ABSTRACT
Socha and Diggs (1999), Gudykunst and Lee (2001), and others developed a preliminary rationale for the study of family communication framed by ethnic culture. This chapter adds to that work in three ways by: (a) increasing understanding of the role of culture (ethnic and otherwise) in framing how family communication scholars conceptualize and study communication in family units and relationships, (b) reviewing recent family communication studies and communication studies from allied fields with an eye to how this workmight illuminate and challenge current understandings of family communication, and (c) utilizing insights gained from these sources to offer future directions for scholarship.
