Introduction of Family
The Cosby show focuses on the relationships within the Huxtable family, an upper-class African American family living in Brooklyn Heights, New York. The family is led by its patriarch, Cliff Huxtable, an obstetrician, the son of a popular jazz musician. His wife, Clair Huxtable, is the matriarch of the family and a lawyer. The husband and wife have four daughters and one son: Sondra, Denise, Theo, Vanessa, and Rudy.
Parents Observation
The family patriarch, Cliff, has a fun personality; he is kind and caring about his friends and relatives. His “role” and reputation have made him well-regarded in his community and family as a generous person (Nawaz, 2019). Besides, Cliff is a “family man” who provides for his family and maintains a caring paternal presence. He is welcomed in any company setting, being a pleasure for everyone with whom he interacts. However, while quick to poke fun, he can also be very no-nonsense, especially with his children. For Cliff, the main challenge is similar to his wife’s one, which entails balancing his responsibilities while making everyone in his family happy.
Upon observing Clair Huxtable, one can mention that she is a strong-willed and intelligent woman. Moreover, as a rule, she uses her education to her advantage when interacting with others (Heckman et al., 2018). If she has a strong opinion about something, she always defends it. However, she is not arrogant and will never flaunt her intellect and capabilities. Besides, Clair has control over her emotions when interacting with others. However, she can lose her cool when kids upset her or do not do what she wants, a robust matriarchal quality (Goldbach, 2019). For her, the main challenge in the family is to balance being a wife, a mother, and a professional.
Children Observation
Sondra – the most serious, responsible, and earnest among all of her siblings.
Denise – the second daughter of Cliff and Clair. She has a strong sense of individuality; she is interested in music and fashion, which sets her apart from others.
Theo – the epitome of a middle child who often misbehaves and has fun despite what others tell him. He is into sports and wants to impress girls; he dreams about having a motorcycle or a sports car one day.
Vanessa – the fourth child in the Huxtable family, and she is seen experiencing the typical struggles of growing up as a teenager; such as wearing makeup and making friends. She enjoys school and is a good student, which is why she is seen going to college a year early.
Rudy – the youngest child of the Huxtable family who is seen acting innocent, cute. However, the girl can often be sassy, standing her ground, while getting by in the family easily.
Observation of Pairings According to Family Systems Theory
Following Bowen’s theory of family systems, the following key features of the interaction of family members should be identified. First of all, social class, cultural, racial, and national aspects are among the critical elements in family processes (Erdem & Safi, 2018). In a sense, the Huxtables break the usual societal stereotypes about black families. Secondly, there is the process of multi-generational transmission, when specific basic patterns of the relationship between mother, father, and children reproduce the patterns of past generations and will be reproduced in subsequent ones (Popovic, 2019). Thirdly, the family has various relationships, such as a triangle. This triangle can be stable, as in the case of parents and Sondra, or it can develop conflict cases, as with Vanessa, Denis, and Theo. Fourthly, sometimes there may be a family projection process, and emotional problems are successfully transmitted to children. Fifth, there is also a reasonably strong dependence on siblings when different genders affect development and behavior.
Who Sits Close to Whom
In general, there are practically no various troubles in the family. This is a cheerful and close-knit large family that prefers to live in peace and harmony. In accordance with this, it can be argued that each of the members of this cell of society is more or less close to their relatives. However, for instance, Cliff and Claire have deep and strong feelings of love and unity for each other even during long-married years. As one of the most severe and responsible offspring, Sondra has a sincere relationship with her parents, who have always had high hopes for her. Moreover, she tried to follow in her mother’s footsteps, evidenced by her close attachment to her mother.
Who Is Farthest Away From Whom
Undoubtedly, the Huxtable family is one of the large friendly families from the point of view of most viewers. However, there are periodic moments associated with misunderstanding and confusion, even in such a harmonious home atmosphere. For example, Cliff often makes fun of his older children in an ironic and sometimes even sarcastic way; he talks about when the kids will leave their homes. In addition, a rather tense relationship could arise between Cliff and Denise in the case when the daughter shows inconstancy in connections with boyfriends and oddities in clothes and hairstyles. In short, when she contradicts her father’s views on certain moments, a conflict could arise. Moreover, parents, at first times, often criticize Theo for laziness and unwillingness to study. At the same time, contrary to adults, the son did not want to show particular motivation in achieving success in the academic field. Furthermore, Vanessa often quarreled with Rudy over typical teenage problems and even managed to fight with Denise. The girl also quarreled with her parents to smoke cigarettes, especially with Claire in one of the episodes when she sneaked off with friends to Baltimore.
