Faculty Publications
A Radical Interactionist Perspective on Family Conflicts and Mothers With Substance Use Problems
Document Type
Book Chapter
Keywords
complex dominative encounters, family conflict, family order, intervention, mothers with substance use problems, negotiated order, patriarchy, Substance use problems
Journal/Book/Conference Title
Symbolic Interaction and Inequality
Volume
58
First Page
57
Last Page
82
Abstract
This study is a radical interactionist analysis of family conflict. Drawing on both a negotiated order perspective and Athen’s theory of complex dominative encounters, this study analyzes the role that domination plays in conflicts among intimates. As the family engages in repeated conflicts over roles, the family also engages in negotiations over the family order, what role each party should play, interpretations of past events, and plans for the future. These conflicts take place against a backdrop of patriarchy that asymmetrically distributes power in the family to determine the family order. The data from this study come from a content analysis of mothers with substance use problems as depicted in the reality television show Intervention. The conflicts in these families reveal that these families develop a grinding family order in which families engaged in repeated conflict but also continued to operate as and identify as a family. These conflicts are shaped by and reinforce patriarchal expectations that mothers are central to family operation. The intervention at the end of each episode offered an opportunity for the family to engage in a concerted campaign to try to force the mother into treatment and reestablish the family order.
Department
Department of Sociology, Anthropology, and Criminology
Original Publication Date
4-30-2024
DOI of published version
10.1108/S0163-239620240000058004
Recommended Citation
Baker, Kimberly M., "A Radical Interactionist Perspective on Family Conflicts and Mothers With Substance Use Problems" (2024). Faculty Publications. 5985.
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/facpub/5985