A SYSTEM 1
Systems theory – “A general perspective that emphasizes how different objects work together to form a larger entity” (Solomon & Theiss, 2013, p. 299)
FAMILY STRUCTURE – AS A SYSTEM 2
A system is a bounded set of objects that interrelate with one another to form a whole.
e.g., human body, business organization, family, etc
Subsystems refer to relationships that are formed between just a few members of the larger system.
•Family subsystems:
- Spouses/partners
- Parent-child
- Siblings
FAMILY STRUCTURE – AS A SYSTEM 3
FAMILY STRUCTURE – AS A SYSTEM 4
•A system is characterized by the interactions of its components (i.e., subsystems)
“The family is not just a collection of individuals. It is the whole greater than the sum of its parts.” (Martel, 2011, p.2)
→ The action of one family member will affect the other members.
How does the changing trend of marriage in the U.S. influence the dynamic of family system? (e.g., parents-children relationships)
Case study 1. The changing face of families - Gender role
How does the changing gender role influence the dynamic
of family system (e.g., father-child relationships) ?
Case study 1. The changing face of families - Gender role
How does the changing gender role influence the dynamic
of family system (e.g., father-child relationships) ?
Pew Research Center asked whether people Agree or
Disagree with the following contemporary family trend.
“More unmarried couples raising children;
more gay and lesbian couples raising
children; more people living together without
getting married; more women not ever having
children…….”
About 31% of population accepted the above
family types (37% skeptics and 32% rejecters)
Case study 2. The changing view of families – Legal bond
What is the role of “legal bond” in maintaining family
system (e.g., parents-children relationships) ?
FAMILY AS A SYSTEM
Key Question 2
How does the family operate as a system to
promote intimacy among family members?
Boundary management
FAMILY AS A SYSTEM - BOUNDARY MANAGEMENT
Boundaries and communication Boundaries between members
Boundaries between subsystems
Boundaries between system and external world
Notions of privacy and openness are important to manage the system of family.
HOW TO MANAGE INTERPERSONAL BOUNDARIES IN FAMILY?
Communication Privacy Management theory (CPM)
•Focuses on the importance of maintaining appropriate distance from other family members through regulating information sharing
CPM
oTheoretical assumptions
• People feel that they “own” their own information
• People have simultaneous desire for openness and closure (Recall dialectical tensions for maintaining intimacy, e.g., openness / privacy dialectics)
CPM - cont.
• Regulating tensions between openness and privacy is important to maintain appropriate relationships.
• Once information is shared, disclosers and recipients of the information “co- own” and share the responsibility to manage the “boundary” of information (e.g., keeping secrets together)
VARIATIONS ON THE FAMILY
SY STEM How to manage
boundaries among
family members (Recall
internal dialectics)
BOUNDARY MANAGEMENT- E.G., FAMILY SECRETS
• Family secrets are events or information that family members intentionally hide from one another or from outsiders.
Not sharing secret can help family members keep
privacy and protect them from embarrassment.
• Sharing secrets can serve important functions within families:
Build trust and closeness
Strengthen identity as a member of the family
VARIATIONS ON THE FAMILY
SY STEM
How to manage boundaries
between the family and
outside systems (Recall
external dialectics)
FAMILY COMMUNICATION PATTERNS
Conversation orientation
Frequent, spontaneous, and unrestrained communication
Open to everyone’s different opinions
So, when conversation orientation is low, family members are discouraged to communicate openly
FAMILY COMMUNICATION PATTERNS
Conformity orientation
The extent to which the family encourages members to have similar attitudes, beliefs, and values
High conformity orientation: Children are expected to show obedience to their parents and older adults
FAMILY COMMUNICATION PATTERNS High conformity
orientation
Low conformity
orientation
High conversation
orientation Consensual: Pressure to agree
family hierarchy.
Parents make decisions
while trying to listen to
their children
Pluralistic All family members are
involved equally in
decision making. Value
open and unconstrained
communication
Low conversation
orientation Protective: Obedience on parental
authority, little concern
for open communication
Laissez faire All family members
allowed to make their
own decisions. Rare
communication about
topics and decisions
