Television and the American Family

by Bryant; Jennings

• ISBN13: 9780805834215
• ISBN10: 0805834214
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-01-01
• Publisher: Routledge

Summary

This second edition of a trend-setting volume provides an updated examination of the interaction between families and the most pervasive mass medium: television. Charting the dynamic developments of the American family and television over the past decade, this volume provides a comprehensive representation of programmatic research into family and television and examines extensively the uses families make of television, how extensions of television affect usage, families' evolving attitudes toward television, the ways families have been and are portrayed on television, the effects television has on families, and the ways in which families can mediate its impact on their lives. The volume is an invaluable resource for scholars and students in the areas of media and society, children and media, and family studies.

Table of Contents

Preface	xi
PART I: INTRODUCTION AND OVERVIEW
Evolution in the Family's Use of Television: An Overview	3	(30)
Margaret Andreasen
PART II: USES OF TELEVISION BY THE AMERICAN FAMILY
Television Use in Families With Children	33	(16)
Jennifer A. Kotler
John C. Wright
Aletha C. Huston
Home Ecology and Children's Television Viewing in the New Media Environment	49	(26)
David J. Atkin
Remote Control Devices and Family Viewing	75	(16)
James R. Walker
Robert V. Bellamy, Jr.
The VCR, Home Video Culture, and New Video Technologies	91	(20)
Carolyn A. Lin
PART III: ATTITUDES TOWARDS TELEVISION
Family Attitudes Toward Television	111	(28)
Dan Brown
Tammy Hayes
PART IV: PORTRAYALS OF AMERICAN FAMILIES ON TELEVISION
Five Decades of Families on Television: From the 1950s Through the 1990s	139	(24)
James D. Robinson
Thomas Skill
Sibling Interaction in Situation Comedies Over the Years	163	(14)
Mary Strom Larson
Balancing Acts: Work-Family Issues on Prime-Time TV	177	(30)
Katharine E. Heintz-Knowles
Portrayals of Families of Color on Television	207	(22)
Jannette L. Dates
Carolyn A. Stroman
Subversion of the American Television Family	229	(18)
William Douglas
How Psychologically Healthy Are America's Prime-Time Television Families?	247	(26)
Jennings Bryant
Charles F. Aust
J. Alison Bryant
Gopakumar Venugopalan
PART V: MEANINGS AND EFFECTS
The Meaning of Television in the American Family	273	(16)
Alison Alexander
Conflicts and Resolution Strategies Associated With Television in Marital Life	289	(28)
Walter Gantz
Effects of Television on Child and Family Emotional Well-Being	317	(16)
Joanne Cantor
Marie-Louise Mares
Television and the Family: The Cultivation Perspective	333	(22)
Nancy Signorielli
Michael Morgan
PART VI: MEDIATING TELEVISION'S IMPACT
Family Mediation	355	(22)
Nancy L. Buerkel-Rothfuss
Rick A. Buerkel
Effects of Family Communication on Children's Interpretation of Television	377	(20)
Erica Weintraub Austin
Mediating Advertising Effects	397	(18)
David M. Boush
PART VII: PUBLIC POLICY ISSUES
Curriculum-Based Preschool Television Programming and the American Family: Historical Development, Impact of Public Policy, and Social and Educational Effects	415	(20)
J. Alison Bryant
Jennings Bryant
Lisa Mullikin
James F. McCollum
Curtis C. Love
The Effect of Television Policy on Children and Families	435	(14)
Marina Krcmar
Author Index	449	(14)
Subject Index	463