Interpersonal Relationships in Family
Family
What is a family? What are the types of families? How do families communicate?
What is a family? What are the types of families? How do families communicate?
- Characteristics of Families
- Defined roles. Members understand the roles each of them serves.
- Recognition of responsibilities. Members realize that each person has certain responsibilities to the relationship.
- Shared history and future. Members have an interactional past and an anticipated future together.
- Shared living space. Generally, members live together.
- Established rules. The relationship is rule governed, rather than random or unpredictable.
- Family Types
- Traditionals see themselves as a blending of two people into a single couple.
- Independents see themselves as primarily separate individuals, an individuality that is more important than the relationship or the connection between the individuals.
- Separates see their relationship as a matter of convenience rather than of mutual love or connection.
- Communication in Families
- Equality. Each person shares equally in the communication transactions and decision making.
- Balanced split. Each person has authority over different but relatively equal domains.
- Unbalanced split. One person maintains authority and decision-making power over a wider range of issues than the other.
- Monopoly. One person dominates and controls the relationship and the decisions made.