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COMMISSION ON FAMILY COMMUNICATION NEWSLETTER
Volume 2	Spring-Summer 1992	Number 1

Vice-Chair and program planner, Teresa Sabourin, reports that the Commission on Family Communication received "many fine papers" this year in response to the SCA call for manuscripts. In fact, compared to last year, submissions for both proposals and papers were up. Sabourin notes that "we are growing" and predicts a "good year" for the CFC.

The CFC will sponsor ten sessions at SCA in Chicago. Papers cover diverse topics and utilize a variety of methodological and theoretical approaches. Issues comprising this year's panels range from "Reciprocal Effects in Parent-Child Relationships" to "The Role of Family Communication in Health Promotion." Both competitive and contributed papers, as well as a "Top Four" session are included in the program. The Vice-Chair's Annual Panel features Art Bochner, Kathleen Galvin, and L. Edna Rogers as speakers. Thanks go to Teresa Sabourin and to our two paper readers, Dawn Braithwaite and Glen Stamp, for all of their time and effort in organizing an excellent program for SCA in 1992.

In the May, 1992 issue of SPECTRA, a letter from Timothy Stephen details the position that the Commission on Family Communication has taken on the scheduling of SCA conventions. At the 1991 SCA convention, the CFC voted unanimously to request that SCA "refrain from scheduling meetings during or abutting major U.S. family celebrations." Stephen describes the importance of the "festive cycle" to family solidarity and family relationships. Below is an excerpt from Stephen's letter that captures the essence of the CFC's stand on this issue.

The 1992 SCA convention in Chicago will mark the fourth consecutive year in which a significant portion of SCA's membership will be forced to choose between participating in SCA or in one of the family celebrations of the festive cycle. The Commission on Family Communication believes that SCA should not subject the membership to this conflict. It is well known that the American family has been wrenched under pressure of our eroding standard of living. Work not only demands more of everyone's time, pulling parents away from families, but for many, the attempt to stabilize a standard of living has meant that both spouses must be employed full time, that family size is limited -- even childbearing is sometimes scheduled to conform to the exigencies of the work place. Within the last two years, budget cuts at educational institutions throughout the country have often resulted in increased teaching loads, increased class sizes, and frozen salaries. The net effect is even less time for relations at home.

The Commission on Family Communication believes that SCA should be an organization noted not only for its studies of intimacy, marriage and families but (or its efforts to protect and sustain these relationships. Scheduling SCA so that it does not encroach upon the cycle of family festivals, placing even greater burdens on families already under stress, would be a positive symbol of such a commitment.

Timothy Stephen is an Associate Professor of Communication, at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute.

It seems to me that the function of the Chair's column in newsletters is to sum up the group's current accomplishments, and exhort the members to keep up the good work. And all that IS appropriate for the CFC because we have had strong work featured in both our 1990 and 1991 convention programs. As you'll see from the preliminary program printed in this newsletter, Teresa Sabourin has worked hard to put together an intriguing program for 1992 from your paper and panel submissions.

There are some new faces on the 1992 program, and I feel sure I speak for the CFC when I say that we're looking forward to hearing their work. But at the same time, I am reminded of the story of the mysterious young man who arrived at Ellis Island early in this century. Try as they might, the board of special inquiry could not get the young man to answer to any known foreign language. Finally, with a look of complete despair, the young man exclaimed, "Is there no one here who speaks English?"

To me, this story represents the potential for similar experiences with the CFC. Because as a commission and as a specialty area, we have fought hard to carve out an identity for family communication, there can be a tendency to close ranks and treat would-be newcomers as if they don't "speak the same language" as the rest of us: "Oh, she's not really family com" or "But he's Interpersonal! "

Then, there's the experience of newcomers, who often feel like "foreigners." Because the CFC is still a small group, we often refer to people by first names only, whether they are present or not. While "old-timers" often perceive this as the family metaphor, this can smack of the old boy-old gal network to people attending their first CFC meeting. Clearly, this is not the model the CFC wants to adopt to foster future growth and vitality.

Of course, any Chair worth her or his paycheck (!!) has solutions to suggest. The question I am asked most often (in my role as CFC Chair, that is; the question I am asked most often overall is, "Is that gonna be on the test?") is "How can I get involved/get more involved in the CFC?" Here are a couple of answers.

The first is to attend CFC meetings and panels. In the past, there has been a strong desire on the part of the CFC membership that those who serve on the Executive Committee have demonstrated interest in and commitment to the CFC by attending convention sessions, participating in panels, and so on.

The single most important CFC meeting is the annual CFC general business meeting, which is scheduled toward the end of the convention (the exact date, place, and time are published in the front few pages of each year's SCA convention program). The business meeting is the place where elections are held, members propose special projects for the upcoming year, committee chairs ask for committee members, etc. Because the CFC Executive Committee members know they won't be together as a group for an entire year, there is a real tendency to look around the room and buttonhole someone who is present at the business meeting and will commit on the spot to serve for the upcoming year.

I know that last year's CFC business meeting was at a terrible time (7:15 p.m. on Saturday night AND opposite one of our own CFC panels). Teresa Sabourin and I individually raised the roof about this scheduling problem with both the 1992 and 1991 SCA Second Vice-Presidents (i.e., the chief convention planners), so hopefully the competing meetings won't occur again.

Second, let someone on the Executive Committee know you want to be involved (a list of names and addresses appears in this newsletter). The Vice-Chair plans the current year's program, assisted by the Vice-Chair-Elect. When they are putting together a convention program, they look not only to people they know have already submitted papers in previous years, but to people who have volunteered to help out. The Secretary heads the nominating committee (with members appointed by the Chair) that convenes each fall just before the SCA convention. If you're interested in serving on the nominating committee or in being nominated for an office, let the Chair or the Secretary know.

