Theories

It's Friday!!! Yay! I'm so excited for the weekend! So something we learned about in class that I had never heard about before was theories. In this class we learn about researching families. When we look at families we use different theories to help guide the research. The concept of theory is stressed because when dealing with researching things like families, you have to be careful with stating facts because all families and situations are different. There are four theories we look at when talking about family relations. Systems theory, exchange theory, symbolic interaction theory, and conflict theory.

                The first is systems theory, which al other theories fall under the general heading, but when specifically applied to family relations this theory asserts that the intimate group must be analyzed as a whole. Basically it means that everyone in the family has a role that is for the benefit of the whole family not them individually.

                The next theory is the exchange theory. The concept of this theory is the idea of “you owe me”. It is the attempt to keep your costs, which could be time, money, emotional energy etc., lower than your rewards. If this is not happening then you would avoid the person or end the relationship.

                The next  theory is the symbolic interaction theory. This is a theory that people are defined by their interaction experiences. One of the important concepts of this idea is the definition of the situation,  when we define a situation as real it has real consequences.

                The last theory is conflict theory. This theory is the idea that all societies are characterized by inequality, conflict, and change as groups in the society struggle.

                These theories are one way people look at family relationships. Like I said before, families are so unique and have their own situations so in my opinion they are one of the hardest things to put facts on. But by using these theories, this is one way we can try to learn more about the functions and habits of families in general.  

Have a great weekend!! 

-Ashley