Family  Communica-on  

A  Collage  of  the  Taylor  Family  from  NBC’s  hit  television  series:  

Friday  Night  Lights  

By  Corey  Randall  

The  Taylors  

•  I  chose  to  analyze  the  Taylors  because  I  really  enjoyed  watching  the  show  Friday  Night  Lights  and  I  thought  that  their  family  system  had  an  interes-ng  dynamic  to  it.  

•  The  Taylors  are  a  Two-­‐Parent  Biological  Family:  Consists  of  parents  and  the  children  who  are  from  the  union  of  these  parents  

Levels  of  Adaptability  

•  The  Taylors  have  a  very  structured  family  where  “family  members  experience  authoritarian  and  some  equalitarian  leadership  and  stables  roles  and  rules”  (p.  32).  

Roles  

•  Coach  Taylor  is  definitely  the  head  of  the  household  where  his  job  takes  precedent  over  the  others  in  the  family.    

•  The  family  decisions  are  made  around  his  job  schedule  and  the  family  moves  according  to  where  he  is  employed.  

Roles  

•  Tami  Taylor    is  the  support  system  in  the  family  where  she  takes  on  everyone’s  problems  and  tries  to  help  resolve  any  sort  of  conflict.  

•  She  is  a  guidance  councilor  at  the  same  school  Coach  Taylor’s  team  plays  for  and  where  their  daughter  goes.  

Roles  

•  Julie  Taylor  is  the  Taylors  daughter  and  she  is  typically  the  one  that  creates  the  family  drama.  

•  She  is  a  student  at  Dillon  High  School  and  she  dates  the  star-ng  quarterback  of  the  team  –  which  makes  for  an  interes-ng  dynamic  between  coach,  the  quarterback,  and  Julie.  

Decision  Making  

•  “Decision  making  is  the  process  by  which  family  members  make  choices,  reach  judgments,  or  arrive  at  solu-ons  that  end  uncertainty”  (p.  20).  

•  The  majority  of  the  decision  are  made  by  the  parents  in  the  family,  however,  Coach  Taylor  is  depicted  as  being  the  head  of  the  household  where  all  decisions  are  finalized.  

Dialec-cal  Theory  

•  “Family  rela-onships  are  not  sta-c  –  they  are  constantly  in  process…  Rela-onships  are  shapes  and  maintained  by  the  ways  members  manage  contradic-ons”  (p.  74).  

•  The  Taylors  are  a  family  that  goes  through  a  number  of  changes  and  challenges,  but  as  the  family  is  faced  with  adversity  they  over  come  it  through  good  communica-on  func-ons.  

Communica-on  Func-ons  

•  Cohesion  – The  Taylors  fall  under  the  category  of  “connected”  where  they  value  closeness  and  -me  together  but  understands  that  each  family  member  needs  to  do  their  own  thing  outside  of  the  family.  

•  Adaptability    – The  Taylors  have  shown  their  ability  to  change  and  overcoming  all  kinds  of  adversity.    Their  “flexibility”  has  enabled  them  to  be  a  successful  family  

Rituals  

•  The  Taylors  are  a  very  football  oriented  family  where  they  hold  team  dinners  for  the  team  in  support  of  the  school  and  the  football  program.  

•  Every  Friday  Night  Tami  and  Julie  go  to  the  football  game  to  support  Coach  Taylor  and  the  Dillon  Panthers.  

Family  Image  

•  Football  is  very  important  to  the  Taylors,  however,  they  seem  to  make  being  a  family  the  priority.  

•  They  make  decisions  as  a  family  and  fallow  through  with  the  promises  they  make  with  one  another.  

•  Through  all  of  the  adversity  they  are  faced  with,  the  Taylors  make  sure  that  they  overcome  all  of  the  obstacles  they  face  and  come  together  as  a  unit  at  the  end  of  it  all.