Daniel Thomas Fmaily Collage
- 1. Family Collage Assignment Wilkerson family from the hit television series Malcolm in the Middle
- 2. Wilkersons The Wilkerson Family Consists of six immediate family members, the two parents and four children, all male. The parents are Lois and Hal Lois comes across as a stubborn control freak while trying to keep her children in check. She comes across as the strict housewife while also keeping a job at a local grocery store. Hal is the much more laid back almost childish parent always wanting to join in with the kids activities, and sometimes doing it. He does however know when to be a father.
- 3. Wilkerson Kids The four sons in order by age are Francis, Reese, Malcolm, and Dewey. Francis while being in the show the least out of any of the main characters, due to attending a military academy is looked up to by his brothers and while not being a great role model gives great advice when needed. Although he is the second oldest Reese is the least mature out of the brothers. He is always bullying others and getting in trouble. He is naturally gifted at random tasks which always comes up throughout the show.
- 4. Wilkerson Kids Continued Malcolm who is the main character of the show, has the most common sense out of his brothers as well as being a child genius, which sometimes gets him in trouble. He is able to help his family get through troubles. He does have quite an ego because of his intelligence which can sometimes make others dislike him. Dewey is the somewhat innocent youngest brother. He is the victim of many of Reeses and Malcolms pranks while actually being very intelligent, even out doing Malcolm.
- 5. Family Structure The Wilkersons are a Caucasian two-parent biological family who live in a suburban area. They are lower middle class who are always struggling financially while both parents work. They do not keep a clean house as the inside is cluttered and the yard is not well maintained, which causes aggravation with the neighbors.
- 6. Family Functions The Wilkerson family is a very cohesive family as every member is a huge part of the family unit. While Malcolm, Reese, and Dewey fight constantly there are multiple examples of when they put their differences aside to help one another.
- 7. Family Functions Continued The roles that the family members play in terms of flexibility is somewhat in between structured and flexible. While there is a lot of chaos going on in their lives the family is still able to maintain predictable relationships and common meanings.
- 8. Relational Maintenance Hal and Lois. Hal and Lois find little time to be romantic with one another. When they do though they take advantage of it. They are always Positive and rarely get into arguments. Sharing Tasks. Includes jointly performing tasks These two do a great job of balancing their lives by sharing their family duties while each having a job, relieving the stress off of one another.
- 9. Relational Maintenance Parent and Child As stated in earlier slides Lois comes across as the dictator parent while Hal the more fun loving. But each relationship is different with each child. As Dewey is the youngest of the four he is still treated as such and given the most attention. On the other hand Francis being the eldest is expected to help out more and given less attention. Reese and Malcolm are a similar age but because of their attitudes Malcolm who is younger than Reese is allowed to be more independent.
- 10. Relational Maintenance Sibling Maintenance Female siblings use relational maintenance behavior at a higher rate than males As all of these four siblings are male there isnt a whole lot of maintenance going on. Malcolm and Reese spend the most time together because of their similar age. They engage in shared activities in almost every episode while when they add Dewey into the mix he is usually being picked on. Francis is looked up to by his brothers more for support, emotionally and morally, and asked for advice many times. As he is away at military academy he is only spoken to on the phone making every conversation that much more important to maintaining their relationships.
- 11. Family Boundaries The Family has a few close friends and other family throughout the show that they are open with. Malcolm has a friend, Stevie, that he shares everything with, but besides this open boundary they are closed off from the rest of society. This creates tension with the family and others because of the differences in life style.