Summary

Chapter Objectives

To understand the defining features of family, the different ways in which families communicate, communication strategies to maintain healthy family relationships, challenges that families face, and how to manage those challenges.

Defining Family

A family is a network of people who share their lives over long periods of time and are bound by marriage, blood, or commitment; who consider themselves as family; and who share a significant history and anticipated future of functioning in a family relationship. Families include the following characteristics:

Communicating in Families

According to Family Communication Patterns Theory, two dimensions underlie the communication between family members: conversation orientation and conformity orientation. Families are either high or low in each orientation.

Maintaining Family Relationships

We create our families through how we communicate.

Family Relationship Challenges

Although family members are the most supportive people in our lives, challenges, including stepfamily transitions and interparental conflict, exist.