ABSTRACT
Family communication is characterized by clearly discernible patterns and forms. An analysis of family communication reveals that families develop and sustain a variety of different communication patterns. One way to address this variability theoretically is to create a typology of families. Communication scholars who propose typologies of families hold some axioms in common. First, although these perspectives acknowledge an enormous variability among families, the typologies are based on the premise that within any given sample of families, there are a few basic, identifiable types. Second, these approaches systematically categorize some aspect of family functioning. This categorization is accomplished by proposing central dimensions of family life. Third, although the primary function of all typologies is description, typologies can also serve to predict, to explain, and to prescribe. Indeed, the real value of a family typology for communication scholars lies not in its descriptive power, but in its ability to systematically associate family types with a variety of important family processes and outcomes (Christensen & Arrington, 1987).
