Blog #8:How Is Politics Like A Dysfunctional Family?

This article is about politics and family, as you see from the article title, that is “How Is Politics Like A Dysfunctional Family?” The writer for this article is a Marriage and Family Therapist.  Many families are dysfunctional just like politics has become.  For politics we are like a dysfunctional family, meaning we like to point fingers more than solve problems.  In a dysfunctional family, family members like to resist flexibility and are unwilling to try and reach synergistic solutions together.  Families like to get tied up with their thoughts and actions in the “Attack Mode.” It has been demonstrated that many of the same strategies found in healthy families also apply to organizations.   Now the question is what are the major differences between healthy and dysfunctional families?  We have four important societal dynamics that are used in dysfunctional and healthy approaches which are the following; taking responsibility, dealing with conflict, problem solving and dealing with stress. The point is a healthy family has a calm approach, and a dysfunctional family has a criticism, I am always right approach.  These approaches are also used with politics. 

I chose this article because we are hearing about politics a lot more now with the presidential elections coming up.  Also, this article covers my topic about families.  I believe that every family is different just as everyone is different about how they go about with politics.  Some families are healthier just because they know the right approach to take to solve the problem easier than a dysfunctional family will.  I would say also that many families can be in between the both of healthy and dysfunctional.  For example when I am stressed I will call my mom and vent and sometimes her responses are what I want to hear and I will be short with her. That would me my problem for how not to deal with stress and I am trying to work on it knowing my mom is trying to help me.  Every family is different and I feel that many people are also different with the approach they go with politics which is what the article is mainly about.  Sometimes for politics people are more worried about whom other people are voting for, rather than who they are voting for and why they are choosing that candidate.  For politics, people need to take responsibility, deal with the conflict, and try to solve the problem just as families need to in order to be healthy. 

http://news.yahoo.com/politics-dysfunctional-family-185000537.html;_ylt=A2KJ3CThlIFQQ2IAxe_QtDMD