Abstract
Communication is a “god” term in our society because it is viewed as a panacea for ailing human relationships. Communication has moved from the periphery to center stage as the sine qua non of family life. Communication is central to family life today because the expectations for personal relationships have changed slowly but inexorably in this century. Although many of the traditional functions of the family have been delegated to other social agencies (e.g., care of the aged, education of the children, and so forth), the nurturance function remains. And, the nurturance of family members takes place primarily through the exchange of verbal and nonverbal messages (Fitzpatrick & Badzinski, 1985).
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Preview
Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Baxter, L. (1988). A dialectical perspective on communication strategies in relationship development. In S. Duck (Ed.), Handbook of personal relationships (pp. 257–274). Chichester, England: Wiley.
Berger, C. R., & Chaffee, S. (1987). Communication as science. In C. R. Berger & S. Chaffee (Eds.), Handbook of communication science (pp. 15–19). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Berger, P., & Kellner, H. (1964). Marriage and the construction of reality. Diogenes, 46, 1–23.
Beuf, A. (1974). Doctor, lawyer, household drudge. Joumal of Communication, 24, 142–145.
Bochner, A. P. (1976). Conceptual frontiers in the study of communication in families: An introduction to the literature. Human Communication Research, 2(4), 380–397.
Bochner, A., & Eisenberg, E. (1987). Family process. In C. R. Berger & S. Chaffee (Eds.), Handbook of communication science (pp. 540–563). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Bodin, A. (1981). The interactional view: Family therapy approaches of the Mental Research Institute. In A. Gurman & D. Kniskern (Eds), The handbook of family therapy (pp. 267–309). New York: Brunner/Mazel.
Bransford, J. D., & McCarrell, N. S. (1977). A sketch of the cognitive approach to comprehension: Some thoughts about what it means to comprehend. In P. N. Johnson-Laird & P. C. Wason (Eds.), Thinking (pp. 377–399). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
Burgess, R. I., & Conger, R. (1978). Family interaction in abusive, neglectful, and normal families. Child Development, 49, 1163–1173.
Capaldi, D., & Patterson, G. R. (1987). Multiple comparisons of intact, stepfather, and single-mother families in family management practices and parent and child behaviors. Unpublished manuscript, Oregon Social Learning Center.
Cappella, J. N. (1976). Modeling interpersonal communication systems as a pair of machines coupled through feedback. In G. R. Miller (Ed.), Explorations in interpersonal communication (pp. 59–86). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Chaffee, S., & McLeod, J. (1970). Coorientation and the structure of family communication. Paper presented to the annual convention of the International Communication Association, Minneapolis.
Chaffee, S., McLeod, J., & Wackman, D. (1966). Family communication and political socialization. A paper presented to the Association for Education in Journalism, Iowa City.
Chomsky, N. (1957). Syntactic structures. The Hague, Netherlands: Mouton.
Clark, M. S. (1985). Implications of relationship type for understanding compatibility. In W. Ickes (Ed.), Compatible and incompatible relationships (pp. 119–140). New York: Springer-Verlag.
Clark, H., & Marshall, C. (1981). Definite reference and mutual knowledge. In A. Joshi, B. Webber, & I. Sag (Eds.), Elements of discourse understanding (pp. 10–63). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
Cooley, C. H. (1909). Social organization: A study of the larger mind. New York: Scribner’s.
Courtwright, J., Millar, F., & Rogers, L. E. (1979). Domineeringness and dominance: Replication and extension. Communication Monographs, 46, 179–192.
Czitrom, D. J. (1982). Media and the American mind. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.
Dance, F., & Larson, C. (1976). The functions of human communication. New York: Holt.
Delia, J. G. (1987). Communication research: A history. In C. R. Berger & S. H. Chaffee (Eds.), Handbook of communication science (pp. 20–98). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Dewey, J. (1927). The public and its problems. New York: Holt, Rinehart & Winston.
Dunn, J. (1988). Relations among relationships. In S. Duck (Ed.), Handbook of personal relationships (pp. 193–210). Chichester, England: Wiley.
Ervin-Tripp, S. M., Strage, A., Lampert, M., & Bell, N. (1987). Understanding requests. Linguistics, 25, 107–143.
Finn, S., & Roberts, D. (1984). Source, destination, and entropy: Reassessing the role of information theory in communication research. Communication Research, 11(4), 453–476.
Fitzpatrick, M. A. (1976). A typological approach to communication in enduring relationships. Unpublished doctoral dissertation, Temple University.
