Instructions: Chapter One in Smith and Hamon (p. 18) present three overarching themes of Symbolic Interactionism. In addition, Smith and Hamon state, “One of the criticisms of conflict theory is that it analyzes families in destructive, negative terms and does not have a richness of ideas that appeals to users” (p. 246). Students will write a 4-5 page paper to summarize the three themes and analyze the criticisms of conflict theory.
In this assignment students must:
provide a critical analysis of each theme, analyze the criticism of conflict theory, and explain how these themes apply to marriage and family therapy. Organize the paper so that each theme is numbered and treated individually. Reference your sources using the correct APA style including in-text citations and a reference page.
Required Readings:
Sourcebook of family theory & research, text
Chapter 2: Contemporary and emerging theories in studying families, (pp. 35–58).
Exploring family theories, text
Chapter 1: Symbolic interactionism theory, (pp. 13–46)
Chapter 6: Conflict theory, (pp. 230–267)
Watzlawick, P. (1978). Overview. In, The language of change: Elements of therapeutic communication Download The language of change: Elements of therapeutic communication (pp. 3–12). Norton. Recommended Readings:
Aponte, H. J., & VanDeusen, J. M. (1991). Structural family therapy Download Structural family therapy. In A. S. Gurma & D. P. Kniskern (Eds.), Handbook of family therapy (Vol. 1, pp. 310–360). Brunner/Mazel. Cox, M. J., & Paley, B. (2003). Understanding families as systems Links to an external site.. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 12(5), 193–196.
Madanes, C. (1991). Strategic family therapy. Download Strategic family therapy. In A. S. Gurman and D. P. Kniskern, Handbook of family therapy (Vol 2, pp. 396–416). Brunner/Mazel.