Before Lenore and Caroline engage in conflict, Lenore felt she was being shunned from the family. This feeling of being shunned, resulted in Lenore having a hostile attitude toward Caroline and her family. Even though Lenore feels neglected, she will only state a few of the reasons why she " Feels a non-person in Caroline's life and her kid's." The reason why she will not engage fully into conflict is she afraid of conflict. She views confrontation in a negative way. If she did not perceive conflict in a negative view, she would then be more direct on how she feels. When Caroline begins to defend herself and her family, Len

After reading over the case, it was apparent that both Lenore and Caroline use metaphoric images when they are communicating to each other. Lenore states that parent's are the best role models for children. If you're not going to provide that model for them, who is? Caroline responds by saying, " I can not buy what you are saying." Although this type of metaphoric image is not mentioned in the book, one must assume that this is an example of conflict as a product. By saying I can not buy what you are saying, Caroline is stating the metaphoric message that conflict is a product and can be bought if it is at the right price.

Lenore and Caroline have a power imbalance. Lenore's goal is to strive for higher power. She even mentions if she was the mother, the children would not be acting this way. Lenore communicates to Caroline in what is called competitive symmetry. This means that she uses a repeated pattern of one-ups. An example of this would be when Lenore said, "This your mother talking." Lenore attempted to have Caroline be submissive and to agree with her by communicating with one-downs. Instead, Caroline attempted to communicate in what is called a complementary pattern. She would say, " Your are twisting this all around to make me see your point of view. So what if we disagree with minor things." She was using a one-up pattern at first by saying how she truly felt, but she then use a one-down pattern when she explained her reasoning and she hoped her mother would agree.

Lenore is a senior citizen, which would make her over sixty-years of age. Taking her age and the way she communicates into consideration, one can assume that she is a conservative and an old fashion type of lady. She demands that Caroline and her children show her respect because of her age. It is even mentioned in the case, that Lenore would drop everything when her parents came to visit her. Caroline is thirty- years old, and it is obvious that she is more liberal then Lenore. Caroline can understand her daughter's actions a lot clearer then can Lenore. The difference in generations is one of the main ingredients of the conflict. The older generation of people can not adapt to the change in families. For example, people in Lenore's time were not so busy with " Car pools, tennis games, and trips that we're really not crucial to any part of your life style." This generation of families is on a lot more hectic schedule. Lenore and many other people from her generation, have a hard time adapting to the fast pace life many families endure.

When Lenore told Caroline that she is heading into fairly stormy waters, Lenore is using what is considered to be a negative metaphor. Stormy waters can be extremely destructive by being repetitive, powerful, and inescapable. The book would compare Lenore's statement as being "Conflict is a Tide." Both Lenore and Caroline do not use metaphoric images in a positive way. If both parties realized those metaphors can cast a negative tone, it would limit the possibility for productive conflict management. Neither party would have used the metaphors.

This particular case study lacks goal clarity. Lenore only discovers her goals during the course of the conflict. She only began to engage in conflict, when Tara ran past her and ignored her. Before this incident, she did not have a plan on how to become a bigger influence in the family. If Lenore really wanted to improve the relationship with the family, she would not have been so individualistic. She could have taken account for the family's needs as well as hers. Lenore could have mentioned that she thought her knowledge on raising families could benefit Caroline and would also help Lenore feel a part of the family.

The power issue between Lenore and Caroline is not discussed. Lenore, who has less power then Caroline, is trying to take away Caroline's power. Lenore uses an either/or approach. Caroline is trying to move Lenore ag

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Approximate Word count = 2808
Approximate Pages = 11 (250 words per page double spaced)