Lasse Hallström’s “An Unfinsihed Life” is touted as a film about forgiveness. Given the content of the film, it provides a fertile terrain to explore the multilayers of conflict perpetuated by the human condition. Conflict among family members is an unavoidable phenomenon nevertheless, “Prospective and concurrent research findings indicate that relationship bonds deteriorate as contentiousness increases; frequent and intense conflict has an adverse impact on the well-being of both parents and adolescents” (Collins & Laursen; 2004 as cited in Laursen, p. 48).
Conflict is not necessarily problematic in and of itself. If managed effectively conflict can enhance the quality of relationships. In a nurturing environment, well managed conflict can …show more content…
Their intra-dyadic conflict is perpetuated by underlying social and demographic issues which are exacerbated by the onset of events affecting the content and quality of their relationship. In the film, Jean is portrayed as a widow and single-mother living in an abusive relationship. Still grief-stricken over causing the death of her husband a decade prior, Jean displays self-punishing tendencies and poor decision making skills at the potential expense of her 11 year old daughter’s well-being. Following a particularly violent incident with her boyfriend, Gary (Damian Lewis); Griff successfully emboldens Jean to leave the relationship. Their car breaks down irreparably after having fled their home in Iowa. With her funds virtually exhausted, Jean is forced to seek sanctuary in Wyoming with her estranged father-law, Einer Gilkyson (Robert Redford); the grandfather Griff was lead to believe didn’t exist.
Conflict Dimensions
Many of the poignant disagreements depicted in the film following their trek to Wyoming are contextual and the characters appropriate varying modes of conflict resolution which fluctuate depending on perceptions pertaining to the quality of the mother-daughter relationship. The content of the mother-daughter relationship and the dyad’s interpersonal conflict begs the question of how relational quality between parent and child fosters …show more content…
Reportedly, the intensity of parent-child conflict reaches its pinnacle in early adolescence and tapers gradually as the child matures. “Parent-adolescent conflicts are thought to result in part from adolescents ' and parents ' discrepant expectations regarding the timing of transitions in authority, autonomy, and responsibilities” (Montemayor; Smetana; & Dekovic et al. as cited in Branje, 2008, p. 1628). Academics argue, that conflict is highest between mothers and daughters as compared to adolescent boys. For adolescents such as Griff, conflict serves as a mechanism for rearranging boundaries within the parent-child relationship and asserting individuality (Branje, 2008, pp. 1628-1629; Sher-Censor, Oppenheim, & Sagi-Schwartz, 2012, p.
Conflict is not necessarily problematic in and of itself. If managed effectively conflict can enhance the quality of relationships. In a nurturing environment, well managed conflict can …show more content…
Their intra-dyadic conflict is perpetuated by underlying social and demographic issues which are exacerbated by the onset of events affecting the content and quality of their relationship. In the film, Jean is portrayed as a widow and single-mother living in an abusive relationship. Still grief-stricken over causing the death of her husband a decade prior, Jean displays self-punishing tendencies and poor decision making skills at the potential expense of her 11 year old daughter’s well-being. Following a particularly violent incident with her boyfriend, Gary (Damian Lewis); Griff successfully emboldens Jean to leave the relationship. Their car breaks down irreparably after having fled their home in Iowa. With her funds virtually exhausted, Jean is forced to seek sanctuary in Wyoming with her estranged father-law, Einer Gilkyson (Robert Redford); the grandfather Griff was lead to believe didn’t exist.
Conflict Dimensions
Many of the poignant disagreements depicted in the film following their trek to Wyoming are contextual and the characters appropriate varying modes of conflict resolution which fluctuate depending on perceptions pertaining to the quality of the mother-daughter relationship. The content of the mother-daughter relationship and the dyad’s interpersonal conflict begs the question of how relational quality between parent and child fosters …show more content…
Reportedly, the intensity of parent-child conflict reaches its pinnacle in early adolescence and tapers gradually as the child matures. “Parent-adolescent conflicts are thought to result in part from adolescents ' and parents ' discrepant expectations regarding the timing of transitions in authority, autonomy, and responsibilities” (Montemayor; Smetana; & Dekovic et al. as cited in Branje, 2008, p. 1628). Academics argue, that conflict is highest between mothers and daughters as compared to adolescent boys. For adolescents such as Griff, conflict serves as a mechanism for rearranging boundaries within the parent-child relationship and asserting individuality (Branje, 2008, pp. 1628-1629; Sher-Censor, Oppenheim, & Sagi-Schwartz, 2012, p.