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Linguistic Surface Structure In Family Interaction, Thomas D. Macroy

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The purpose of this dissertation was to determine the usefulness of the linguistic processes of Distortion, Deletion, Generalization, and Semantic Ill-Formedness as constructs which differentiate the verbal communication of families who express dissatisfaction with their current intrafamilial relationships from families expressing satisfaction with their current relationships. Specifically, it was hypothesized that dissatisfied families would use these linguistic structures to a greater extent in their interaction than would satisfied families.

Thirty-one family triads (father, mother, and child) were obtained by asking families randomly selected from the local high school student directory to participate. The families were given a Revealed Differences questionnaire …