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Recreation and Family Stress: An Essay in Institutional Conflicts

Author(s): T. R. YoungSource: Journal of Marriage and Family, Vol. 26, No. 1 (Feb., 1964), pp. 95-96Published by: National Council on Family RelationsStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/349386 .

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8/13/2019 Recreation and Family Stress an Essay in Institutional Conflicts

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Recreation and Family Stress: An Essayin Institutional Conflicts

T. R. YOUNG

UniversityofColorado

The possibility of a relationship n modernsociety betweenfamily disorganization nd recre-ational patterns s explored.Changesin modern recreationpatternsfrom an individual to adyadicparticipationunit, from homogeneous o heterogeneous articipation y sexes,andfroma goal of excellence o one of ecstasymayhave implicationswhich operateagainst amily inte-gration.

THIS PAPER attempts to explicate some

relationshipsbetweenfamily disorganization nthe one hand and certainchangesin the socialstructureof recreationon the other. Specifi-cally, an effortis madeto show that partof the

problemof family breakdownmay be depend-ent upon patterns within the recreational n-stitution.

There are three developments within thesocial structureof recreationwhich are thoughtto have special relevance to patternsof familystressand collapse.These are: (1) the changein the size of the unit of participationn recrea-

tion, (2) the change in the sex compositionofthe participants,and (3) the special characterof the goals of recreation.

The firstconsidered s the change in the sizeof the unit of recruitment for recreational

purposes. In many pre-industrial ocieties, theunit of recruitmentand participationn recrea-tional activity is the individual. In modern

societies,this still prevailsto a markeddegree,but for a great many recreational ctivities,theunit of recruitment nd participations a dyad,the husband-and-wife f the nuclearfamily.These participants are recruited as a dyadrather than individually. The author suggeststhat success or failure of their functioningwithin an expressive structure carries over totheir performancen the family. To the degree

that expressiveactivitiesarecentral o a culture,to the degree that the functioning dyad is

1 While it is clear that bowling leagues and kaffeeklatschescontinue to gain in popularity as masculine and feminine

refuges, the fact of increasing togetherness in recreationis emphasized here. W. A. Anderson presents evidence thatsocial participation is, to a considerable degree, a familytrait. The relationship of participation of husbands and wivesseemed to be strongest, while other family pairs were less

frequently joint participants. The Family and IndividualSocial Participation, American Sociological Review, 8

(1943), p. 421. Robert Blood asserts that after marriage, thedyad extends sociability activities to include group activitieswith other dyads. Marriage, Glencoe: Free Press, 1962, p.344.

successfulor not, to the degree that one part-ner is able to perform: to these extents willthis pattern of recruitmentand participationin recreationalsystems have saliency for fa-milial integrity.

The above speculations ead to the hypoth-esis that where one partneris incompetentor,even worse, indifferent, where one partnerdemursfrom recruitment, r where one partnermakes excessive demands, additional stresseswill devolve upon the family. Since the unitof recruitment and participation is a dyadwhich also happens to be the conjugal pair,special stressesdevelop to challenge the unityof that alliance in both dimensions of institu-tional activity. In those societies where indi-viduals were inducted into recreationalenter-

prises with little relevance to the

performanceof a marriagepartneras in the secret societiesin African culturesor the sewing societies inAmerica,these special stressesdid not transferto the familial structure.The problem, then,is one of differentialdedication and differen-tial competence within the recreationaldyadwhich, when very marked,may disrupta dyadwhich is alsoa family.

In addition to the pressure of double in-volvement, the fact of conjugal-pairrecruit-ment alters the sexual homogeneityof recrea-tion. With this new development, it becomes

inevitable that the actorsare viewed as sexualobjects as well as actors within the system athand. This new perspective akentowardactorswithin the system has presentedspecial prob-lems for the integrity of the recreational ys-tem as well as of the family. Sometimes rulesof the game have to be suspendedor revisedinaccordwith the specialdemandson gallantry-often to the annoyanceof the players.Gallantryrecedes under such circumstances. ometimes tis the familial unit which suffers when the

spouse is ungallant or when the gallantry is

proffered by a player other than the spouse

JOURNAL OF MARRIAGEAND THE FAMILYebruary1964 95

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who has the additional attribute of being asexual object. While solace and comfort cancome from the spouse, when there is successin the game or activityit is not required,andin timesof trouble,it is difficult o extend.

Finally, the goal of recreational nteractioncreates untoward

pressureswhen the unit of

participations heterosexual.Often the goal isone of ecstasyratherthan intellectualor physi-cal excellence. This suggests the hypothesisthat in recreational structures having such

goals, further stresses are placed on the fa-milialstructure.2Hereecstasy s sharedbysexual

objects who have pre-existing and divergentrole attachments n another social institution,that of the family. Negative emotionalcontent

2 Playing cards, dancing, drinking, and gambling are

examples of sorts of recreation where such togetherness isassociated with family stress. Interesting data to this point

is presented in Blood, oP. cit., p. 339. Sometimes, of course,joint participation may strengthen the family when one

partner uses the game or activity as an opportunity to allowthe spouse to win or excel. See, for example, Mirra Koma-

rovasky, Cultural Contradictions and Sex Roles, American

Journal of Sociology, 52 (1946), p. 187. But this is likelyto be the case in a culture where the role of the wifedemands such deference. In an egalitarian social milieu, thewife may not feel it necessary to defer habitually to herhusband.

who has the additional attribute of being asexual object. While solace and comfort cancome from the spouse, when there is successin the game or activityit is not required,andin timesof trouble,it is difficult o extend.

