This book focuses on the diverse tapestry of families in contemporary U.S. culture. Each chapter explores a different kind of family and examines their specific communication behaviors.
We live in times of increasing diversity that complicate our understandings of ourselves as well as others who may be quite different from us. These complexities also impact our definition of "family" in addition to our interpretation of family communication behaviors. This book provides an examination of family communication practices in families that are underrepresented in the research of the discipline, and underserved in U.S. culture: immigrant families; family members in interracial relationships; LGBTQ families; low-income Latinx families; families with an incarcerated parent; and families headed by grandparents. The book is an initial effort to expand the lens of family communication scholarship to focus on "families on the margins". Through a variety of, sometimes unique, methods including textual analysis, in-depth interviews, and analysis of art projects collected at a Pride festival, each chapter in this collection adds to our knowledge of how we define family and how families communicate in the 21st century.
The chapters in this book were originally published in a special issue of the Journal of Family Communication.
Introduction: Increasing Space for Families on the Margins
Lynn H. Turner
1. "You are Not Welcome Here!" Understanding News Coverage of Central American Migrant Families in Trump’s America
Sumana Chattopadhyay
2. A Grounded Theory of Interracial Romantic Partners’ Expectations for Support and Strain with Family Members
Erin A. Brummett and Tamara D. Afifi
3. "We’re Just Family, You Know?" Exploring the Discourses of Family in Gay Parents’ Relational Talk
Benjamin Michael Alex Baker
4. Mother-Adolescent Communication in Low-Income, Latino Families during Language Brokering: Examining the Theory of Resilience and Relational Load
Lisa M. Guntzviller and Ningxin Wang
5. The Incarcerated Parent: Examining Mother-Child Conflict at the Margins through a Bio-Ecological Lens
Jill E. Rudd, Kimberly A. Neuendorf, David J. Atkin, Alicia Romano, Clare Gross and George Ray
6. "A Second-Chance at Being a Parent": Grandparent Caregivers’ Reported Communication and Parenting Practices with Co-Residential Grandchildren
Jessica D. Freeman, Jessica Elton and Andrea Lambert South
7. No Matter What: A Qualitative Analysis of How LGBTQ Families and Allies Define Family through an Interactive Art Project
Karina Willes, Kristy Jagiello, Mike Allen and Laura Motel
Biography
Lynn H. Turner is Professor in Communication Studies at Marquette University, USA, where she teaches both at the undergraduate and graduate levels, and serves as the Director of the Interdisciplinary Minor in Family Studies. Her research areas include interpersonal, gendered, and family communication.
