INSTRUCTORS MANUAL - Alice Macpherson Tally Wade Interpersonal Commu...

INSTRUCTOR’S MANUAL

Alice Macpherson

Tally Wade

Interpersonal Communication:

Relating to Others Eighth Canadian Edition

Steven A. Beebe

Susan J. Beebe

Mark V. Redmond

Lisa Salem-Wiseman

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Part 3 Chapter 11

Interpersonal Relationships:

Family and Workplace

CHAPTER 11 LEARNING OBJECTIVES

After studying this chapter, students should be able to:

11.1 Identify and describe the types of families, the models used to describe family interactions, and the ways to improve family communication.

11.2 Identify and describe the types of relationships between committed partners, parents and children, and siblings.

11.3 Describe the values and functions of informal workplace friendships, and the unique values and challenges associated with workplace romantic relationships.

11.4 Identify the four directions of formal workplace communication, and explain how they differ from informal workplace relationships and communication.

11.5 Identify and describe the forms of the dark side of workplace communication.

CHAPTER 11 OUTLINE

(All key terms appear in bold)

FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS: DEFINITION, MODELS, AND

STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVEMENT

11.1 Identify and describe the types of families, the models used to describe family interactions, and the ways to improve family communication.

• Families have changed over time as has communication within the family.

a.Each family faces unique challenges for understanding and improving communication.b.(Vanier Institute of the Family) any combination of two or more persons who are bound together over time by ties of mutual consent, birth and/or adoption or placement and who, together, assume responsibilities for variant combinations of

some of the following:

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• Physical maintenance and care of group members
• Addition of new members through procreation or adoption
• Socialization of children
• Social control of members
• Production, consumption, distribution of goods and services
• Affective nurturance—love
• Families are dynamic and changing of their roles and relationships over time.

d.Families reflect our increasing cultural diversity, often blending two or more cultures to make their own unique culture.

2.Family Defined a.Murdoch (1949) social group characterized by common residence, economic cooperation, and reproduction. It includes adults of both sexes, at least two of whom maintain a socially approved sexual relationship, and one or more children, of one’s own or adopted, of the sexually cohabitating adults.c.f

amily: Unit made up of any number of persons who live or have lived in

relationship with one another over time in a common living space and who are usually, but not always, united by marriage and kinship.

3.Family types with Children a.N

atural or Nuclear Family: Mother, father, and their biological children,

sometimes called an idealized natural family.b.

Extended Family: Family unit including relatives such as aunts, uncles,

cousins, or grandparents, and/or unrelated persons who are part of a family unit.c.B

lended Family: Two adults and their children. Because of divorce, separation,

death, or adoption, the children may be the offspring of other parents, or of just one of the adults who is raising them.d.

Single-Parent Family: One parent and one or more children whom he or she is

raising.

e.F amily of Origin: Family in which a person is raised.

f.Voluntary (fictive) kin Individuals considered family regardless of their legal or blood connection.

4.Two Models of Family Interaction a.C

ircumplex Model of family interaction: Model of the relationships among

family adaptability, cohesion and communication. Developed to explain the dynamics of both effective function and dysfunction within family systems.i.A daptability, ranging from chaotic to rigid, refers to the family’s ability to modify and respond to changes in its own power structure and roles.ii. Cohesion refers to the emotional bonding and feelings of togetherness that families experience and ranges from disengaged to enmeshed.iii. Communication is the most critical element in the model and determines how cohesive and adaptable families are.b.Through communication, families can adapt and change (or not) and maintain either enmeshed or disengaged relationships, or something in between.

• Communication determines whether families are cohesive or adaptive.

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• Balanced families can often adapt better to changing circumstances and

manage stressful periods, and these balanced families usually have better communication skills.ii. There is the chaotically disengaged for a family that has no rules or structure and no cohesion, or structurally connected for a family that has a number of rules but is still flexible while feeling close to each other but with some independence.iii. However, research suggests that there is no single best way to be a family.iv. At some stages of family life, the balanced ideal of the circumplex model may not apply.v.

Only one thing is constant as we go through family life: Effective

communication skills play an important role in helping families change their levels of cohesiveness or adaptability. These skills include active listening, problem solving, empathy, and being supportive.d.Family Communication Patterns Model. A model of family communication based on two dimensions: conversation and conformity (Fitzpatrick, Ritchie, & Koerner).i.C onsensual families possess a high orientation toward both conversation and conformity. Children are expected to accept parents’ decisions, explanations, and values.ii. Pluralistic families possess a high conversation orientation and a low conformity orientation. Families encourage open communication without concern for conforming.iii. Protective families possess a low conversation orientation and a high orientation toward conformity. Harmony, agreement, and conformity are goals, and conflict is discouraged.iv. Laissez-faire families possess a low orientation toward both conversation and conformity. These families tend to have few interactions, and parents show little interest in children.

• The communication patterns in a family have a direct impact on both the well-

being of family members and the development of interpersonal communication skills.

STRATEGIES FOR IMPROVING FAMILY COMMUNICATION

• There are skills and principles researchers have observed in healthy families, or

applied successfully to improve dysfunctional ones. Research has identified qualities and patterns that affect and are affected by communication.a.Satir found that in healthy families, the member’s sense of self-worth is high, communication is direct, clear, specific and honest, rules are flexible, humane, and subject to change, and the family’s links to society are open and hopeful.b.Caughlin identified the ten factors that were associated with families that had good communication. Those factors, in order of impact, are openness, maintaining structural stability, expression of affection, emotional/instrumental support, mind- reading (knowing what others are thinking and feeling), politeness, discipline (clear rules and consequences), humour/sarcasm, regular routine interaction, and avoidance of personal and hurtful topics..11–3

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