Chapter 3:
Family Communication Theories
Chapter Preview
• Communication Accommodation Theory
• Communication Privacy Management Theory
• Narrative Theory
Chapter Outline
I. Communication Accommodation Theory
a. Helps us understand how family members attempt to construct a shared family
identity via modifying their communication
b. Theory focuses on how, when, and why we make communication adjustments, how
others perceive these changes, and the outcomes of making adjustments
e. Overaccommodation or underaccommodation can have unpleasant results
II. Communication Privacy Management Theory (CPM)
a. Using a “boundary” metaphor to identify the border around private information, CPM
theory helps us understand the regulation of private information using a family’s
system of privacy rules
b. People characterize private information as something they own individually or with
others (e.g., whole family, siblings)
c. Privacy boundaries are variously permeable: information may flow freely back and
forth, in one direction, or not at all
1. Boundary access rules: rules that affect decisions about whether to talk
about a particular subject or not, how to talk about the topic, and the
the family
iii. Boundary rule coordination
1. Information becomes co-owned when private information is shared
with others
iv. Boundary turbulence arises as privacy rules are violated
1. Family members experience challenges of manage multiple
boundaries, or situational stresses may force family members to
reconsider a rule-bound agreement
2. People misunderstand the privacy agreement or forget that the
information should be kept private
III. Narrative Theory: Meaning-centered approach that focuses on sense-making via family
narratives and stories
a. Looks to how family storytelling affects and reflects family identity
b. Narration involves verbal and nonverbal symbolic actions, words, and/or deeds, set
within a sequence of events that have meaning for creators/listeners
c. Through stories, families are both “recounting” and “accounting for” events
i. Recounting: chronicles a family’s view of their history, and is a retelling of
memories (e.g., births, adoptions, family events, ancestors’ lives)
ii. Accounting: explanations or reasons for people’s behaviors or situations (e.g.,
unemployment story accounts for penny-pinching behavior today)
d. Communicated narrative sense-making theory
i. Sheds light on communicated content, process, and functions of storytelling;
they help explain and are explained by individual/relational health and well–
1. Related to higher family cohesion, adaptability, and perceptions of
support
2. Related to better relational health and well-being
IV. Narrative Performance Theory: Meaning-centered approach that focuses on the performance
of family stories, exploring the communicative practice of storytelling as one way of “doing
family.”
a. Focuses on storytelling as something that happens in families; as a product of family
interaction, making sense of experience, encoding familial images and abstractions,
and creating and maintaining a coherent system of meanings
b. Narrating as a way of co-constructing and “performing” ourselves and our families
V. Relational Dialectics Theory: Highlights the struggles between different discourses, which
are systems of meaning operating at the same time in family relationships
a. Does not assume any discourses about family and marriage are wrong or more
important than the others; it is simply that relational partners will understand and
prioritize these differently and at different times
b. Helps us to see how family members navigate the interplay of multiple, sometimes
competing discursive struggles
i. Discursive struggles come from the culture in which we live (distal) and from
interaction in our relationships (proximal)
iv. Struggles, while always present, exist in the background and come to the
forefront from time to time (e.g., times of change)
c. Management techniques
i. Selection: making choice between opposites
ii. Segmentation: denying the interdependence of the contrasting elements by
uncoupling or separating them
VI. Discussion Questions
a. When have you seen communication accommodation play out in families? How
might you use communication accommodation theory to explain to another family
member how overaccommodating or underaccommodating behaviors influence
shared family identity?
b. In your family, what happens when a family member violates a rule about sharing
private information outside of the family? How have you and your family members
managed boundary turbulence? Did your family reinforce or alter privacy rules?
VII. Case Study Questions
a. What dialectical tensions did you notice in relationships from “Chill Out” case study?
Would you add any tensions to Baxter’s list? What types of responses did Cash and
his family members use to manage the dialectical tensions? How have you seen these
tensions play out in your relationships?
would you give Eunjung, and how would it differ from her mother’s advice?
Activities
Family Analysis Activity: Show movie clip (e.g., Juno, 22:00-52:00; or see list on website for
more examples) and have students write reactions based on one of the theories discussed (could
also include Systems theory). This can be done in class or as a take-home assignment.
• Define terms and ideas related to the theory.
Think Pair Share: Working together supports the active engagement of students in the learning
experience. Using these prompts, or discussion questions above, can help punctuate the lecture
presentation of concepts. Students should first reflect individually, then pair up to discuss their
ideas with a peer, then share outwardly with the class.
• Thinking about an ongoing family conflict you have experienced, which two theories in
this chapter might help you explain the conflict and give you the best insights on what
Dialectics Tug-of-War: Have two students represent polar opposites and talk one person in the
middle to “their side” by talking about “pros” of their side (e.g., autonomy) or “cons” of the
other side (e.g., connection). Can add complexity by multiple dimensions and/or multiple
partners between the poles. For example:
• Persuasive points for autonomy pole:
o “Pros” of autonomy: develop identity, more time for work/social, freedom, follow
passions, decision making power
o “Cons” of connection: enmeshment, lose identity/sense of self, less time for
Dialectical Dilemmas: Ask students to identify, using fictional families, an example of a
family/couple who seems to struggle with dialectical tensions and a family/couple who seem to
have found a reasonable management of dialectical tensions. Make a list on the board of families
who fall into each category. Ask students to identify what the two categories of families have in
common. How satisfied are they in their relationships? What types of conflicts do they have?
How well do they manage stress? How much social support do they give/receive from one
another? These questions can get them thinking about how these issues may apply to real
families, and you can also refer back to this exercise in later chapters when you discuss
dialectical tensions, family conflict, and stressful life events.
Boundary Coordination: Ask students to identify the ways privacy boundaries operate in their
own families. Divide students into small groups and give each group a separate scenario with
private or sensitive information (e.g. Dad/Mom gets a promotion at work, Grandma/Grandpa has
been diagnosed with Alzheimer’s, Sister/Brother fails a semester in college, etc.). In their groups,
students should first independently answer the following questions about how that information
would be handled in their own family:
Symbolic Interaction Scenes: Divide class into groups and have each group create and act out a
scene in which symbolic interaction plays a central role. Perhaps a pair of opposite-sex friends
goes to dinner and one calls it a “date” and the other doesn’t. Or best friends bicker about
something and one calls it a “fight” and the other doesn’t. After each skit, the audience has to
identify the source of the miscommunication. As a class, discuss the following questions:
• How many events in human interaction are left up to interpretation?
• How many understandings we take for granted because they are purely symbolic in
meaning?
• What does this tell you about the importance of communication competence?