Finally, the goal of recreational nteractioncreates untoward

pressureswhen the unit of

participations heterosexual.Often the goal isone of ecstasyratherthan intellectualor physi-cal excellence. This suggests the hypothesisthat in recreational structures having such

goals, further stresses are placed on the fa-milialstructure.2Hereecstasy s sharedbysexual

objects who have pre-existing and divergentrole attachments n another social institution,that of the family. Negative emotionalcontent

2 Playing cards, dancing, drinking, and gambling are

examples of sorts of recreation where such togetherness isassociated with family stress. Interesting data to this point

is presented in Blood, oP. cit., p. 339. Sometimes, of course,joint participation may strengthen the family when one

partner uses the game or activity as an opportunity to allowthe spouse to win or excel. See, for example, Mirra Koma-

rovasky, Cultural Contradictions and Sex Roles, American

Journal of Sociology, 52 (1946), p. 187. But this is likelyto be the case in a culture where the role of the wifedemands such deference. In an egalitarian social milieu, thewife may not feel it necessary to defer habitually to herhusband.

may be defined into those symbols associatedwith a player who is also one's spouse, and

positive emotional content may be definedinto

symbols associated with another player whoalso happensto be quite an appropriate exual

object and not one's own spouse.

Further,this

sharingof

multiplestructures

by the pair sometimes places them in roleswhich offer and sanction aggression,hostility,humiliation, and immolation of one's own

spouse when he is an opponent. The involve-ment in such a role cannot easily be assumedand discarded at the designated portals ofsocial space. Since it is easy to confuse theactor in his institutional role with the total

person, expectations and responses associatedwith one role may spill over to other roles.

All in all, the special characterof contem-

porary recreation-its spousal or familial pat-

terns of recruitment,ts heterosexualityn roleallocation,and the specialnatureof the goals-places additional stress on the integrationofthe modern family. It is hoped that researchcan be undertakento test the theoreticalhy-potheses put forward in this paper and to

explore the conditionsunderwhich they do ordo not apply.

may be defined into those symbols associatedwith a player who is also one's spouse, and

positive emotional content may be definedinto

symbols associated with another player whoalso happensto be quite an appropriate exual

object and not one's own spouse.

Further,this

sharingof

multiplestructures

by the pair sometimes places them in roleswhich offer and sanction aggression,hostility,humiliation, and immolation of one's own

spouse when he is an opponent. The involve-ment in such a role cannot easily be assumedand discarded at the designated portals ofsocial space. Since it is easy to confuse theactor in his institutional role with the total

person, expectations and responses associatedwith one role may spill over to other roles.

All in all, the special characterof contem-

porary recreation-its spousal or familial pat-

terns of recruitment,ts heterosexualityn roleallocation,and the specialnatureof the goals-places additional stress on the integrationofthe modern family. It is hoped that researchcan be undertakento test the theoreticalhy-potheses put forward in this paper and to

explore the conditionsunderwhich they do ordo not apply.

Residential Patterns of Aged Persons

Prior to Institutionalization*

HARRY R. DICK

Universityof Wichita and Institute of Logopedics

HIRAM J. FRIEDSAM

North Texas State University

CORA ANN MARTIN

University of Texas

The residentialmobilityand living arrangementsf residentsof two voluntarynonprofithomes

for the aged for 15 years prior to their entrance nto the homeswerestudied.The numberandtypes of residentialand living-arrangementhangeswere found to be predominantlyunctionsof changesn healthandin familystructure ndof thesex of theaged person.

AS PEOPLEgrow old, they frequently en- been given to how older persons and theircounter special problems in finding suitable families attempt to deal with these problems.living arrangements,but little attention has

Residential Patterns of Aged Persons

Prior to Institutionalization*

HARRY R. DICK

Universityof Wichita and Institute of Logopedics

HIRAM J. FRIEDSAM

North Texas State University

CORA ANN MARTIN

University of Texas

The residentialmobilityand living arrangementsf residentsof two voluntarynonprofithomes

for the aged for 15 years prior to their entrance nto the homeswerestudied.The numberandtypes of residentialand living-arrangementhangeswere found to be predominantlyunctionsof changesn healthandin familystructure ndof thesex of theaged person.

AS PEOPLEgrow old, they frequently en- been given to how older persons and theircounter special problems in finding suitable families attempt to deal with these problems.living arrangements,but little attention has

* Revision of a paper presented at the annual meeting of

the American Sociological Association, Washington, D.C.,

1962. A more detailed form of this paper has been depositedwith the ADI Auxiliary Publications Project, Photo Duplica-tion Service, Library of Congress, Washington 25, D.C.

The larger project from which this paper is drawn was

* Revision of a paper presented at the annual meeting of

the American Sociological Association, Washington, D.C.,

1962. A more detailed form of this paper has been depositedwith the ADI Auxiliary Publications Project, Photo Duplica-tion Service, Library of Congress, Washington 25, D.C.

The larger project from which this paper is drawn was

supported by a grant from the Social Security Administra-

tion; additional support was made available by North Texas

State University. The active interest and cooperation of the

staffs and residents of the two Homes under study greatlyfacilitated work on the project. Grateful acknowledgementis made to all.

supported by a grant from the Social Security Administra-

tion; additional support was made available by North Texas

State University. The active interest and cooperation of the

staffs and residents of the two Homes under study greatlyfacilitated work on the project. Grateful acknowledgementis made to all.

JOURNAL OF MARRIAGEAND THE FAMILYOURNAL OF MARRIAGEAND THE FAMILY66 February1964ebruary1964

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