Family Readiness Group: Functionalism And Symbolic Interaction

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Sociology Research Paper Heidi Elordi Carrington College Sociology April 30, 2012 The Army FRG also known as the Family Readiness Group is a great example of functionalism and symbolic interaction. Functionalism is defined as how society is a whole unit, made up of different parts that work together. The FRG is a small group of military families that work together only for a short amount of time until our soldiers return from their deployments. Symbolic interaction is defined as how social life depends on ways we define ourselves and others. The FRG is a great example of this because if you are out in society and are not involved with the military in any shape or form you truly do not understand what the true sacrifices are of the soldier…show more content…
We discuss any issues we may be having such as car troubles, appliances breaking down and all off a sudden being a single parent for a year and just the whole new life adjustment and anomy we have to make going from having your spouse at home to help and support your everyday tasks to having to do everything on your own is a huge functional transition. From a functionalist perspective the FRG is its own culture. As long as there are soldiers in the military and deployments there will be a need for an FRG. It helps with the communication between the spouses so we can learn from each others experiences that they may be having. There is also an in functionalism in the FRG just based on the fact that every deployment is different and that affects the way the groups are formed. The groups are formed by an FRG leader who the company commander has chosen to lead the group. She then calls the names on her list which is a list of each soldier and their spouse in that particular company. She then sets up a time, date and location of where everyone meets. Then it is up to the spouse of the soldier to decide if they want to keep going to the monthly meetings. Since each deployment is different, there really is not a way of norms. There are different groups of people with each deployment due to new troops and their families and other troops that have gotten out in between…show more content…
As a matter of fact most things that have to do with the military are unknown to the public. But that is the case with most things in life, if it doesn’t effect you then don’t know much about it. The FRG is a place that a specific group of families that are going through similar experiences during a specific time period can come together and feel welcomed, a sense of belonging and a place to unleash your troubles upon and have the members of the group completely understand because they are experiencing the same things. The military especially the Army has changed its ways of doing things through the years. They use to say “If we wanted you to have a family we would have issues you one.” But now they have realized the importance of a family is to the soldier and their well being while their fighting for our country. That is why they have developed programs to prepare soldiers and their families for these long deployments and formed groups for support to help the families cope with the separation of

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