I wish I could end this by relating what happened to the young man on Ellis Island. I have to conjecture that once the folks on Ellis Island figured out they were all speaking the same language after all, the young man entered this country to seek fame. I think we can safely assume that he wasn't seeking his fortune if he went into academics.

Gail G. Whitchurch

INVITATION TO SUBMIT MANUSCRIPTS

Special Issue: The Role of Affect in Persuading and Informing

A special issue of Communication Research will examine the influence of mood and emotion on two communication processes: persuading and informing. It will be published in October, 1993. Empirical pieces, analytic work, extensions of existing theories, and development of new theories are sought. Specific topics include, but are not limited to, the following:

(1) how affect shapes interpersonal interaction, (2) the effectiveness of emotional appeals in persuasion and advertising, (3) the relationship between affect and media consumption, (4) how linguistic form determines emotional response, (5) the impact of mood on message production, (6) the influence of irrelevant affect on message processing.

Address papers (4 copies) or inquiries by December 1, 1992 to either of the co-editors:

James P. Dillard     (until August 15, 1992)     1409 21st Street N. W., #lB     Washington, D.C. 20036     (202) 223-4096     (after August 15, 1992)     Dept. of Communication Arts     University of Wisconsin     Madison, WI 20036     (608) 262-2527

Barbara J. Wilson Dept. of Communication University of California Santa Barbara, CA 93106 (805) 893-8405

JOURNAL OF FAMILY PSYCHOLOGY SEEKS MANUSCRIPTS

Several members of the CFC have received a letter from Ronald F. Levant, Editor-Elect of the Journal of Family Psychology. As can be seen below, Dr. Levant's call for manuscripts includes a variety of areas that are of interest to CFC members.

The Journal of Family Psychology is interested in high quality and original scholarly papers in a variety of areas in family psychology, including, but not limited to: Marital interaction, marital assessment measures, marital therapy, sex therapy, marital infidelity, family relationships (parent-child, sibling), family interaction, family life cycle, family assessment measures, family therapy, family stress and coping, family violence, child sexual abuse, treatment research (outcome, process), prevention programs (premarital, divorce, teenage pregnancy, transition to parenthood, parenting, caring for aging parents), families in transition (separation and divorce, remarriage and stepfamilies, death and bereavement, adoption), employment and the family (division of household labor, work place policies), ethnicity and the family, gender issues and the family, and homosexuality and the family.

Dr. Levant requests that four copies of relevant manuscripts (prepared according to the Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (3rd ed.) be directed to:

Ronald F. Levant, Editor-Elect
1093 Beacon Street, Suite 3C
Brookline, MA 02146
Phone: (617) 566-4479

CALL FOR PAPERS: SCA 1993 CONVENTION

The Commission on Family Communication encourages innovative approaches to the study of communication in marriages and families, soliciting submission of completed papers or program proposals from members of all SCA sections and divisions. Theoretical, empirical, methodological, and pedagogical approaches are all welcome. Papers and proposals will be submitted to blind review. Papers must include a separate cover page containing authors' names and affiliations(s); student or debut papers should be so labeled in the upper right corner. Proposals must include: (1) title, (2) rationale, (3) names and affiliations of each participant, and (4) an abstract for each paper. Five copies of the paper or proposal must be postmarked by February 15, 1993 and sent to:

Charlene A Berquist
Communication Department
Southwest Missouri State University
Springfield, Missouri 65804
(417) 836-6391 CAB293F@SMSVMA

When possible, please include the bitnet address for each presenter.

REMINDER

Effective July 1, 1991. SCA has gone to a checkoff system on its membenhip forms. When your renewal notice comes due, you will be asked to specify the unit(s) with which you want to affiliate. All SCA commissions must have at least 100 members to retain commission status. In short, we need your continued support to remain a commission! Please be sure to check us off on your membership form, and ask colleagues and students interested in family communication to do the same!

CHAIR: Gail G. Whitchurch; Dept. of Communication & Theatre; Indiana University; Indianapolis, IN 46202; H:(317)924-4954; O:(317)658-4488; IKFW100@INDYCMS

PREVIOUS CHAIR: John W. Monsma; Communication Arts Department; Northern Arizona University; Flagstaff, AZ 86011 O:(602) 523-2512

VICE-CHAIR: Teresa C. Sabourin; Department of Communication; University of Cincinnati; Cincinnati, OH 45221-0184; O:(513)556-4440; SABOURTC@UCBEH

VICE-CHAIR ELECT: Charlene A- Berquist; Communication Department; Southwest Missouri State Univenity; Springfield, MO 65804; O:(417) 836-6391; CA8293F@SMSVMA

SECRETARY: Anita L Vangelisti; Speech Communication Dept; University of Texas; Austin, TX 78712; O:(512)471-1921; SPAJ73S@UTXVM

LIAISON COMMITTEE CHAIR: Nancy L. Buerkel-Rothfuss; Speech Communication & Drama Dept.; Central Michigan University; Mt. Pleasant, MI 48859; O:(517)774-7274; 34LTX2@CMUVM

CURRICULUM DEVELOPMENT COMMITTEE CHAIR: Roy M. Berko; Speech & Mass Communication Dept.; Towson State University; Towson, MD 21204; O:(301)830-3605

STUDENT REPRESENTATIVE: Kathryn Greene; Department of Speech Communication; University of Georgia; Athens, GA 30602; O:(404)542-3270