Fitzpatrick, M. A. (1987). Marital interaction. In C. R. Berger & S. Chaffee (Eds), Handbook of communication scince (pp. 564–618). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Fitzpatrick, M. A. (1988). Between husbands and wives: Communication in marriage. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Fitzpatrick, M. A. (1990). Models of marital interaction. In H. Giles & W. P. Robinson (Eds.), Handbook of language and social psychology (pp. 433–450). Chichester, England: Wiley.
Fitzpatrick, M. A., & Badzinski, D. (1985). All in the family: Interpersonal communication in kin relationships. In M. Knapp & G. R. Miller (Eds.), Handbook of interpersonal communication (pp. 687–736). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Fitzpatrick, M. A., & Jandt, F. (1990). A typological study of homosexual couples. A paper presented at the annual convention of the Speech Communication Association, Chicago.
Fitzpatrick, M. A., & Wamboldt, F. (1990). Where is all said and done?: Towards an integration of intrapersonal and interpersonal models of marital and family interaction. Communication Research, 17(4), 421–430.
Forgatch, M. S. (1987). Family process model for depression in mothers. NIMH Grant Proposal (2 RO1 MH38318-04). Rockville, MD.
Galvin, K., & Brommel, B. (1990). Family communication: Cohesion and change (3rd ed.). Glenview, IL: Scott Foresman.
Giddens, A. (1984). The constitution of society. Berkeley: The University of California Press.
Giles, H., & Fitzpatrick, M. A. (1984). Personal, couple and group identities. In D. Schiffrin (Ed.), Meaning form and use in context (pp. 253–277). Washington, DC: Georgetown University Press.
Gitlin, T. (1978). Media sociology: The dominant paradigm. Theory and Society, 6, 205–253.
Gottman, J. M. (1979). Marital interaction. New York: Academic.
Gottman, J. M. (1990). How marriages change. In G. Patterson (Ed.), Depression and aggression in family interacion (pp. 75–102). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.
Gottman, J. M., & Levenson, R. (1988). The social psychophysiology of marriage. In P. Noller & M. A. Fitzpatrick (Eds), Perspectives on marital interaction (pp. 182–200). Philadelphia: Taylor & Francis.
Greenberg, B. (1982). Television and role socialization: An overview. In D. Pearl, L. Bouthilet, & J. Lazar (Eds.), Television and social behavior. Ten years of scientific progress and implications for the eighties. Rockville, MD: National Institute of Mental Health.
Grossberg, L. (1982). Does communication theory need intersubjectivity: Toward a deductive theory. In M. Burgoon (Ed.), Communication Yearbook 6(pp. 171–205). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Grych, J. H., & Fincham, F. (1990). Marital conflict and children’s adjustment: A cognitive contextual framework. Psychological Bulletin, 108(2), 267–290.
Handel, G. (1985). Central issues in the construction of sibling relationships. In G. Handel (Ed.), The psychosocial interior of the family (3rd ed., pp. 367–396). New York: Aldine.
Hawkins, R., & Pingree, S. (1982). Using television to construct social reality. Journal of Broadcasting, 25, 347–364.
Hawkins, R., Pingree, S., Fitzpatrick, M. A., Thompson, M., & Baumann, I. (1991). Implications of concurrent measures of viewer behavior. Human Communication Research, 17, 485–504.
Hess, R., & Handel, G. (1959). Family worlds. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Hewes, D., & Planalp, S. (1987). The individual’s place in communication science. In C. R. Berger & S. Chaffee (Eds.), Handbook of communication science (pp. 146–183). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Hinde, R. A. (1987). Individuals, relationships, and culture: Links between ethology and the social sciences. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Howes, P., & Markman, H. (1989). Marital quality and child functioning: A longitudinal investigation. Child Development, 60, 1044–1051.
Jacobson, N. S. (1984). A component analysis of behavioral marital therapy: The relative effectiveness of behavior exchange and communication/problem solving training. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 52, 295–305.
Jacobson, N. S., & Moore, D. (1981). Spouses as observers of events in their relationship. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 49, 269–277.
Jacobson, N. S., Follette, W. L., & McDonald, D. W. (1982). Reactivity to positive and negative behavior in distressed and nondistressed married couples. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 50, 706–714.
Kantor, D., & Lehr, W. (1975). Inside the family. New York: Harper & Row.
Laing, R. D., Phillipsen, H., & Lee, A. R. (1966). Interpersonal perception: A theory and method of research. New York: Harper & Row.
Lakoff, G., & Johnson, M. (1980). Metaphors we live by. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Larzelere, R., & Klein, D. (1987). Methodology. In M. Sussman & S. Steinmetz (Eds), Handbook of marriage and the family (pp. 125–156). New York: Plenum.
