Family Communication : Nurturing and Control in a Changing World

Family Communication: Nurturing and Control in a Changing World thoroughly reviews the traditional family communication theories of roles theory, family systems theory, and rules theory in an engaging, non-traditional way. This book uniquely organizes the study of family communication around the concepts of nurturing and control in all family relationships, across all family forms, and their relationships to psychological processes and communicative outcomes in families. Key Features: Looks at Family in All Forms: Traditional nuclear; non-traditional nuclear; bi-nuclear families; cohabitation, single-parent households; step-family and blended configurations; gay families; couples with no children; and extended families are all examined. While not all families fit neatly within any of the traditional definitions, this book articulates a sentiment that most students can resonate to—that all family forms include some form of nurturing and control. Explores Sociological and Psychological Factors: Various forces such as governmental, religious, media influences, and social science research, cause us to assume most families are traditional and nuclear, using biological, legal, and sociological definitions. In addition to the sociological and psychological bases of developmental processes, the development of parental attachment is fully discussed, showing how nurturing and controlling communication processes encourage socio-emotional competence in children. Explicates New Research Findings: A new family communication theory—Inconsistent Nurturing as Control Theory—explores the ways in which family members attempt to change the undesirable behaviors of a particular family member (e.g., substance abuser, eating disordered individual, gambler, depressed person, violent individual) through their use of nurturing as control. Intended Audience: Perfect for the introductory undergraduate course in Family Communication; as well as courses in Sociology, Social and Clinical Psychology, Educational Psychology, Family Counseling, Family Education, and Home Economics