1. Christopher Hawkes

2. The Family
 Jack – Father
 Dina – Mother
 Pam – Daughter
 Greg- Pam’s Boyfriend

3. Family (Cont.)
Jack: played by Robert De Niro, is the father
and husband of Dina. He is a very stern man
that seems suspicious of anyone that crosses
his path. He seems to be very successful
financially. He also serves as the protector of
the family, and takes this responsibility very
seriously.
Dina: The wife of Jack, she takes the role of
mother and housewife in the movie. However
she does seems to be independent, and lets
her voice be heard when she feels the need.
Pam: The daughter of Jack and Dina. She
comes across as a strong, confident women
with a bright future. She loves her family, and
considers herself a “daddy girl”.
Greg: The boyfriend of Pam. He seems to be
very open-minded and progressive. He seems
unsure at times, and causes a lot of unintended
problems for the family during his visit.

4. Cohesion
 The last two of the four
levels of Cohesion that
Galvin describes are
Cohesive, and Enmeshed.
 From Jacks perspective I
would see the family
enmeshed. He frequently
refers to his “circle of trust”
as a barrier to his family
from the outside world.
 His wife and daughter
however don’t seem to
agree with idea as much
as he does. They each
have their own individuality
despite Jacks enmeshed
ways.

5. Family Structure
 Rigid – “Low levels of
change, as well as
authoritarian
leadership and strict
roles and rules” (32).
 The family operates
with clearly defined
roles that don’t seems
to change. The rules
seem to also be very
rigid. Jack acts as the
leader of the
household.

6. Role Functions
Jack: He is the main contributor to
the family financially. He claims he
works with Flowers however it is
later discovered that he was a CIA
agent. He is also considered
nurturing to the children and the
family's protector.
Dina: She is seen a caregiver, and
manager of daily needs. Even
though her daughter is out of the
home, you can still see her roles
payout when her daughter returns.

7. Boundaries
 This topic relates directly to the movie and its plot. The movie is based on
Greg meeting Pam’s family for the first time. He comes to find out that the
boundaries in place make it very hard for Jack to accept him.
 “You can imagine boundaries as physical or psychological limits that
regulate family members access to people, places, ideas, and values”.
(Galvin 41)
 What jack is trying to do is limit his own family's access to Greg, who is
Jewish, and at the same time limit his access to the family. He refers to the
“circle of trust” as the boundary that allows access to his family.

8. Family Secrets
 Jack creates this
boundary to
first, protect his
family, but also to
protect his secret.
 He worked for the CIA
for many years while
putting up the front
that he was a florist.
 This secret explains
his extreme
boundary, as well his
overall suspicion of
Greg.
 This would be
considered an
essential secret in the
eyes of the CIA, but to
Greg it would be
considered toxic.

9. Intimacy
 The intimacy between
Jack, Dina, and Pam
seems to function well.
There is open
communication and
intimacy between all
immediate family
members. No issue is
present.
 The intimacy also
functions well between
Dina, Pam, and Greg.
Although Jack is very
suspicious of Greg this
does not effect Dina’s
communication with Greg.

10. Barriers To Intimacy
 The barrier to intimacy
takes place between
Greg and Jack.
 This occurs due to a
number of reasons they
include:
 Greg is Jewish.
 Greg is a nurse.
 He also feels that Greg
is deceptive , a
pothead, and has no
right to marry his
daughter.

11. Conflict
 The conflict in the film occurs
throughout.
 While Greg is trying to gain
acceptance from Jack he doesn’t
help himself at all.
 He continually runs into problems
while at the parents home.
 One example of this conflict is when
Greg losses the family Cat. Jack
loves this cat like his child and Greg
knows that he is in trouble.
 The conflict he causes with the
family creates stress for all
members, and strengthens Jacks
idea that Greg is not fit to marry his
daughter.

12. Referance
 Galvin, Kathleen M., and Bernard J. Brommel. Family
Communication: Cohesion and Change. Glenview, IL: Scott,
Foresman, 1986. Print.
 IMDb. IMDb.com, n.d. Web. 06 Dec. 2012.
 "Meet the Parents(2000)- Photos." Yahoo! Movies. N.p., n.d.
Web. 06 Dec. 2012.