Lindlof, T. R. (Ed.) (1987). Natural audiences. Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
Lippmann, W. (1922). Public opinion. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich.
Lull, J. (1980). Family communication patterns and the social uses of television. Communication Research, 7, 319–344.
Manderscheid, D. W., Rae, D. S., McCarrick, A. K., & Silbergeld, S. (1982). A stochastic model of relational control in dyadic interaction. American Sociological Review, 47, 62–75.
Margolin, G., & Wampold, B. E. (1981). Sequential analysis of conflict and accord in distressed and nondistressed marital partners. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 47, 554–567.
McLeod, J., & Chaffee, S. (1972). The construction of social reality. In J. T. Tedeschi (Ed.), The social influence processes (pp. 50–99). Chicago: Aldine-Atherton.
McLeod, J., & Chaffee, S. (1973). Interpersonal approaches to communication research. American Behavioral Scientist, 16, 469–499.
McLeod, J., & Chaffee, S. (1979). Guiding perspective of a loose collaboration. Paper presented to the annual convention of the Association for Education in Journalism.
McLeod, J., Fitzpatrick, M. A., Glynn, C., & Fallis, S. (1982). Television and social relations: Family influences and consequences for interpersonal behavior. In D. Pearl, L. Bouthilet, & J. Lazar (Eds.), Television and social behavior: Ten years of scientific progress and implications for the eighties (pp. 272–283). Rockville, MD: National Institute of Mental Health.
Meadowcroft, J., & Fitzpatrick, M. A. (1988). Theories of family communication: Toward a merger of intersubjectivity and mutual influence processes. In R. P. Hawkins, J. M. Wiemann, & S. Pingree (Eds), Advancing communication science: Merging mass and interpersonal processes (pp. 253–274). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Millar, F., & Rogers, L. E. (1987). Relational dimensions of interpersonal dynamics. In M. Roloff & G. R. Miller (Eds.), Interpersonal processes: New directions in communication research (pp. 117–139). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Miller, G. R., & Burgoon, M. (1978). Persuasion research: Review and commentary. In B. D. Rubin (Ed.), Communication Yearbook 2 (pp. 29–47). New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Books.
Miller, M., & Reeves, B. (1976). Dramatic TV content and children’s sex-role stereotypes. Journal of Broadcasting 20, 35–50.
Morgan, G. (1986). Images of organization. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Newcomb, T. M. (1953). An approach to the study of communicative acts. Psychological Review, 60, 393–404.
Paisley, W. (1984). Communication in the communication sciences. In B. Dervin & M. Voight (Eds.), Progress in the communication sciences (pp. 1–43) Norwood, NJ: Ablex.
Patterson, G. R. (1976). The aggressive child: Victim and architect of a coercive system. In E. J. Mash, L. A. Hamerlyck, & L. C. Handy (Eds), Behavior modification and families (pp. 27–42). New York: Bruner/Mazel.
Patterson, G. R. (1982). A social learning approach: Vol. 3. Coercive family process. Eugene, OR: Castalia.
Patterson, G. R., & Dishion, T. J. (1988). Multilevel family process models: Traits, interactions, and relationships. In R. Hinde & J. Stevenson-Hinde (Eds.), Relationships within families: Mutual influences (pp. 283–310). Oxford: Clarendon.
Patterson, G. R., Reid, J. B., & Dishion, T. J. (1989). A social learning approach: Vol. 4. Antisocial boys. Eugene, OR: Castalia.
Pearl, D., Bouthilet, L., & Lazar, J. (1982) (Eds.) Television and social behavior. Rockville, MD: National Institute of Mental Health.
Pearson, J. (1989). Family communication. Dubuque, IO: Brown.
Poole, M. S., Folger, J., & Hewes, D. (1986). The analysis of interpersonal interaction. In M. Roloff & G. R. Miller (Eds.), Interpersonal processes: New directions in communication research (pp. 220–257). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Raush, H., Greif, A., & Nugent, J. (1979). Communication in couples and families. In W. R. Burr, R. Hill, I. Nye, & I. R. Reiss (Eds.), Contemporary theories about the family (Vol. 1, pp. 468–492). New York: Free Press.
Reiss, D. (1981). The family’s construction of reality. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Reiss, D., Gonzalez, S., & Kramer, N. (1986). Family process, chronic illness and death: On the weakness of strong bonds. Archives of General Psychiatry, 43, 795–804.
Revenstorf, D., Hahlweg, K., Schindler, L., & Vogel, B. (1984). Interaction analysis of marital conflict. In K. Hahlweg & N. S. Jacobson (Eds.), Marital interaction (pp. 159–181). New York: Guilford.
