Wednesday, April 6, 2011

And we also see that the health of various social units requires a similar balance between the "and" and the "or".  A dysfunctional family lacks cohesiveness (the and).  However, this cohesiveness to a large extent depends upon a certain degree of leadership, of standing out (the or), on the part of the parents.  The child must value their worth, seeing them as standing out, something to aspire to.  They must act as role models, setting appropriate goals and limits.   The child himself must learn these limits.  He must learn to cooperate with others  (the and) while also being encouraged to excel  (the or). The goal, in the end, is to see a repetition of the and/or balance in the child that we saw in the parents.  Very often, antisocial behavior on the part of a child is the result of an inadeqyuate sense of self worth.  Thus, the poverty of the "or" results in an impoverished "and".
Of course, a tyrannical parent, or a family in which the "or" is predominant, is one with an illusory sense of cohesiveness.   The "and" in such a family may appear to be powerful.  However, everyone knows it is skin deep at best.  Those being dominated often lack the sense of self worth needed to foster strong family units.  They will secretly harbor resentment towards the dominant individual, severely undercutting the "and".  If the situation becomes intolerable, the child may run away or act out in other ways, resorting to drugs or other aberrant behavior.  In the end, in the words of William Butler Yeats, "the center cannot hold" and the family implodes.
Similarly, a family with weak parental figures, or an insufficient degree of "orness" also lack cohesion.  The children, ironically, also lack a sense of direction (the or), a sense of self worth (another manifestation of the or) and lack the discipline needed to hold the family together.  The resulting situation may be anarchy ( dissolution of the and).  Speak to a psychologist for further details.

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