Family Theories

   This week we focused more on family theories. Family theories are made to explain and help others to better understand what can happen within the family. The four theories that we focused on were Systems theory, Exchange theory, Symbolic Interaction theory, and Conflict theory.
   With Systems theory each person plays a role. If one person is acting up, it affects the whole family. Subsystems can happen in this theory if there are three or more people. Sometimes a child is closer with either their mom or the dad. Those two create a subsystem and support each other while the other that is not part of that system feels like they do not belong and sometimes they do not know what to do in order to belong.  
   The Exchange theory is easy to explain. It is where the costs need to equal the benefits. Costs are things like time, energy, or money. In a relationship if someone is giving, say, a lot of there energy and time to clean the home, make dinner, and other time consuming things and the other person does not give back anything, then it can lead to stress in the relationship. Sometimes if the person is giving so much but is not receiving anything in return the relationship can break. I think there should be a balance. Some people love to give and serve other people, but I think it is emotionally exhausting if they don't get at least a little in return.
   The third system that was talked about was the Symbolic Interaction theory. In this theory, every behavior has a meaning. In some relationships one person can see someones behavior as offending whereas the other person is trying hard to help them. Sometimes it takes a third person to help them understand these behaviors.
   The last theory is the Conflict theory. In this theory there are limited resources. There are two types of groups; social class and gender. With social class, the higher your class the more resources are available. With gender men can seem like they have more resources because they have and sometimes make more money. Sometimes men will feel like they have to have the last say in a discussion because they are the ones that are making and bringing home the money. This can definitely create conflict in the home.
   Usually,  I think, there is a combination of these theories in most of our homes. Some are just more extreme then others.