Contributions of the study, limitations, and implications for future research and clinical practice are discussed.

No abstract

One of the most familiar human emotions is humor, which has been the subject of countless essays and scholarly books. Humor has also become the subject of much study as a method by which people cope with the world around them. Most researchers agree that humor can provide coping resources, welcome social relief and positive mental affect, for both the provider and recipient of communicative humor. It also can be used deleteriously, as with put-downs and self-deprecation. Some of the most intimate uses of positive and negative humor come within the context of families. This is perhaps why educational and family researchers have become interested in how humor relates to other aspects of family functioning.This study investigates whether positive (adaptive) and negative (maladaptive) styles of humor, as measured by the Humor Styles Questionnaire (HSQ; Martin, Puhlik-Doris, Larsen, Gray, & Weir, 2003), are correlated with positive and negative family coping and functioning in the parents of children with disabilities, as predicted by the Circumplex model, and as measured by the Family Adaptability and Cohesion Evaluation Scales (FACES IV;Olson & Gorall, 2003) tool.The impact of humor on family functioning is little studied. Following an extensive search of the available literature, we believe that the two above instruments (the FACES IV questionnaire and the HSQ) have never before been compared. Such a lack of study has actually been noted in the literature before, for example, Kazarian and Martin (2006): "Although there has been some research on humor styles in friendships (Martin & Ward, 2003) and dating relationships (Martin et al., 2002), no previous studies have examined the HSQ in relation to general family functioning" (pp. 409-410). We are even more certain of this dearth with respect to families of children with disabilities. We therefore feel that it is important to contribute to the quantitative literature on family functioning and humor, as anecdotal evidence exists for humor's important and positive role in family coping and functioning (Jevnikar, 2007;Rieger, 2004a). The Circumplex Model of Marital and Family SystemsVarious models have been proposed in the literature for understanding family coping and functioning. These include the McMaster Family Assessment Device, or FAD Index 525994S EDXXX10.

No abstract

This study examines closely in what ways six families of children with disabilities considered themselves insiders and in what ways and context they perceived themselves as outsiders with regards to disability humor. In-depth interviews, participant observation, and selective cartoon analysis were used to collect data. The data were analyzed qualitatively with the help of the constant comparative method. In terms of the findings, different phases through which disability humor passes (Haller & Ralph, 2003) were identified among families from this study. If the disability was the one that they as a family encountered in their familial circles, they were able to move past protest humor toward a humor of equality. That is, they achieved regular lives via their displays of familial humor interactions and thus "demystified the disability experience" (Haller & Ralph, 2003, p. 5) for themselves and other families, as the audience. Within this framework, children with disabilities had not only the right to participate in familial discourse on humor but also an equal status in humor appreciation and production. However, if the disability humor was about a disability other than the one they were personally acquainted, they largely perceived such humor with "sympathetic and lamentable attitudes" (Baum, 1998, p. 3), indicating that they still remained steadfast in their "ableist" conceptions of disability and, thus maintained a "politically correct" orientation toward other disabilities and humor.