Conformity-orientation Refers to the Degree to Which Family Members Can Speak Their Minds.

7.three Communication and Families

Learning Objectives

1. Compare and dissimilarity the various definitions of family unit.
2. Describe various types of family unit rituals and explain their importance.
3. Explain how conformity and conversation orientations work together to create dissimilar family unit climates.

In that location is no doubt that the definition and makeup of families are changing in the United States. New data from enquiry organizations and the 2010 US Demography show the post-obit: people who choose to ally are waiting longer, more couples are cohabitating (living together) before union or instead of marrying, households with more than ii generations are increasing, and the average household size is decreasing (Pew Research Eye, 2010). Just as the makeup of families changes, so practice the definitions.

Defining Family

Who do you lot consider office of your family? Many people would initially proper noun people who they are related to past claret. Y'all may also name a person with whom you are in a committed relationship—a partner or spouse. But some people have a person non related by blood that they might refer to every bit aunt or uncle or even as a brother or sis. We can see from these examples that it'due south non simple to ascertain a family.

The definitions people ascribe to families unremarkably fall into at least one of the post-obit categories: structural definitions, task-orientation definitions, and transactional definitions (Segrin & Flora, 2005). Structural definitions of family focus on class, criteria for membership, and often hierarchy of family members. One instance of a structural definition of family unit is two or more people who live together and are related past birth, marriage, or adoption. From this definition, a father and son, two cousins, or a brother and sister could exist considered a family if they live together. However, a single person living alone or with nonrelated friends, or a couple who chooses non to or are not legally able to marry would not be considered a family. These definitions rely on external, "objective" criteria for determining who is in a family and who is not, which makes the definitions useful for groups like the US Census Agency, lawmakers, and other researchers who demand to ascertain family for large-scale data collection. The simplicity and time-saving positives of these definitions are countered by the fact that many family types are left out in general structural definitions; yet, more specific structural definitions accept emerged in recent years that include more family forms.

Family of origin refers to relatives connected by claret or other traditional legal bonds such equally marriage or adoption and includes parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews. Family of orientation refers to people who share the aforementioned household and are connected past blood, legal bond, or who act/live as if they are connected by either (Segrin & Flora, 2005). Unlike family of origin, this definition is limited to people who share the aforementioned household and represents the family makeup nosotros choose. For instance, most immature people don't become to choose who they live with, but as we become older, we choose our spouse or partner or may choose to have or adopt children.

There are several subdefinitions of families of orientation (Segrin & Flora, 2005). A nuclear family includes two heterosexual married parents and one or more children. While this type of family has received a lot of political and social attention, some scholars argue that it was only dominant every bit a family unit class for a cursory role of human being history (Peterson & Steinmetz, 1999). A binuclear family is a nuclear family that was split up past divorce into two separate households, one headed by the mother and one by the male parent, with the original children from the family residing in each home for periods of time. A single-parent family includes a female parent or male parent who may or may non have been previously married with one or more children. A stepfamily includes a heterosexual couple that lives together with children from a previous relationship. A cohabitating family includes a heterosexual couple who lives together in a committed relationship only does not have a legal bond such as spousal relationship. Similarly, a gay or lesbian family includes a couple of the same gender who live together in a committed relationship and may or may not have a legal bond such as union, a civil spousal relationship, or a domestic partnership. Cohabitating families and gay or lesbian families may or may not accept children.

Is information technology more important that the structure of a family unit matches a definition, or should we define family based on the beliefs of people or the quality of their interpersonal interactions? Unlike structural definitions of family, functional definitions focus on tasks or interaction within the family unit. Task-orientation definitions of family unit recognize that behaviors like emotional and fiscal support are more important interpersonal indicators of a family-like connexion than biology. In short, anyone who fulfills the typical tasks nowadays in families is considered family. For example, in some cases, custody of children has been awarded to a person not biologically related to a child over a living blood relative because that person acted more like a family unit member to the child. The most common family unit tasks include nurturing and socializing other family members. Nurturing family unit members entails providing basic care and support, both emotional and financial. Socializing family members refers to teaching young children how to speak, read, and practice social skills.

Transactional definitions of family focus on communication and subjective feelings of connection. While task-orientation definitions convey the importance of providing for family members, transactional definitions are concerned with the quality of interaction among family members. Specifically, transactional definitions stress that the creation of a sense of home, group identity, loyalty, and a shared past and future makes upwards a family. Isn't it truthful that someone could provide food, shelter, and transportation to school for a kid but non create a sense of home? Even though at that place is no ane, all-encompassing definition of family, perhaps this is for the best. Given that family unit is a combination of structural, functional, and communicative elements, it warrants multiple definitions to capture that complexity.

Family Communication Processes

Think about how much time we spend communicating with family members over the course of our lives. Every bit children, well-nigh of us spend much of our fourth dimension talking to parents, grandparents, and siblings. As nosotros become adolescents, our peer groups become more central, and nosotros may even begin to resist communicating with our family unit during the rebellious teenage years. However, as nosotros brainstorm to choose and form our own families, we once once more spend much time engaging in family communication. Additionally, family unit communication is our chief source of intergenerational advice, or communication between people of dissimilar age groups.

