Symbolic Interactionism In The Family

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Register to read the introduction… Conflict can take the form of competing goals as well as different role expectations. A working mother, for instance, wishes to split the housework in half, but her husband maintains that household chores are her responsibility and not a man’s. A family’s difference in age, sex and personalities will also contribute to the natural occurrence of …show more content…
Rather than seeing family roles as pre-existing and given structures that are simply accepted, this school of thought focuses on the meanings and lived experience associated with those roles and how they are constructed through interaction (McLennan, 2000). When relating symbolic interactionism to the American institution of marriage, the symbols may include a church ceremony with vows of lifetime commitment, wedding bands, a white wedding dress, a cake, flowers and music. Additionally, Ruth Dunn (2010) explains the symbolic interactionist paradigm of the family as placing emphasis on exploring the continually changing meanings of a family and its relationships. Dunn points out that “social resources are brought to the marriage by each partner including education, physical attractiveness, intelligence and family status” and the family’s “shared activities help build emotional bonds”. The sociological theories in regards to traditional families vary, as well as the roles of the family members. However, the traditional family is under siege, so if we are to strengthen our society, we must strengthen our families. A family’s strength determines the strength of the society in which we live. It is the responsibility of each of us to protect and strengthen families in whatever capacity we can. Perhaps it will once again

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