BARBARE FIESE: FAMILY'S ANNUAL HOLIDAY RITUALS CONTRIBUTE TO MEMORABLE AND ENJOYABLE HOLIDAY SEASON
Newswise — While family life has changed significantly in the last half century, family traditions and holiday rituals are just as important now as they were back when 'father knew best,' according to author and Syracuse University psychology professor Barbara H. Fiese.
"Holiday times are often portrayed as stressful times for families. My research has found that family rituals--such as a special holiday dinner or annual family activity-- may provide feelings of belonging and closeness related to mental and physical health," says Fiese.
In her book, "Family Routines and Rituals," (Yale University Press, 2006) Fiese discusses various research literatures and draws on her own studies to show how family routines and rituals influence physical and mental health, translate cultural values, and may even be used therapeutically.
According to Fiese's review of more than 32 studies over the last 50 years, "rituals are particularly important and convey that 'this is who we are' as a group and provide continuity in meaning across generations.' Her research has appeared in the Journal of Family Psychology, the Journal of Pediatrics and Family Process, among other publications.
ROBERT THOMPSON: POPULAR CULTURE, BUSINESS HAS SHAPED CHRISTMAS AS WE KNOW IT
"Most of what we think of as the American Christmas was invented in the 19th century, through writers and artists like Washington Irving, Thomas Nast and Clement C. Moore. Charles Dickens' visit to America helped establish the nostalgia for an Olde Fashioned Christmas that had never actually existed. Late 19th century explosions in industrial infrastructure—manufacturing and department stores—further hijacked the iconography of Christmas for their purposes of turning it into the greatest of retail engines," says Robert Thompson, Trustee Professor of Television and Popular Culture at SU's S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications." Thompson has taught and written extensively about American holidays, especially Christmas, and specializes in Christmas as portrayed on American television.
"The history of the American Christmas in many ways reflects the history of the American culture wars in general. As religious groups argue that we should 'put the Christ back into Christmas,' they forget that the Christ was wedged into a mid-winter holiday that had already existed for centuries. Everything from gift-giving to yule logs to the hanging of evergreens had already been established in ancient Winter Solstice celebrations. There is, in fact, no reference to a date of the Nativity (in fact, many Biblical scholars place it in the springtime), but it was convenient for the Church to grasp its celebration of the Son with already existing holidays.
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