Essay On The Hoover Family

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The Hoover Family The matriarch of the family, Cheryl, is a working mom and her husband, Richard, is an unsuccessful motivational speaker. Dwayne is Cheryl’s teenage son from a previous marriage, who has taken a vow of silence until he achieves his dream of becoming an air force pilot. Cheryl and Richard’s seven-year old daughter, Olive, is a beauty pageant competitor. Cheryl’s brother, Frank, is a professor who moves in after a suicide attempt and Richard rebellious father, Edwin, has also moved in with the Hoovers after being kicked out of his retirement home. Description of the Hoover Family Externally, the Hoovers seem like the stereotypical American family consisting of a mom, dad, son and daughter, but internally, it is evident that the characters are far from their stereotypical roles and are rather eccentric. From a systemic perspective, both the ecological approach model and family systems model are evident within the Hoover family. In relation to the family systems theory, the Hoover family has rules and roles that determine their everyday functioning (Bigner & Gerhart,…show more content…
In some senses, he is indulgent, as he avoids confrontation and allows for Dwayne to self-govern and supports his silent vow. He also displays the authoritative characteristics of being demanding and responsive, but also uses the authoritarian tendency of psychological control (Darling, 1999). He puts pressure on Olive to succeed, with his high expectations, when he says: “There’s no sense in entering a contest if you don’t think you’re going to win. Do you think you can win Little Miss Sunshine?” and is determined to prove his “winning” attitude at breakfast when he tries to control what Olive eats, by discouraging her from eating ice cream. However, at the end of the movie, he shows his responsiveness and warmth towards Olive when he joins her on stage during her

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