Introduction: The family is displaying the conflict theory. Conflict theory is explained to be the differences between classes within society and competition for scarce resources. Conflicts arise when resources, status, and power are unevenly distributed between groups in society. These conflicts can be so intense, that it become to the reason for social change. The theory recognizes that power is the core of all social relationships. In addition, these interest groups fight to gain advantages over others. One of the basic assumptions to this theory is, the nature of humans is that they are self-oriented. In addition, conflict theorist believe that humans have unlimited potential of hope, which they have unlimited potential to desire power, …show more content…
Father smells like smoke and beer and clothes seemed to unkempt. Father seems to have limited or no financial means. Jeanette seems to descent with her appearance today. She also seem very annoyed and agitated, just from the looks of gestures and nonverbal cues. Jeanette is sitting the session with her arms folded and legs crossed. Maureen and Brian are in the session and they seem to be pretty descent as well as far as appearance. Jeanette seems to be avoiding eye contact with her father; father seems to be clueless towards her agitated gestures and cues. The father may not be aware of the tension in the room, but Jeanette is distancing from her father, while Maureen and Brian are sitting by him twiddling their fingers and …show more content…
Jeanette is talking with anger in her voice and is using hands to get her point across. The father is presenting poor posture, and seems to be unbothered by her concerns. Jeanette is showing really strong emotions in this situation when discussing her problems with her dad’s behavior. The father is sitting on the couch while looking at his daughter; he is tells her she is over reacting while smiling. The father tries to hug his daughter but she pulls away and continues to move further away from. Jeanette is showing signs of defensiveness in her movements. Brian is playing with Maureen. He is keeping her occupied and she seems to be really enjoying his company. Brian and Maureen have taken their selves out of reality and is playing in their own
Their playful wrestling is to the point where it becomes dangerous for the boy, which is why his mother scowls at them. The boy waltzes and plays with his dad, and when it is time for him to go to bed, he is grasping his shirt and doesn’t want to stop. When Jeannette was little, she looked up to her dad, not realizing that his drinking, roughness, and carelessness would soon ruin their relationship. The differences between the kids’ dad’s is that when the boy’s dad plays with him while drunk, he isn’t mean and destructive. He is a little too rough, but roughness is better than neglect.
She has no sympathy that her daughter was just sexually assaulted by a family member, even though about 60% of children who are sexually abused are abused by the people the family trusts (“Darkness to Light End Child Sexual Abuse”). Rex and Rose Mary tell Jeanette that she will be fine and that she can handle herself. They are too busy trying to pretend that their financial situation is okay to truly care about Jeannette being sexually assaulted.
Jeanette's parents also had different views on society which the reader sees throughout the book, give the children a hard time.
Throughout her childhood, Jeannette is faced with instability. Her parents had a very unique style that could be classified as “hands off” parenting. For example, Rose tells Jeanette that “If you don’t want to sink you better learn to swim… That’s one lesson that every parent needs to teach their child” (Walls 137). Instead of growing up in a traditional house, Jeannette and her family constantly moved from town to town. When her mother got bored, or her father got in too many bar fights, Jeannette was forced to pick up her life and move to another small desert town. Due to her nomadic lifestyle, Jeannette refrained from establishing deep friendships amongst her school and
When Dad asks Jeanette for money, it shows that Dad doesn’t know how to handle money. Since Dad can’t be trusted with money, Jeanette has to be the responsible adult in the family.
Her Mother seemed to be more put together than her father at times, even getting a job at one point helping the family out. Though her mother was a hedonist and did not contain the motherly love and sacrifice for her kids, this job helped Jeanette’s future. She helped grade papers which increased her knowledge of the outside world and “...the world was making a little more sense” as she read the papers and projects of her mother’s students (Walls 205). Her parents had such an opposition to the outside world that she hadn’t gotten every aspect of
She feels this especially when her father is so consumed in his drinking and her mother is so consumed in her artwork. With the parents worried about other things, they do not have time to worry about the actual concern: the safety and protection of their children. With the poor decisions they make in regards to their children's safety, it seems as though they do not love them which is where Jeanette feels she has to pick up their slack. Towards the end of the novel Jeanette and her new husband, John, invite her mom, brother, and sister to a family Thanksgiving dinner showing love and compassion even after all the pain and suffering her mom caused her, “It had been John’s idea to invite her and Lori and Brian out to the house for Thanksgiving, the first Walls family get- together since Dad’s funeral.” Jeanette’s love and compassion even during the hard times, helped her to gain love in her life. After leaving in poverty fir all her life, she was finally able to be apart of the upper-middle
Conflict theory sees societies comprised of groups with conflicting values and interests. (Vold et al. 1998)
While she is in the hospital, her mother does not stay with her. Instead she visits a few times and gives her oranges, seeming to be disappointed in the fact that it is an illness. At this point in the story, the reader can begin to feel sorry for young Jeanette. She is left all alone in the hospital while her mother is busy helping the church. Jeanette wants to be a missionary, just like in the stories her mom has read to her. In the beginning of the book, it appears that Jeanette’s mother does love her. However, it appears that she only loves her based on if she fulfills her expectations or not.
The conflict perspective highlights the notion that society consists of individuals of different social classes and status groups that are of conflicting self- interests. As
Because of this, the narrator has a heightened sense of responsibility as she has assumed the role of her mother picking up household chores. Her father and her have a set routine splitting the chores between them, and they stick to this schedule. She tries to reach out to her dad and talk to him about things in her life, but he is unable to connect to her as he has always treated her as an adult in their relationship since the passing of his wife. This creates stress and tension between them leading to misunderstandings causing their relationship to further decline as they simply are unable to communicate with each other on a deeper level. For example, the narrator is asked by her father about her language arts class during dinner.
Conflict Theory – Macro level – This is built off of resources, status and power that is not evenly distributed throughout groups in our
In general, conflict theory is to explain the conflict between authority groups and powerless groups through the uneven distribution of power and resources in society (Lai, 2013). It is based entirely in power and how those in power do all they can to hold the majority of the population down and to keep them from gaining power, so as to secure their own position. Conflict theorists all assume that the existing social order is not a product of consensus and mutual benefit but rather a function of power differentials in society. These perspectives recognize that societal resources are limited and contend that opposing groups are in a constant struggle for a greater share of the resources and power that comes with them. As groups struggle to gain
Conflict theory is “A major sociological perspective that sees society as a set of groups in constant competition over wealth, power, and prestige. (Larkin, 2015)” Conflict theory is a more view primarily stating
One of the perspectives that caught my attention that did not seem to be addressed In the McKinley family is the conflict theory. During the story, I cannot perceive among the family member the perspective of disputes around them no one is looking for a culprit because of the situation they are transitioning. The family faces economic and medical problems nobody reports I am doing more than you, nobody has power; instead they are trying to solve the problem as a family, (Hutchison, 2015).