Level of Verbal Involvement Between Members
Indeed, both proximity and distance reflect the levels of intrapersonal communication and interpersonal connections. For example, in a more “open form,” Sondra becomes a role model, and her parents do not disdain to praise and encourage her. Husband and wife do not hide their intimate connection; they also show love and care for each child, sometimes keeping kids in strict discipline and order. However, Vanessa is one of the most “pugnacious” and conflicted children in the family; the girl does not hide her hatred towards anyone or anything. Theo, for example, was in a “bad account” with his parents for a particular time, and his sisters understood this perfectly well.
The Emotional Climate and Interactions in the Family
The observation of the Huxtable family from the Cosby show shows that there is an overall positive and supportive environment in the household. The fact that the family is large and remains stable over the years is a challenge to the stereotype that most Black families are broken up. Since Claire and Cliff have five children, the interactions within the family are dynamic because there are different personalities. The exchange of opinions and experiences strengthens their connections and makes them involved in each others’ lives. Older sisters are seen giving advice to their younger siblings, while the latter look up to their older siblings. In addition, the dynamics of the relationships evolve as time goes on – children grow up and get new interests and aspirations.
The family is not perfect by any means, and some challenges remain to be addressed. Specifically, generational problems remain relevant as children are seen to sometimes be defiant and disobedient. In addition, there is pressure on the older three children to do well in education, which causes anxiety, especially in Theo. Children often argue due to personal boundary issues and when competing for attention. However, as related to the family systems theory, there is a rule in the family to respect and care for one another despite the differences they have. The balance in the family system is achieved when the behaviors of family members are predictable due to their personalities.
Evidence
Homeostatic mechanisms
For example, at first, the feasibility study is a “scapegoat” for its laziness and unwillingness to study, and then Vanessa falls under this definition “randomly.” Children may occasionally quarrel, but someone finds a compromise option in any case. The family healer, apparently, in this family is Claire. Due to her concentration, responsibility, decency, and extraordinary love and care for children, she became a favorite of every member.
Negative feedback loops
Most likely, negative loops are associated with the peculiarities of the upbringing of some children. For example, parents instruct teenagers to do certain things “correctly” and properly. However, it should be taken into account the fact that adolescence is one of the most difficult, and the child wants to do everything differently.
Complementarity
Everyone in the family is interconnected with each other not only by blood ties but also by common interests and views on specific points. For example, the series shows complementarity in marital aspects and friendly and hostile relations between sisters and brothers. Each role is clearly defined, and a family member corresponds to this role for a certain period. Accordingly, these roles are shifted, modified, and modified over time.
Family rules
Each family member acts in a manner befitting a good citizen. Parents raise their children based on their own moral and ethical beliefs and not because of the stereotypes prevalent in society. Accordingly, children must also comply not only with the rules within the family but also with state laws.
Paradoxical Communications
Disagreements may occur in the family due to understatement, insufficient information, and ambivalence of judgments. For example, when Theo finds out that his sister smokes, Theo ceases to be a scapegoat, and this role is transferred to Vanessa. Moreover, as one of the curious girls, Vanessa found herself in bad company and even tried to dissuade her peers from using tobacco. Theo misunderstood the situation and told his parents about the circumstances from the point of view of his understanding.
Conclusion
In conclusion, the Huxtables are one of the friendliest and most cohesive families on the TV screens of the 80s. However, the members periodically have disagreements and quarrels despite the seemingly positive atmosphere. According to Bowen’s theory of family systems, everything works smoothly, harmoniously, harmoniously, and gradually in this “household.” Thus, each member has their own role, plot, script, and “rules of the play.” Moreover, such phenomena can be explained not only in terms of the individual characteristics of the characters but also in various theories, concepts, knowledge, and ideas about large families in general. However, the Huxtables family is distinguished by a non-standard view of the formation of the “minimum cell of society,” in which the mother is the head of the family, the breadwinner, and the educator at the same time, and the father actively supports his wife and provides the family not only with resources but also with life advice.
References
Erdem, G., & Safi, O. A. (2018). The cultural lens approach to Bowen family systems theory: Contributions of family change theory. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 10(2), pp. 469-483.
Goldbach, J. (2019). Family and the World. American Book Review, 40(2), pp. 19-19.
Heckman, J. J., Humphries, J. E., & Veramendi, G. (2018). The nonmarket benefits of education and ability. Journal of human capital, 12(2), pp. 282-304.
Nawaz, M. (2019). An elegy of a patriarch: Boys will be boys by Sara Suleri. International Journal of English Literature and Social Sciences, 4(3), pp. 548-555.
Popovic, M. A. J. A. (2019). Bowen family systems theory. Springer Publishing Company.
Priest, J. B. (2021). The science of family systems theory. Routledge.