Engaging Theories in Family Communication : Multiple Perspectives

by Dawn O. Braithwaite

• ISBN13: 9780761930617
• ISBN10: 0761930612
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-08-26
• Publisher: SAGE Publications, Inc

Summary

To date, scholars from disciplines other than communication have dominated the study of family communication, and theory has never been positioned as the centerpiece of a book dealing with this subject matter. Engaging Theories in Family Communication covers uncharted territory in its field, as it is the first book on the market to deal exclusively with family communication theory. Its editors (Dawn O. Braithwaite and Leslie A. Baxter) and contributors (including Valerie Manusov, Tamara Golish, Fran Dickson, Julia Wood, Kory Floyd, Sandra Petronio, Beth LePoire, Kathleen Galvin, Mary Ann Fitzpatrick, and Anita Vangelisti) compose a veritable Who's Who in the family communication field. As a core text or a companion text to other topically-based family communication texts, Engaging Theories in Family Communication is written at the level that advanced undergraduate and graduate students can understand, and it will be a valuable resource for scholars, and have applicability and interest coming from family studies, sociology, and psychology as well. Key Features: There is no other book on the market that focuses specifically on family communication theories. Twenty theories, both classical and cutting-edge, each covered in a separate chapter in the volume, each dealing with: (1) purpose of the theory, (2) major features as relevant to the understanding of family communication, (3) how the chapter fits into the section in which the editors have placed it (theories in family communication, theories of communication, theories of family communication), (4) how this theory has been used to understand communication in the family and how this theory could be used to understand communication in the family, (5) strengths and limitations of the theory to shed light on family communication, and (6) research directions for future researchers using this theory The editors (Braithwaite and Baxter) and contributors represent a virtual "Who's Who" of leading scholars in the field of family communication

Table of Contents

Preface	xvii
Dawn O. Braithwaite & Leslie A. Baxter
Foreword: Family Communication Theories: Variations and Challenges	ix
Anita L. Vangelisti
1. Introduction: Meta-Theory and Theory in Family Communication Research	1	(16)
Leslie A. Baxter & Dawn O. Braithwaite
PART I. THEORIES ORIGINATING IN COMMUNICATION	17	(146)
2. Communication Accommodation Theory: An Intergroup Approach to Family Relationships	19	(16)
Jake Harwood, Jordan Soliz, & Mei-Chen Lin
3. Communication Privacy Management Theory: Understanding Families	35	(15)
Sandra Petronio & John P. Caughlin
4. Family Communication Patterns Theory: A Social Cognitive Approach	50	(16)
Ascan F. Koerner & Mary Anne Fitzpatrick
5. Goals-Plans-Action Theories: Theories of Goals, Plans, and Planning Processes in Families	66	(16)
Steven R. Wilson & Wendy M. Morgan
6. Inconsistent Nurturing as Control Theory: A New Theory in Family Communication	82	(17)
Beth A. LePoire & René M. Dailey
7. Narrative Performance Theory: Telling Stories, Doing Family	99	(16)
Kristin M. Langellier & Eric E. Peterson
8. Relational Communication Theory: An Interactional Family Theory	115	(15)
L. Edna Rogers
9. Relational Dialectics Theory: Multivocal Dialogues of Family Communication	130	(16)
Leslie A. Baxter
10. Symbolic Convergence Theory: Communication, Dramatizing Messages, and Rhetorical Visions in Families	146	(17)
Dawn O. Braithwaite, Paul Schrodt, & Jody Koenig Kellas
PART II. THEORIES ORIGINATING IN COMPLEMENTARY FIELDS	163	(178)
11. Attachment Theory: The Reciprocal Relationship Between Family Communication and Attachment Patterns	165	(16)
April R. Trees
12. Attribution Theories: Assessing Causal and Responsibility Judgments in Families	181	(16)
Valerie L. Manusov
13. Critical Feminist Theories: A Provocative Perspective on Families	197	(16)
Julia T. Wood
14. Emotion Regulation Theory: A Lens for Viewing Family Conflict and Violence	213	(16)
William R. Cupach & Loreen N. Olson
15. Social Theories: Social Constructionism and Symbolic Interactionism	229	(14)
Wendy Leeds-Hurwitz
16. Social Exchange Theories: Interdependence and Equity	243	(17)
Marianne Dainton & Elaine D. Zelley
17. Social Learning Theory: Modeling and Communication in the Family Context	260	(16)
Adrianne Kunkel, Mary Lee Hummert, & Michael Robert Dennis
18. Stress and Adaptation Theories: Families Across the Life Span	276	(17)
Tamara D. Afifi & Jon Nussbaum
19. Structuration Theory: Promising Directions for Family Communication Research	293	(16)
Kathleen J. Krone, Paul Schrodt, & Erika L. Kirby
20. Systems Theory: Patterns and (W)holes in Family Communication	309	(16)
Kathleen M. Galvin, Fran C. Dickson, & Sherilyn R. Marrow
21. The Theory of Natural Selection: An Evolutionary Approach to Family Communication	325	(16)
Kory Floyd & Mark T. Haynes
Index	341	(14)
About the Editors	355	(2)
About the Contributors	357