Engaging Theories in Family Communication: Multiple Perspectives

"The breadth of theories presented and collected in this text is an impressive accomplishment. The editors have done a great service to the field with this book." ―Lynn H. Turner, Marquette University  

"The chapters are very informative, useful, and accessible. There is a huge need to better ground family communication in theory, and this text will provide an important start for students and researchers."   ―Douglas Kelley, Arizona State University

To date, scholars from disciplines other than communication have dominated the study of family communication. Engaging Theories in Family Communication: Multiple Perspectives covers uncharted territory in its field, as it is the first book on the market to deal exclusively with family communication theory. In this volume, editors Dawn O. Braithwaite and Leslie A. Baxter bring together a group of contributors who represent a Who′s Who in the family communication field. These scholars examine both classic and cutting-edge theories to guide family communication research in the coming years.  

Key Features:

• A clear overview of theory and three meta-theoretical discourses― logical empirical, interpretive, and critical―to provide readers with a current landscape of family communication research
• Chapter-opening notes help students understand the paradigm into which a theory falls and the historical roots of each theory
• Foreword by renowned scholar Anita Vangelisti frames the current state of family communication and provides a unique perspective on theory-building in family communication  

Engaging Theories in Family Communication is designed for students studying family communication in courses such as Family Communication, Personal Relationships, Communication Theory, Applied Communication, and Advanced Interpersonal Communication. It can also be used in a variety of Family Studies, Sociology, and Psychology courses focusing on family communication.

Dawn O. Braithwaite (Ph.D. University of Minnesota) is a Willa Cather Professor of Communication, University of Nebraska-Lincoln. She studies discourse dependent families, dialectics of relating, and communication rituals in step- and voluntary families. She has published six authored and co-edited books, including Engaging Theories in Interpersonal Communication (2nd ed.), Family Communication: Cohesion and Change (10^th ed.) and over 125 articles and chapters.

Dr. Braithwaite was named a Distinguished Scholar of the National Communication Association and the Western States Communication Association. She received NCA’s Brommel Award for Family Communication, and the Samuel Becker Distinguished Service Award, She received the Distinguised Service award for WSCA and is a Past President. Dr. Braithwaite is a Past President of the National Communication Association.

Leslie A. Baxter is F. Wendell Miller Distinguished Professor of Communication Studies at the University of Iowa, where she has taught for 15 years. She has published over 130 books, book chapters, and articles on interpersonal and family communication. She is the recipient of many awards, including, from the National Communication Association, the Distinguished Scholar Award, the Bernard Brommel Family Communication Award, the Charles Woolbert Research Award, the Franklin Knower Article Award, and the Gerald Miller Book Award; the Berscheid-Hatfield Award from the International Association for Relationship Research (formerly INPR); and the inaugural WSCA Scholar Award from the Western States Communication Association.