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Frequency and Intensity of Family Conflict Communication

Of all interpersonal relationships, for most persons, family relationships are the most conflicted relationships that they have (Shantz & Hobart, 1989), with conflict behavior more frequent in family relationships (including marital, parent-child, and sibling relation­ships) than in peer or work relationships (Sillars et al., 2004).

Furthermore, family rela­tionships are also the most physically violent interpersonal relationships most persons have (Straus, 1990). Despite significant changes in U.S. social norms that have made acts of severe violence (including kicking, punch­ing, and hitting with objects such as belts or paddles) unacceptable or even illegal in spou­sal, parent-child, and sibling relationships, in 2008, 18% of children and adolescents in a nationally representative survey reported being exposed to physical violence in their homes, 10% reported that they saw a par­ent being hit by a partner, and 5% reported that their parent was physically assaulted by their partner (Hamby, Finkelhor, Turner, & Ormrod, 2011). In a similar survey, 36% of children and adolescents reported having been physically assaulted by a sibling (Finkelhor, Turner, & Hamby, 2005).

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Source: Oetzel John, Ting-Toomey Stella. The SAGE Handbook of Conflict Communication: Integrating Theory, Research and Practice. SAGE Publications,2013. — 912 p.. 2013

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