Family unit Interaction Rituals

You may have heard or used the term family time in your own families. What does family unit time mean? As was discussed earlier, relational cultures are built on interaction routines and rituals. Families too have interaction norms that create, maintain, and change advice climates. The notion of family unit time hasn't been around for likewise long only was widely communicated and represented in the popular culture of the 1950s (Daly, 2001). When we recollect of family unit time, or quality time as it'southward sometimes called, we usually think of a romanticized ideal of family unit time spent together.

The nuclear family was the field of study of many telly shows in the 1950s that popularized the idea of family time.

While family rituals and routines can definitely be fun and entertaining bonding experiences, they tin can also bring nigh interpersonal conflict and strife. Only think about Clark W. Griswold's string of well-intentioned but misguided attempts to manufacture family unit fun in the National Lampoon's Vacation series.

Families engage in a variety of rituals that demonstrate symbolic importance and shared beliefs, attitudes, and values. Three primary types of relationship rituals are patterned family interactions, family traditions, and family celebrations (Wolin & Bennett, 1984). Patterned family interactions are the about frequent rituals and practice not have the caste of formality of traditions or celebrations. Patterned interactions may include mealtime, bedtime, receiving guests at the house, or leisure activities. Mealtime rituals may include a rotation of who cooks and who cleans, and many families have prepare seating arrangements at their dinner table. My family has recently adopted a new leisure ritual for family gatherings by playing corn hole (also known every bit bags). While this family unit activeness is non formal, it's become something expected that we await forward to.

Family unit traditions are more than formal, occur less often than patterned interactions, vary widely from family unit to family, and include birthdays, family reunions, and family unit vacations. Birthday traditions may involve a trip to a favorite restaurant, baking a cake, or hanging streamers. Family unit reunions may involve making t-shirts for the group or counting up the commonage age of anybody nowadays. Family road trips may involve predictable disharmonize between siblings or playing car games like "I spy" or trying to find the near number of license plates from different states.

Final, family celebrations are besides formal, have more standardization between families, may be culturally specific, help transmit values and memories through generations, and include rites of passage and religious and secular holiday celebrations. Thanksgiving, for case, is formalized by a national vacation and is celebrated in similar ways by many families in the United States. Rites of passage mark life-wheel transitions such equally graduations, weddings, quinceañeras, or bar mitzvahs. While graduations are secular and may vary in terms of how they are celebrated, quinceañeras take cultural roots in Latin America, and bar mitzvahs are a long-established religious rite of passage in the Jewish organized religion.

Conversation and Conformity Orientations

The amount, breadth, and depth of chat betwixt family unit members varies from family to family. Additionally, some families encourage self-exploration and freedom, while others look family unity and control. This variation can be better understood past examining two key factors that influence family communication: conversation orientation and conformity orientation (Koerner & Fitzpatrick, 2002). A given family can be college or lower on either dimension, and how a family rates on each of these dimensions can be used to determine a family blazon.

To determine chat orientation, we decide to what caste a family encourages members to interact and communicate (antipodal) about various topics. Members within a family with a loftier chat orientation communicate with each other freely and frequently about activities, thoughts, and feelings. This unrestricted communication way leads to all members, including children, participating in family decisions. Parents in high-conversation-orientation families believe that communicating with their children openly and oftentimes leads to a more rewarding family unit life and helps to educate and socialize children, preparing them for interactions outside the family unit. Members of a family with a low conversation orientation do not interact with each other as often, and topics of conversation are more restricted, equally some thoughts are considered private. For example, not everyone'south input may be sought for decisions that affect anybody in the family, and open and frequent communication is not accounted important for family unit operation or for a child's socialization.

Conformity orientation is adamant by the degree to which a family communication climate encourages conformity and agreement regarding beliefs, attitudes, values, and behaviors (Koerner & Fitzpatrick, 2002). A family with a high conformity orientation fosters a climate of uniformity, and parents decide guidelines for what to conform to. Children are expected to be obedient, and conflict is often avoided to protect family harmony. This more than traditional family unit model stresses interdependence amid family members, which ways infinite, coin, and time are shared among immediate family, and family unit relationships take precedent over those outside the family. A family with a depression conformity orientation encourages diverseness of beliefs, attitudes, values, and behaviors and assertion of individuality. Relationships exterior the family are seen equally of import parts of growth and socialization, as they teach lessons about and build confidence for independence. Members of these families likewise value personal time and infinite.

