The Roy Family ISSUU Visual Report N480 Sprague Spring 2022 ABSN 37 Tsukiko Jerger
FAMILY MEMBERS Logan Roy: 83 y.o. Male. Head of family and father to four adult-age children. He is a character who needs to hold all of the power and control of his company, WayStar RoyCo. Although he is in his later years and his body continues to fail him which leads him to need to find a new leader for the company, , he is desperate to remain in control and uses the ties he has with politicians in high places to get what he wants. Because of his need to keep control and power, he manipulates his four children and those around him to his advantage, making him a less than desirable father figure. He is faced with some dementia (demonstrated through confusion and erratic behaviors), as well as unspecified heart conditions which land him in the hospital multiple times. In terms of Erikson’s psychosocial stages, Logan is in the eco-integrity and despair stage.
Connor Roy: mid-50 y.o Male. First born son of Roy family. Half brother to other siblings. Connor is very much removed from the WayStar RoyCo race to power. He lives in a different state on a ranch and is more focused on running for the next presidential election. He admires his father for the power he holds but is not interested in replacing him. He is in the generativity vs stagnation stage of Erikson’s psychosocial stages.
FAMILY MEMBERS Kendall Roy: 40 y.o. Male. Second born son of the Roy family and expected child to inherit his father’s company. Initially he is promised by his father to become the head of WayStar RoyCo, but is lied to many times, resulting in a hostile working relationship with his father. This betrayal causes Kendall to turn to recreational drugs and he spirals into a drug binge and is consumed with sadness. However, during this pivotal point, he plans to overthrow his father by working with board members of WayStar RoyCo and convincing them that Logan is not fit for his current position. In terms of Erikson’s psychosocial stages, he resides in the generativity and stagnation stage. Sibohan Roy: 33 y.o. Female. Youngest daughter of Roy family. Sibohan thrives in the political community and is very experienced and has ties to people with power in the industry. She is also promised and convinced that she will become the new head of WayStar RoyCo by her father. Although she is manipulated by her father many times, she remains loyal to Logan in fear of what he could do to her career in the case that she did fight against him. However, she does seem to teeter on the edge between taking her own stand and standing in the “safe zone” behind her father’s shadow. She is married to Tom Wambsgans who follows her around and support her, but she engages in extramarital affairs. Erikson’s psychosocial age: intimacy vs. isolation.
Roman Roy: mid-30 y.o. Male. Third born son of the Roy family who is also interested in receiving the leadership behind WayStar RoyCo. Roman is much more squirrely and seems to lack a backbone demonstrating this by promising Kendall many times that he will leave his father’s side, but every time cannot seem to step out from under his father’s shadow because Logan keeps dropping hints about turning the power over to him. He is the most immature child of the family and is in Erikson’s intimacy vs.isolation stage.
CULTURAL/RELIGIOUS TRADITIONS Being the CEO and founder of media conglomerate, Waystar Royco, Logan is incredibly wealthy financially but also has strong ties with politicians and other CEOs. He uses these connections to his advantage to get what he wants. Because of Waystar Royco, the rest of the family lives a very expensive and luxurious lifestyle spending holidays and having meetings on multi-million dollar yachts and taking private jets to every destination. Each child of the Roy family live in luxury and are very well off. In terms of societal status, the Roy family is at the top of the social ladder. Because Waystar Royco is invested in many other businesses and owns so many people, the influence and power they have over the world seems limitless.
Religion does not play much of a role in the Roy family, but culturally, Logan was born in Scotland and moved to New York at a very young age. Despite his Scottish cultural background, there is close to no Scottish cultural themes present in his daily life. Living in New York with one of the world’s largest and most renowned media companies, members of the Roy family live very fast-paced lives.
COMMUNICATION (VERBAL, NONVERBAL) The members of the Roy family very rarely engage in honest communication with one another. This is because the family has been divided between Logan’s side and Kendall’s side. There have been instances where Logan has betrayed his own children because of his hunger for power and desire to remain in control. Although the majority of the children side with their father out of respect, they do not fully trust him. In the later seasons, his children also do not trust him to make sound decisions because he appears to be forgetful and do things that show that he is incapable of remaining in charge (Urinating on floor of his office, speaking nonsense, etc).
The nonverbal communication presented in this family speaks volumes more than the verbal communication. There are long pauses in conversation where the children are left hanging in suspense, unsure of what their father is going to say or do next. Although this show only portrays the family at this stage where the children are all adults, if the family dynamics were the same when they were school-age, I cannot imagine what kind of emotional trauma they faced and continue to carry on as adults, working with and for their overbearing father.
