{"id":2,"date":"2024-10-10T12:56:30","date_gmt":"2024-10-10T12:56:30","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/localhost\/familycommunication\/?page_id=2"},"modified":"2025-11-24T11:19:01","modified_gmt":"2025-11-24T11:19:01","slug":"chapter1","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/routledgelearning.com\/familycommunication\/chapter-1\/","title":{"rendered":"Chapter 1"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
In this book you will be guided through multiple \u201cways of being\u201d a family from your author\u2019s perspectives. Right at the beginning of this book our author\u2019s state their 8 core beliefs about families and how they want us to think about \u201cbeing a family\u201d and what that actually means. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
To start, let\u2019s read through their eight core beliefs about families: <\/p>\n\n\n\n
1. There is not one right way to be a family. Family life is as diverse as the persons who make up families. The \u201cperfect\u201d family does not exist. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
2. Through communication, we build and reflect family relationships. In what we say and do, individuals and family systems define their identities and negotiate relationships with those inside and outside the family. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
3. Each family works, and at times struggles, to create its own identity as family members experience and make sense of positive and stressful times. Families may be positive and affirming or dysfunctional and punishing. Families are always in flux, and the possibility for growth and change always exists. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
4. Communication is the process by which family members create and share meanings in unique relational cultures. We literally talk families into (and out of) being. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
5. Families interact and socialize members to their underlying values and beliefs about important life issues and actions. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
6. Families reflect cultural communication patterns based on race and ethnicity, gender, power, and other significant in-group membership influences that shape family beliefs, values, perceptions, and expectations. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
7. Families involve multigenerational communication patterns. Members are influenced by the patterns of previous generations even as they create their own patterns, which in turn, will influence future generations, unless consciously altered. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
8. In well-functioning families, members work at understanding and negotiating their communication patterns and recognize that developing and maintaining relationships takes effort. Family systems have the capacity to adapt, create connections, and manage conflict. In the best of circumstances, families seek to communicate effectively and productively. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Behavioral\u00a0patterns<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
made up of different meanings and rules that serve to coordinate the family\u00a0 system and that make life\u00a0somewhat to\u00a0very predictable<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/button>\n <\/div>\n\n \n \n
Biogenetic lens<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
the extent to\u00a0which the relationship is directly or potentially reproductive and\u00a0 produces children, sharing genetic material<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/button>\n <\/div>\n\n \n \n
Calibration<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
a\u00a0process where family members seek stability\u00a0and\u00a0predictability<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/button>\n <\/div>\n\n \n \n
Coalitions<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
develop when individuals align in joint action with or against others<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/button>\n <\/div>\n\n \n \n
Communication rules<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
concern which\u00a0behaviors\u00a0are expected or prohibited in a relationship<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/button>\n <\/div>\n\n \n \n
Equifinality<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
which means that there are often multiple paths to arrive at the same place<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/button>\n <\/div>\n\n \n \n
Family<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
is\u00a0networks of people who share their lives over long periods of time, bound by ties of\u00a0 marriage, blood, law, or commitment, legal or otherwise, who consider themselves as\u00a0 family, and who share a significant history and anticipated future of functioning as a\u00a0 family.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/button>\n <\/div>\n\n \n \n
Interdependent<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
meaning the parts form the whole,\u00a0and a change in one part of the system will\u00a0 result in changes in the others<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/button>\n <\/div>\n\n \n \n
Intersectionality\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
focuses on the connection between race, class, gender\/sex on identity, social\u00a0 class, power, and oppression<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/button>\n <\/div>\n\n \n \n
Punctuation<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
is an interruption in a sequence of\u00a0behavior\u00a0that\u00a0gives\u00a0actions meaning<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/button>\n <\/div>\n\n \n \n
Relational culture\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
which is a shared set of meanings, expectations, and rules for interaction\u00a0 that contributes to creating a family system<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/button>\n <\/div>\n\n \n \n
Role lens<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n
people\u00a0are considered\u00a0family when they perceive and act like family<\/p>\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n <\/button>\n <\/div>\n\n \n \n
Sociolegal lens<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n