Talk:Dysfunctional family/Archive 1

TV Series
The TV series - basically they are not about dysfunctional families, are they? They are about family problems of a much less serious kind. So I would just cut them, for consistency.

Charles Matthews 21:10, 9 Apr 2005 (UTC)

this needs major work for instance the efect disabled kids have on the dysfunctionalism of the family. - james cullis

I agree that the whole television section needs to be removed. These television families have problems, but they are NOT dysfunctional. The Simpson's ultimately love each other and are able to work out their problems from episode to episode. They do not engage in cycles of violence or abuse. Labeling these families as "dysfunctional" gives people who have not experienced true dysfunction a very skewed view of how these families behave. There are some movies/books that would correctly exemplify the hopelessness and unhealthiness of such families: Films - Precious; Books - The Glass Castle; Plays - Death of a Salesman, 'Night Mother. There are hundreds of other examples, but to put a comedy like Malcom int he Middle into this category is just irresponsible. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 208.53.106.46 (talk) 23:24, 17 April 2010 (UTC)

Nothing really useful to add
But we have a joke 'round here that my family puts the "fun" in "dysfunctional." --Al 14:41, 17 August 2005 (UTC)

Expert?
Does growing up in a family that fits the Dysfunctional Family stereotype make one an expert? --Veemonkamiya 07:26, 9 December 2005 (UTC)

--No, it does not automatically make one an expert. As the page says, people growing up in a dysfunctional family often believe that dysfunctional is normal, and hence are incapable of saying whether something is characteristic of dysfunctional families or not. Aside from that, lots of 15yos think their family is dysfunctional, even though it may perhaps not be. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.110.199.43 (talk • contribs)

--- Article need a lot of work. Uses strong phrases with personal moral connotations such as "basic boundaries of appropriate behavior" - which seems to indicate that there some some set criterion for behavior which, prevalent though it may be, I doubt anyone can cite. There is also a lack of any sources. - Xvall
 * "basic boundaries of appropriate behavior" is a common phrase used when descibing dysfunctional families. It's often so varied that it amounts to a 'you know it when you hear it' kind of thing. A common example being sexual boundries: we idealize a close, confidant relationship between mother and daughter, but that assumes the mother's interest in only guidence and protective, and isn't living vicariously through her daughter. It's often a judgement call, where someone from a "normal" family would recognise the behavior as creepy, but he child, having been raised with that type of behavior, thinks it's normal. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.234.123.94 (talk) 05:53, 7 October 2008 (UTC)

Neuharth?
Who is Neuharth? --Yonkie 10:09, 29 October 2006 (UTC)


 * . Charles Matthews 10:24, 29 October 2006 (UTC)
 * Holy crap advertising. This article is horrendous.

Unfortuatly most fmailies today are this way i know mine is but why it ahs to be this way is something i do continue to puzzle about!? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Eleventhdr (talk • contribs) 16:14, 26 November 2007 (UTC)
 * OK then.

Marriage problems
I honestly can't believe having read this page that the word "divorce" does not appear at all - a considerable oversight!

Effect on children?

 * Does a dysfunctional family necessarily have a negative effect on children. Coundn't some strong-willed children actaully thrive in such situations and reslove not to be like their parents?--The world salutes the Rising Star...Try to be One 10:14, 6 April 2007 (UTC)

Some, yes. I believe so. But not all. In fact, as far as sociological evidence goes, it is likely that most children will grow to believe that the behavior exhibited in their circles are acceptable to the world at large and will likely reflect that in their future relationships. - Xvall

Of course, people can raise above an abusive past. However, I don't think 'thrive' would be the right word. More like survive. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.234.123.94 (talk) 05:56, 7 October 2008 (UTC)

The link to the german page
Well, this link is misguiding as its not linking to a german version of the dysfunctional family article but to an article about "defence mechanism". I don't know how to do it but someone should delete this link. Thanks.

btw: you can test this. just go to the german article and then try to go back to the dysfunctional family article by clicking on "English". You'll be viewing the english article called "defence mechanism".

Maybe another flag?
Ok, maybe someone should put a better flag for the repair need, because "in need of attention from an expert on the subject" sounds very humorous in context. Generaleskimo 07:00, 14 November 2007 (UTC)

but it's not always true ok —Preceding unsigned comment added by 216.58.29.215 (talk) 20:52, 27 January 2008 (UTC)

Medical diagnosis?
I don't see a specific reference to medical diagnosis. Does the term "Dysfunctional family" have a specific definition as a medical diagnosis? And if not, how is the term defined and what is the source. - Michael J Swassing (talk) 16:38, 29 January 2008 (UTC)

Twelve-Step Program, Anecdotal?
I see praise for twelve-step programs in a sentence with at least two grammatical errors, but I don't see a reference to a study which proves how "great" twelve-step programs are for dysfunctional families. - User:Tommccr 16:38, 2 June 2008 (UTC)

Problems with formatting?
I corrected the table code, but it seems the usage of parenthesis in the table is also incorrect... perhaps somekind of failed attempt in formatting. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 90.190.226.159 (talk) 20:37, 27 March 2009 (UTC)

Difference between dysfunctional and Abusive
is there considered to be a difference between dysfunctional and Abusive? are abusive families extremely dysfunctional families or is there a difference? Tydoni (talk) 03:52, 4 October 2009 (UTC)

How are The Simpsons, Family Guy, and American Dad! dysfunctional families?
They're pretty functional to me, as of course no family is perfect but I do entirely understand the concept of dyfunctional families myself. Thanks-Jana —Preceding unsigned comment added by 99.54.175.172 (talk) 05:18, 25 November 2009 (UTC)

I am of the opinion that it would be a ridiculously long list if you want to include TV/Movie dysfunctional families. Even starting on Fox television sitcoms I would include Married with Children, The War at Home (TV series), Malcolm in the Middle, etc., I move that this whole section adds nothing to the article and should be removed. WesUGAdawg (talk) 02:49, 10 April 2010 (UTC)

References style should be improved
Two lists in the article, "Signs of unhealthy parenting" and "Dysfunctional parenting styles", end with a reference to Dan Neuharth's book "If You Had Controlling Parents". In each of the two cases the reference starts in a new line, which is bad writing style as it is not clear if the reference relates to the whole list or only to the last item in the list. If the reference relates to the whole list, then it should be moved at the end of the list title. On the other hand, if the reference relates only to the last list item, then it should stick to the last word in the item. --Rpremuz (talk) 21:43, 14 February 2010 (UTC)
 * I am busy fixing the references. Once upon a time there was an article with eight signs of unhealthy parenting and eight parenting styles which cause family dysfunction, all of them from Neuhart's book. Since then, editors have removed signs and styles, rewritten them and aided freely to them, without any reference at all. So now I restored the referenced signs and will soon restore the parenting styles . All single referenced statements have been given a reference, and the statements without a reference have no reference, but should get a reference.
 * By the way, I have no opinion about Neuhart's book. I only see that this is the only reference we have for these sections.  Lova Falk     talk   17:06, 7 June 2010 (UTC)
 * None of the parenting styles bear any resemblance to the ones cited from Neuhart, so I only added a no-reference tag.  Lova Falk     talk   17:18, 7 June 2010 (UTC)