Ritchie, L. D. (1986). Shannon and Weaver: Unraveling the paradox of information. Communication Research, 13(2), 278–298.
Ritchie, L. D. (1987). Whose accuracy, whose congruency, and whose agreement? Variations on the theme of coorientation. A paper presented to the annual meeting of the International Communication Association.
Ritchie, L. D. (1989). Family communication patterns and the flow of information in the family. Paper presented to the annual convention of the Association for Education in Journalism, Portland.
Ritchie, L. D., & Fitzpatrick, M. A. (1990). Family communication patterns: Measuring intrapersonal perceptions of interpersonal relationships. Communication Research, 17, 523–545.
Ritchie, L. D., & Fitzpatrick, M. A. (1990). Family communication patterns and the relational dimensions instrument: Conceptual and empirical relationships. Paper presented to the annual convention of the Speech Communication Association, Chicago.
Robinson, E. A., & Jacobson, N. S. (1987). Social learning theory and psychopathology: A Kantian model in behaviorism. In T. Jacobs (Ed.), Family interaction and psychopathology (pp. 117–162). New York: Plenum.
Rogers, L. E., & Farace, R. V. (1975). Analysis of relational communication in dyads: New measurement procedures. Family Process, 1, 222–239.
Roloff, M. (1981). Communication and social exchange. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
Roloff, M. (1987). Communication and conflict. In C. R. Berger & S. Chaffee (Eds.), Handbook of communication science. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
Roloff, M., Janiszewski, C. A., McGrath, M. A., Burns, C., & Manrai, L. A. (1988). Acquiring resources from intimates: When obligation substitutes for persuasion. Human Communication Research, 14, 364–396.
Sameroff, A. J., & Emde, R. N. (1989). Relationship disturbances in early childhood. New York: Basic Books.
Scanzoni, J. (1972). Sexual bargaining. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Schaap, C. (1984). A comparison of the interaction of distressed and nondistressed married couples in a laboratory situation. In K. Hahlweg & N. S. Jacobson (Eds.), Marital interaction (pp. 133–158). New York: Guilford.
Schramm, W. (Ed.) (1954). The process and effects of mass communication. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois.
Schramm, W., Lyle, J., & Parker, E. B. (1961). Television in the lives of our children. Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Shannon, C. (1949). The mathematical theory of communication. In C. Shannon & W. Weaver (Eds), The mathematical theory of Communication (pp. 1–25). Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
Sillars, A., & Kalbfleisch, P. (1988). Implicit and explicit decision-making styles in couples. In D. Brinberg & J. Jaccard (Eds.), Dyadic decision-making (pp. 179–215). New York: Springer-Verlag.
Smetana, J. G. (1988). Adolescents’ and parents’ conceptions of parental authority. Child Development, 59(2), 321–335.
Sperber, D., & Wilson, D. (1986). Relevance: Communication and cognition. Cambridge, MA. Harvard University Press.
Steinhauer, P. (1988). The family as a small group: The process model of family functioning. In T. Jacobs (Ed.), Family interaction and psychopathology (pp. 67–116). New York: Plenum.
Strodtbeck, F. (1954). The family as a three-person group. American Sociological Review, 19, 23–29.
Surgeon General’s Scientific Advisory Committee on Television and Social Behavior (1972). Television and social behavior. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
Tims, A. R., & Masland, J. (1985). Measurement of family communication patterns. Communication Research, 12, 35–57.
Ting-Toomey, S. (1983). An analysis of verbal communication patterns in high and low marital adjustment groups. Human Communication Research, 9, 306–319.
Vaughn, B., Block, J., & Block, J. (1988). Parental agreement on child rearing during early childhood and the psychological characteristics of adolescents. Child Development, 59, 1020–1033.
Wamboldt, F., & Reiss, D. (1989). Defining a family heritage. Family Process, 28, 317–335.
Weaver, W. (1949). Recent contributions to the mathematical theory of communication. In C. Shannon & W. Weaver (Eds.), The mathematical theory of communication (pp. 26–160). Urbana: University of Illinois Press.
Yerby, J., Buerkel-Rothfuss, N., & Bochner, A. (1989). Communication in the family. Scottsdale, AZ: Gorsuch.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2009 Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Fitzpatrick, M.A., Ritchie, L.D. (2009). Communication Theory and the Family. In: Boss, P., Doherty, W.J., LaRossa, R., Schumm, W.R., Steinmetz, S.K. (eds) Sourcebook of Family Theories and Methods. Springer, Boston, MA. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-85764-0_22
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-0-387-85764-0_22
Publisher Name: Springer, Boston, MA
Print ISBN: 978-0-306-44264-3
Online ISBN: 978-0-387-85764-0
eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive