Introduction
A family, as defined in many ways, is the cell of the whole society. Analyzing a family is complicated and many theories are required. Being defined over the life course, “A family is an intergenerational social group organized and governed by social norms regarding descent, and affinity, reproduction and the nurturant socialization of the young” (White, 1991, p. 37). Researching a family is a very long process and should pay attention to the changing of time. In this paper, episode 07 of Duck Dynasty, Season One (Gurney, Gurney, Bryant & Neumeyer, 2012) will be used to conduct the research, applying a series of theories relevant to the process of analysis. In the following …show more content…
This is a large neolocal family which lives in Louisiana, running a business which provides products for duck hunters. A neolocal family, as defined, is the family that a new couple set up by themselves and carry out neolocal residence, which is the most expected form in North America (White, Martin & Bartolic, 2013). All the marriages in this family are the type of monogamy, which means one person can only marry another person at one time (White, Martin & Bartolic, 2013). The life course theory can be used to study the change of family structure more thoroughly. The Robertson’s experienced the marriage between Phil and Kay, which was a transition event, the mark of the beginning point of a new stage (White, Martin & Bartolic, 2013), for this family. The birth of the offspring led the family to a completely new stage and made the structure more …show more content…
For example, when one of the family members is in trouble, the whole family will be there to help him or her, and more methods will come up since there is more people thinking and exchanging ideas. And just like what Miss Kay said, “I know I have a crazy family, but when I need help, they are always there”, the big family can give the family member a sense of safety, thus giving them more confidence to do anything, which is the unique advantage the big family has. However, the big family also has its own trouble and challenge. With too many ideas, it becomes more difficult to make a decision which can take all the family members into consideration. This may cause many problems, such as complaints, conflicts, even a fight, which are all harmful to the family relationship. Luckily, the strengths of this family are way stronger than the challenges, which can be observed from their daily life displayed in the show, so that the family can maintain a healthy family inner environment. Through this episode, a structurally connected family is displayed. The kinship is bonded more perfectly than the regular big families because of the business issues. In the process of analyzing the family, the use of life course theory, parent-child relationship analysis, the analysis of conflict and abuse across the life course and the use of Circumplex Model are useful to understand the