Family Interaction and Communication Deviance in Disturbed and Normal Families: A Review of Research

Abstract

Recent family interaction studies are reviewed with an emphasis on looking for dimensions along which disturbed and normal families differ. Several areas of consistency in the literature were found, including: family coalition patterns, patterns of conflict, flexibility versus rigidity, family effectiveness and efficiency, and deviant styles of communication. It was concluded that several measures reliably discriminate disturbed from normal families and that one type of measure in particular is a reliable predictor of thought disorder in offspring. Implications for clinical practice and future research are discussed.

Conflict predispositions: Differences between happy and clinical couples

“…When the hurt feelings get beyond a manageable level, the conflict may then be handled from a power perspective, where hurt will be inflicted upon the other person. This dysfunctional style of managing conflict is consistent with theoretical perspectives presented earlier by Doane ( 1978), Feldman ( 1979), and Raush et al (1974.…”

“…Little, if any, empirical research has studied the internal "states of being" or value orientations of conflict management (Glick and Gross, 1975 1, the ways "disturbed" and normal couples differ in managing the day-to-day conflicts in their marriages (Doane, 1978) and how individuals' patterns of communication are related to their conflict issues (Louis, 1977). have developed a theoretical model of conflict management identifying six basic internal dynamics of an individual which influence his/her interactions regarding conflict with others.…”

“…2) Once conflict behavior is triggered, destructiveness builds on previous destructive behavior (Feldman, 1979). 3) When people are involved in conflicts they often are unable to be flexible in their styles of interaction with others (Doane, 1978).…”

Parental communication style and its influence on exceptional children's television viewing

“…Findings suggest that any parent regularly engaging in more inductive (e.g., the use of reasoning, explanation, and appeals to the child's pride and achievement) and less sensitizing (e.g., the use of physical punishment, deprivation of material objects or privileges, the direct application of force, or the threat of any of these N umerous studies demonstrate that the type and quantity of family interaction Doane, 1978;Easterbrooks & Goldberg, 1984;Perkins, 1989), parental childrearing practices (Osofsky & Oldfield, 1972;Sears, Maccoby, & Levin, 1957;Strommen, McKinney, & Fitzgerald, 1977;Tims & Masland, 1984) and parents' disciplinary style (Aronfreed, 1969;Gunter & Svennevig, 1987;Hoffman, 1975;Hoffman & Salzstein, 1967) are directly related to children's social and moral behavior. Furthermore, these activities--collectively referred to as "parental communication style" (Pearson, 1989)-create an atmosphere that can either enhance or retard emerging linguistic, comprehensional, and empathetic skills of the young child (Fischer & Bullock, 1984;Luria, 1982;Maccoby, 1980;Wood, 1980).…”

Expressed Emotion, Communication Deviance and Schizophrenia

“…High levels of CD have repeatedly been found to be characteristic of parents of schizo phrenics, although discriminating parents of schizophrenics from parents of normal or nonpsychotic patients on CD levels has not been possible in all studies [for overviews, see 4,[12][13][14][15]. In addition, parents of paranoid schizophrenics seem to be less deviant than parents of non-paranoid schizophrenics [5], The role of dysfunctional family communica tion in the onset and course of schizophrenia has also been examined.…”