1. Breaking Bad
An analysis of the White family from the
AMC television show
by
Dylan Orr
CMS 332: Communication in the Family

2. Members
● The White family is a two-parent biological family
including the following members:
● Walter White- The father of the White family. He
is a high school chemistry teacher and works part
time at a car wash to support his family.
● Skyler White - The pregnant mother of the
Whites. She is a stay at home mother.
● Walter White Jr. - The only current child of the
Whites who suffers from cerebral palsy

3. Wholeness
● "A family systems
approach
assumes that the
whole is greater
than the sum of its
parts." (59)

4. Wholeness
● The White family functions as a whole the
way that they all suffer through the same
trials together.
● When Walter Jr. is teased because of his
cerebral palsy condition his father retaliates
in a way as if he was hurt himself.

5. Calibration
● The White family is
introduced to many
challenges early on
in the series.
● Walter is diagnosed
with terminal lung
cancer, an event
that drastically
affects his actions
and the rest of the
Whites.

6. Calibration
● Walter plans to succumb to the cancer and
let it inevitably take his life, instead his family
members convince him to go into treatment.
● In order to support his family and daughter in
the future he quits the car was and begins
manufacturing crystal meth.
● Skyler returns to her old book keeping job as
Walter has to take time off from teaching to
attend chemotherapy sessions.

7. Interdependence
● “In a system, the parts and the relationship
between them form the whole; changes in
one part will result in changes in the others.”
(59)
● As Walter begins keeping secrets from his
family, he effectively pushes them away.
● Walter misses the birth of his daughter
because of an important drug deal he is
conducting to provide for her.

8. Secrets
● Walter's secrets are classified as dangerous,
they are potentially harmful to himself and
his family.

9. Secrets
● Walter's hidden job is kept from outsiders for
privacy, but from his own family because of
lack of communication.
● “Secrets reflect a lack of open
communication among family members.”(90)
● Walter wants to be able to provide for his
family in case he cannot in the future, but
does not wish to share his methods with
them for fear of judgment.

10. Relational Currency
● Self Disclosure:
● “This currency involves self-revelation, or
taking the risk of voluntarily telling another
individual personal information or feelings
that he or she is unlikely to discover from
other sources.” (120)
● Walter's secrecy eventually drives Skyler to
serve him with divorce papers and threaten
to take the children.

11. Relational Currency
● In an attempt to keep
his family Walter
reveals to Skyler that
he has been
manufacturing crystal
meth in order to
provide for their future
hoping that she will
understand that all his
previous actions had
good intentions.

12. Couple Types
● Separates:
● “Separates maintain a distance from people,
even their spouses. They experience little
sense of togetherness or autonomy.” (169)
● As Walter leaves his teaching job for
treatment he teams up with a drug dealer to
manufacture crystal meth.
● He spends most of his time manufacturing
alone and only interacting with his partner.

13. Roles
● Walter assumes the role of providing basic
resources. Early on he works two jobs to
provide for his family.
● This role is taken to an extreme when Walter
begins taking drastic actions to help out the
Whites.
● Being a stay at home mother Skyler falls into
the role of providing nurturing.

14. Role Conflict
● Providing basic resources v. nurturing.
● After the birth of the White daughter, Skyler
returns to work.
● Skyler takes her daughter to work with her to
protect her from Walter.
● This adds relational strains to the White
household while both Walter and Skyler
compete to be the provider.

15. Negative Rituals
● “A partner may obsessively engage in work
rituals to gain distance and avoid relational
contact.” (119)
● Skyler works long hours to avoid Walter at
their home.
● While working she develops a strong
relationship with her boss and starts an
affair.

16. Bibliography
● Galvin, Kathleen M., Carma Lee Bylund, and
Bernard J. Brommel. Family communication:
cohesion and change. 8th ed. Boston:
Pearson Allyn and Bacon, 2012. Print.