A Dec. 1 Los Angeles Times article about family reunions included quotes from Larry Basirico, professor of sociology.
The article, by staff reporter Benedict Carey, examines potential pitfalls in family gatherings around the holidays. Basirico’s latest book, “The Family Reunion Survival Guide,” is mentioned, along with several quotes. Basirico says prior planning avoids many of the conflicts families experience when they get together.
From the article: “Sometimes it is the smaller, seemingly unimportant decisions inherent in holiday gatherings that can lead to big blowouts, said Laurence Basirico, professor of sociology and anthropology at Elon University, in Elon, N.C., and author of ‘The Family Reunion Survival Guide’ (Identity, 2003). ‘Say your family likes to eat at 6 o’clock and clean up after, and we don’t mind the kids watching PG-13 movies and your brother’s family does it all differently,’ he said. ‘It could be they want to order a pizza with everything on it, and you always get just pepperoni. In families that know each other well, with a lot of history, these small disagreements can lead to big problems.’
“One moment you’re trying to load an Adam Sandler movie into the VCR to settle the kids; the next you’re caught in a dispute about morality, American culture and the day you got busted at age 12 trying to shoplift a copy of Penthouse.
“To better understand how these gatherings affect personal relationships, Basirico interviewed 566 readers of Reunions Magazine, a journal for planning reunions of all kinds. Those surveyed included families across the country who were reporting on their experiences with extended-family reunions — in effect, large-scale versions of holiday celebrations. In his analysis of their answers, Basirico found that many of the most successful and satisfying reunions had something in common: They were highly structured affairs. ‘Everyone knows the program: at 9 a.m. there’s a hike; at 11, a contest; at 1 o’clock, a cookout,’ he said. ‘You’ve eliminated the decision-making and, by doing so, also eliminated the potential for these family disagreements.'”
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