Communication In Different Types Of Families.docx

Communication in different types of families Define Family Family of origin refers to relatives connected by blood or other traditional legal bonds such as marriage or adoption and includes parents, grandparents, siblings, aunts, uncles, nieces, and nephews. Define Communication The imparting or exchanging of information by speaking, writing, or using some other medium. Family Communication Types 

Consensual Family

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Pluralistic Family

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Protective Family

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Laissez-faire family

Consensual Family A consensual family is high in both conversation and conformity orientations, and they encourage open communication but also want to maintain the hierarchy within the family that puts parents above children. This creates some tension between a desire for both openness and control. Parents may reconcile this tension by hearing their children’s opinions, making the ultimate decision themselves, and then explaining why they made the decision they did.

Pluralistic Family A pluralistic family is high in conversation orientation and low in conformity. Open discussion is encouraged for all family members, and parents do not strive to control their children’s or each other’s behaviors or decisions. Instead, they value the life lessons that a family member can learn by spending time with non–family members or engaging in self-exploration. Protective Family A protective family is low in conversation orientation and high in conformity, expects children to be obedient to parents, and does not value open communication. Parents make the ultimate decisions and may or may not feel the need to share their reasoning with their children. If a child questions a decision, a parent may simply respond with “Because I said so.” Laissez-faire family A laissez-faire family is low in conversation and conformity orientations, has infrequent and/or short interactions, and doesn’t discuss many topics. Remember that pluralistic families also have a low conformity orientation, which means they encourage children to make their own decisions in order to promote personal exploration and growth. Laissezfaire families are different in that parents don’t have an investment in their children’s decision making, and in general, members in this type of family are “emotionally divorced” from each other.

Communication in different types of families Nuclear Family The nuclear family is the traditional type of family structure. This family type consists of two parents and children. Nuclear family does affect communication between family as a whole. At times, the important decisions requiring the elderly advise are neglected or prolonged and leads to lot of problems in life. On the other hand, The benefit of the nuclear family is that only small number of persons are there, they are more close and open to each other and hence the decision is taken very fast. There are no chances of selfish behavior and life is very free and without restrictions. Joint Family Joint families are composed of sets of siblings, theirs spouses, and their dependent children. Many persons in the family are available to help if any member of the family faces any difficulty. There is environment of very good communication among the family and they love each other. No member of the family feels aloneness and feels background support from the family If the joint family is not cohesive, the family may become the field of war. The selfish behavior of the member may turn the benefit of the family into drawback. No decision is taken as there is scattered idea and low interest and this is how communication gaps keep developing among family members.

Extended family The extended family is the most common type of family in the world. Extended families include at least three generations: grandparents, married offspring, and grandchildren. In extended families, family members live with mutual respect, support each other and communicate effectively. On the other hand, conflicts may arise between the family members which can result into ineffective communication. Single parent family The single parent family consists of one parent raising one or more children on his own. Often, a single parent family is a mother with her children, although there are single fathers as well. Single parent families are generally close and find ways to work together to solve problems, such as dividing up household chores. On the other hand, Single parents are faced with unique challenges that directly impact their communication with children. Communication challenges in single‐ parent homeless families also include loss of family stability, managing privacy, and relying on others to parent their children. Blended family A blended family is formed when divorced or widowed parents who have children marry. Often misunderstandings occur among these type of families, because both parents are struggling with the fact that they need to look after their children and also look after the children of their partner. This can lead to immense communication gap among family members.

Binuclear family A binuclear family is an original family divided into two by divorce. It consists of two nuclear families, the maternal nuclear family headed by the mother, and the paternal nuclear family headed by the father. That’s why it is called binuclear family. In these families the focus of communication is on maintaining strong relationships. Communication is very necessary but it may be low because the head of the family alone play the two roles of earner and housekeeping. Parents usually communicate with children to motivate them, to make the children confident and to maintain their selfconcept and self-esteem.