Theory and Research From the Communication Field: Discourses That Constitute and Reflect Families

Abstract

From the disciplinary perspective of communication studies, we review theory and research in family communication, including a brief history of the family communication field; the contributions of a family communication perspective; and 5 theories of family communication: communication accommodation theory, communication privacy management theory, family communication patterns theory, narrative theor(ies), and relational dialectics theory. We then illustrate the concept of discourse dependence in family communication processes and discuss current trends in family communication research. We also suggest emerging directions for family communication scholarship.

Stepchildren's Views About Former Step‐Relationships Following Stepfamily Dissolution

“…Our findings about how stepchildren thought about their relationships with former stepparents fit with a discourse dependency framework (Galvin & Braithwaite, ). For example, the categories of claimed, disclaimed, and unclaimed stepparents reflect former stepchildren's use of language to identify to themselves and to others how they defined their step‐relationships.…”

“…Internal boundary management strategies used to maintain a sense of family connection within a specific relationship include (a) naming (e.g., using family labels, such as calling a stepfather “Dad”), (b) talking about the nature of special ties that bind people together as kin (e.g., “He stepped in and was always there for me”), (c) narrating stories about the family's self‐identity (e.g., repeating stories of when they first met or the first time a child used a family name to address a stepparent), and (d) ritualizing (e.g., spending birthdays and holidays together). Communication strategies also may be used to dissolve family ties because discourse dependency suggests that such relationships are fragilely dependent on ongoing communications between relational partners (Galvin & Braithwaite, ). Findings from the current study point toward some of the ways in which former stepchildren create kinship ties, or not, while their parents still are remarried or repartnered with the stepparents.…”

Stepfamilies Doing Family: A Meta‐Ethnography

“…Nelson () and Sarkisian () state that these processes of doing family become especially apparent in nontraditional families, thus demonstrating the relevance of studying them in the context of stepfamily formation. Second, this review draws on the family communication perspective, assuming that “storytelling is one way of doing family” (Langellier & Peterson, , p. 100), expressed in the phrase “talking family” (Galvin & Braithwaite, ). The negotiation of boundaries, roles, and relationships is an interactional process and communication is considered as an important means by which family identity is formed (Baxter, ; Galvin & Braithwaite, ).…”

Communication Structures of Supplemental Voluntary Kin Relationships

“…All families face boundary issues at one point or another; common ones include ambiguity concerning who is considered a family member and who has access to family activities or information. Understanding the manifestation of triangulation within VK relationships helps elucidate the discursive nature of forming and enacting discourse-dependent relationships (Baxter, 2014b;Galvin & Braithwaite, 2014). To date, most research on triadic family structures has been focused on BLFs, such as between parent dyads and a child (e.g., Wang & Crane, 2001), which have the advantage of culturally sanctioned boundaries and expectations to guide their development and enactment.…”

“…Galvin (2006) coined the phrase "discourse-dependent families" to emphasize challenges faced by postmodern family structures such as adoptive, single parent, step, and same-sex or non-gender-conforming lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer families that are discursively constructed. Discourse-dependent families face the ongoing task of legitimation and are reliant on interaction to negotiate and navigate their relationships without cultural models to guide their development, communication, and enactment (Baxter, 2014b;Galvin & Braithwaite, 2014). Our goal in the present study was to shed light on the experience of one type of discourse-dependent family, those with voluntary kin (VK), to explore how they interact and navigate the relationship with their biolegal family (BLF) of origin.…”