The Family Edge by Gibb Dyer

Author:Gibb Dyer
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: The Family Edge
ISBN: 9781641702034
Publisher: Familius
Published: 2019-08-14T16:00:00+00:00

Where Do Assumptions Come From?

Professor Edgar Schein of MIT, with whom I worked closely for several years as a research assistant, has done extensive study and theorizing regarding the origins of cultural assumptions.4 He argues that these assumptions are developed as a group (or family) attempts to manage two basic problems of human existence: how to adapt to the environment so the group can survive and thrive, and how to work cooperatively to achieve the group’s goals. Schein provides numerous examples of how various groups attempt to solve these two challenges and how they come to a consensus about what works. A group or family’s solutions have embedded within them the core assumptions. Thus Schein writes, “Both of these areas of group functioning (adapting to the environment and cooperation) will reflect the macro-cultural context in which the group [or family] exists and from which are derived broader and deeper basic assumptions.”5 Once a family develops its approach to adaptation issues (such as obtaining food and shelter, creating basic security, and protecting its assets) and resolves integration issues (such as helping one another, communicating with family members, and resolving conflicts), the family sees certain actions as the “right way” to do things. These actions and the beliefs attached to them are then passed on to future generations. However, in most cases the future generation is not privy to events that caused the family to adopt certain artifacts, perspectives, values, and their attendant assumptions. For example, my siblings and I never knew why my father kissed us on the lips before leaving on an extended trip. We just accepted it as what was done in the household. I believe the practice had to do with my father’s (and the Dyer family’s) basic assumption that we love, support, and trust each other, which can be demonstrated physically in the form of a kiss from the father.

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