The recent election campaign has caused decided schisms in relationships.
Overall, the breakdown in relationships is having an impact on every level, financial, social, psychological, and in some cases is causing long lasting breaks in our communities among friends and families. There is a high cost involved in how we communicate and treat each other.
Joining host, Dennis McCuistion, to talk about the dangers as well as solutions to broken and fractured relationships are guests:
- Robert E. Hall – Author: This Land Of Strangers: The Relationship Crisis That Imperils Home, Work, Politics and Faith,
- Ami Moore, PhD – Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of North Texas,
- Mahmoud Sadri, PhD – Professor of Sociology, Affiliated Professor of Women’s Studies, Texas Women’s University
Robert Hall believes there is a growing crisis in relationships from family to friends. His examples; for the first time in history 50% of children born in the US are born to single moms; their children face a poverty level 5 times that of their peers in two “parent” households. In friend relationships, there have been decreases in the number of friends people now have- from an average of three to now two, and the number of people without any close friends has tripled.
Not just a North American problem, Dr. Ami Moore, Fulbright scholar, relates her extended research studies in West Africa and observations on how changing relationships are causing new challenges as families drift further from their native roots. She says, “No-one teaches us to manage changes”. And the many changes she observed are increasingly negative, particularly affecting those with reduced incomes, “These changes in male and female relationships are increasingly causing breakdowns in family relationships and marriages”.
Dr. Mahmoud Sadri believes that while we are in challenging times this is also a time of dynamic equilibrium. There is hope for the future and many new ways of relating are open to us.
Terry Brock and Gina Carr, business consultants renowned for their work on TRIBES, join us for a brief excerpt; they comment on social media and how it can extend our reach, help us make more new “friends” and be less isolated; “Social media is a wonderful way to connect, it leverages touch and interaction”.
Written by: Niki McCuistion, Executive Producer KERA PBS
