Dynamics of a Four–way Family Conflict

This study reports an intensive, exploratory study of a single, protracted conflictual interaction involving all four members of a family. Within the larger interaction, there were four subinteractions. Because of space limitations, only the central conflictual subinteraction will be described. This interaction involved three of the four family members: the father and two daughters. The two children were 14–months and 5.5–years old. Speech and body motion were transcribed to the accuracy of a single video frame. THEME analyses were used to detect sequential patterns in the transcribed data. These patterns were used, in turn, to generate hypotheses concerning the rule–governed structure of the interaction. Results are discussed in terms of the structure of conflictual interactions, the implications of the hypothesized structures for the conflict process in the interaction studied, and the description of multiway influence in interaction.