Miss Sunshine, Olive emerges as the epitome of robust and healthy psycho-social development within the family framework. However, the Hoover family is undergoing a series of stressors that put strains on individual relationships between members, as well as on the family structure as a whole. As White & Klein (2008) point out, all families have a life course and life cycle that are parallel to individual psycho-social development; these developmental stages within the family are "inevitable," (p. 126). Therefore, it becomes critical to look at the one-on-one dynamics as well as the collective macrocosmic elements in the family.

The Hoover family is white and middle class, placing them firmly within the dominant culture. Their family history reveals some facts that can illuminate the current life cycle issues. For example, Sheryl is in her second marriage. Reasons for the breakup of her first marriage are unknown, but she does have custody...
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