"Getting Real"

Family Therapists

Family unit therapists provide counseling to parents, children, romantic partners, and other members of family units (Career Cruising, 2011). People may seek out a family unit therapist to bargain with difficult by experiences or current issues such equally family disharmonize, emotional processing related to grief or trauma, marriage/relationship stresses, children's behavioral concerns, and so on. Family unit therapists are trained to assess the systems of interaction inside a family through counseling sessions that may be one-on-one or with other family members present. The therapist then evaluates how a family's patterns are affecting the individuals within the family. Whether through social services or private exercise, family therapy is usually brusque term. One time the cess and evaluation is complete, goals are established and sessions are scheduled to track the progress toward completion. The demand for family therapists remains strong, as people's lives grow more complex, careers take people away from support networks such equally family unit and friends, and economic hardships affect interpersonal relationships. Family unit therapists usually take bachelor's and master'due south degrees and must obtain a license to practice in their state. More than information virtually family unit and marriage therapists can be found through their professional organisation, the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, at http://www.aamft.org.

1. List some issues within a family unit that you lot retrieve should be addressed through formal therapy. List some issues within a family unit that you think should be addressed direct with/by family members. What is the line that distinguishes between these 2 levels?
2. Based on what you've read in this book so far, what advice skills do y'all remember would exist most benign for a family therapist to possess and why?

Determining where your family falls on the conversation and conformity dimensions is more instructive when you know the family types that result, which are consensual, pluralistic, protective, and laissez-faire (come across Figure vii.2 "Family unit Types Based on Disharmonize and Conformity Orientations") (Koerner & Fitzpatrick, 2002). A consensual family is high in both conversation and conformity orientations, and they encourage open communication but also want to maintain the hierarchy inside the family unit that puts parents to a higher place children. This creates some tension between a want for both openness and command. Parents may reconcile this tension past hearing their children's opinions, making the ultimate determination themselves, and then explaining why they made the decision they did. A pluralistic family unit is high in conversation orientation and depression in conformity. Open discussion is encouraged for all family members, and parents do non strive to control their children's or each other's behaviors or decisions. Instead, they value the life lessons that a family unit member can learn by spending time with non–family unit members or engaging in self-exploration. A protective family is low in conversation orientation and high in conformity, expects children to be obedient to parents, and does not value open communication. Parents make the ultimate decisions and may or may not experience the need to share their reasoning with their children. If a child questions a decision, a parent may merely respond with "Because I said so." A laissez-faire family is depression in chat and conformity orientations, has infrequent and/or short interactions, and doesn't discuss many topics. Remember that pluralistic families too have a low conformity orientation, which means they encourage children to make their own decisions in social club to promote personal exploration and growth. Laissez-faire families are different in that parents don't have an investment in their children's decision making, and in full general, members in this type of family are "emotionally divorced" from each other (Koerner & Fitzpatrick, 2002).

Figure vii.ii Family Types Based on Disharmonize and Conformity Orientations

Key Takeaways

• There are many means to define a family.

  • Structural definitions focus on form of families and have narrow criteria for membership.
  • Task-orientation definitions focus on behaviors similar financial and emotional back up.
  • Transactional definitions focus on the creation of subjective feelings of home, group identity, and a shared history and future.
• Family rituals include patterned interactions like a nightly dinner or bedtime ritual, family unit traditions like birthdays and vacations, and family celebrations like holidays and weddings.

• Conversation and conformity orientations play a function in the creation of family climates.

  • Conversation orientation refers to the degree to which family members interact and communicate about diverse topics.
  • Conformity orientation refers to the degree to which a family expects uniformity of beliefs, attitudes, values, and behaviors.
  • Conversation and conformity orientations intersect to create the post-obit family unit climates: consensual, pluralistic, protective, and laissez-faire.

Exercises

1. Of the three types of definitions for families (structural, task-orientation, or transactional), which is most important to you and why?
2. Identify and draw a ritual yous accept experienced for each of the following: patterned family interaction, family unit tradition, and family commemoration. How did each of those come up to exist a ritual in your family unit?
3. Think of your own family and identify where you would fall on the conversation and conformity orientations. Provide at least one piece of prove to support your conclusion.

References

Career Cruising, "Spousal relationship and Family Therapist," Career Cruising: Explore Careers, accessed October xviii, 2011, http://world wide web.careercruising.com.

Daly, Chiliad. J., "Deconstructing Family Fourth dimension: From Ideology to Lived Experience," Journal of Marriage and the Family 63, no. 2 (2001): 283–95.

Koerner, A. F. and Mary Anne Fitzpatrick, "Toward a Theory of Family Advice," Communication Theory 12, no. 1 (2002): 85–89.

Peterson, Grand. W. and Suzanne Chiliad. Steinmetz, "Perspectives on Families every bit We Arroyo the 20-first Century: Challenges for Future Handbook Authors," in The Handbook of Spousal relationship and the Family, eds. Marvin B. Sussman, Suzanne K. Steinmetz, and Gary W. Peterson (New York: Springer, 1999), 2.

Pew Research Center, "The Decline of Spousal relationship and Rise of New Families," November 18, 2010, accessed September xiii, 2011, http://pewsocialtrends.org/files/2010/eleven/pew-social-trends-2010-families.pdf.

Segrin, C. and Jeanne Flora, Family Communication (Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 2005), five–11.

Wolin, S. J. and Linda A. Bennett, "Family Rituals," Family Process 23, no. 3 (1984): 401–20.

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Source: https://open.lib.umn.edu/communication/chapter/7-3-communication-and-families/

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