A very bleak picture was painted by the vignette on the Blue family. It contains all the ingredients of a hopeless future if the unfortunate cycle of poor modeling and socialization is not ceased. The parents, Mr. & Mrs. Blue contribute much to a sociological problem of the demise of the close family unit idealized by society, as they inflict violence and neglect on their children.
Blame the pathetic current state on a number of factors starting from intergenerational transmission. From his childhood, Mr. Blue was a victim of domestic violence himself as his father often hit him. Yelling at him seems to be his father’s form of communication even until now. Now he has grown to be a perpetrator of such violence. Perhaps, it is due to growing up being used to it that he has lost all empathy for those he hurts. It may have been all he has been exposed to that he has learned it to be a way of life that is no big deal to be concerned about. Therefore, emotionality is ruled out in the Blue family as they live from day to day, the children, also turning jaded with the reality presented to them – having a non-person father and a neglectful mother. As described in the lectures, Mr. Blue typifies the profile of the male abuser. He hits his wife in front of the children, he is stressed from his work with his father’s business, he has a low level of education, is poor, dominant, aggressive and holds on to traditional gender ideology by insisting that the woman’s place is in the home.
Mrs. Blue, having been raised by an alcoholic parent has married a husband who likewise drinks, being used to the pattern already. According to the lectures, growing up with an alcoholic parent will have a major effect on who the person becomes and the “choices” he or she makes. In Mrs. Blue’s case, she suffers from a lot of emotional problems with her choice of a mate and is planning on filing for a divorce to free herself from this trap she stumbled upon as a pregnant teenager. Cuber and Harroff would identify the Blues marriage as Utilitarian, characterized by conflict, tension, no emotional component but the couple remains together out of duty. However, the vignette does not even show that the Blue couple is guaranteed to stay married for the sake of their children. In their case, it may be societal expectations, or simply loss of drive to move towards a better life.
The familial culture the Blue couple grew up in is a social force that pushes them to perpetuate this culture in their own family. The family members keep on falling into the same mistakes their predecessors have made, keeping them trapped in a cycle of violence, socially inappropriate behavior a culture of poverty, and a life without hope (or even effort to move towards it) for a bright future. An example is Mrs. Blue’s teenage pregnancy that led her to drop out of school and cohabitate with Mr. Blue before they got married two years later. Her own daughters are promiscuous, one even pregnant without the benefit of marriage.
Not knowing any better, and being exposed to such inappropriate behavior of their parents, symbolic interactionism dictates that the Blue children’s constant interactions make them behave inappropriately as well. The eldest, Tom, follows his societal role of caring for his younger siblings, although quality of care is reflective of the care he derived from his parents – harsh, wanting of respect and affection, as he hits them and calls them names. That was how he was socialized, growing up. With his situation, Tom is on his way to be afflicted with the curse of the men in his family – being an abuser like his father and grandfather.
The Blue children grow up neglected…food is always scarce, their home environment is not fit for raising healthy children and education is not a priority. Their physical, mental and emotional needs are not met in this family so they tend to just live in accordance to what they have been exposed to, further fanning the flames of a vicious cycle.