STRENGTHS/CHALLENGES FOR FAMILY UNIT Strengths
Challenges
The Roy family is privileged in many ways. Most of the children (with the exception of Connor) have contacts and acquaintances in high positions of authority and use these connections with politicians and government agencies to allow rules to be bent for their benefit.
The most glaringly obvious challenge that faces
Although the dynamics of this family are severely strained and dysfunctional, it is apparent that the children do care and have love for their father Logan. This love is often complicated by the way in which Logan decides to treat them and plot them against each other by making and breaking promises. Another strength that should not go unnoticed by the Roy family is how they are hard workers which has led them into becoming incredibly wealthy.
the Roy family is the inability for its members to portray genuine actions and participate in honest conversation. The manipulative behaviors shown throughout their relationships with each other are no doubt instilled in them through their father, Logan. Logan’s cutthroat methods and “business first” mentality has created many rifts between family members that remain to be unresolved. During one rare family therapy session, Logan ended up visibly angry and left because it was much too uncomfortable for him (and the others) to face and own up to the problems they were dealing with internally.
DUVALL’S DEVELOPMENTAL STAGES
According to Duvall’s Developmental and Life Cycle Theory, families and the roles that each member play can change over time (Kaakinen, et al., 2015). Changes in the family dynamic can cause roles to shift and changes can cause psychological, emotional, and spiritual divides. With all of Roy children being adults, with some even having their own children (Kendall), and with Logan being in his mid-eighties, the Roy family falls into the stages of middle age of parents (empty nest to retirement) and aging of family members (retirement to death of parents). (Kaakinen et al., 2015). Throughout the family cycle, the Roy family goes through waves of mistrust, betrayal, and power-seeking behaviors mainly because of Logan’s inability to give up his so called “throne”.
FAMILY HEALTH SYSTEM THEORY The Family Health System Model (FHS) theory makes the assumption that family health is systemic, process based, and includes interactions at the individual and family unit levels (Denham et al., 2015). This means that changes in the health of one individual will affect the entire family which more than often leads to changes in roles, demands, and alterations in daily activities (Denham, et al., 2015).
1: All parts of the system are interconnected. 2: The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.
3: All systems have boundaries between the system and the environment.
4: Systems can be further organized into sub-systems and supra-systems
Applying this to the Roy family, it is apparent that the health condition of Logan causes a ripple effect through each of the four children’s lives. Not only does it affect each child because their father is aging and not as healthy as before, but more so because it means the end of the Waystar Royco empire led by its original leader, and new beginnings. Logan’s inability to acknowledge his deteriorating health also puts his children in an awkward position because they want to be able to take care of him but he refuses care and wishes to only discuss business matters with them while simultaneously being cryptic in hinting to most of them that they could be the next CEO. The FHS theory is portrayed in this family because the changes in health status of an individual do affect the family as a whole in many aspects. Although this is not a typical or average family, it is important to note that even this family is composed of what the FHS theory outlines which is that the sum of the parts (members of a family) equals a whole (family unit).
FAMILY HEALTH INTERVENTIONS AND OUTCOMES Intervention 1:
Intervention 2:
Acknowledge the range of emotions and feelings that may be experienced when the health status of a family member changes (Ackley et al., 2011).
Assess existing strengths and coping abilities, and provide opportunities for their expression and recognition (Ackley et al., 2011).
Outcome 1: Being open and honest about emotions is a very difficult concept for all members of the Roy family to grasp. With Logan’s new diagnosis and frequent and abrupt onset of illnesses landing him in the hospital, his children are sent through a roller coaster of emotions because they want to support Logan because he is their father but are torn because they are also in competition with each other to succeed Logan’s place as CEO of Waystar Royco. Some of the children also feel used and betrayed by their father and are confused on how to support him through his illness. Having the help of a mediator (social worker, therapist) that would guide them through systemic-dialogical therapy could allow each member to foster new perspectives of each other in a safe environment (Bertrando & Lini, 2019).
Outcome 2: Having an opportunity where all members of the family could list their strengths and weaknesses could be helpful to the family as a unit because it would open them up for more conversations about how they function as a family. This could be therapeutic to a family as dysfunctional as theirs. Internalized concepts of self-perception and competences are formed within the family naturally and it is important to voice these perspectives to unite a family (Wäsche, et al., 2021). Intervention 3: Support family members during emotional and conflict situations. Use of constructive conflict management such as problem solving, compromise, affection, humor, and apology (Ackley, et al., 2011). Outcome 3: Use of these techniques could improve communication and reduce the level of conflict between family members. Although constructive conflict management could be difficult for the Roy family because of the egos involved, it would be beneficial for conflict resolution.
REFERENCES Ackley, B. J., & Ladwig, G. B. (2011). Nursing Diagnosis Handbook: An Evidence-Based Guide to Planning Care (9th ed.). St. Louis, MO: Mosby: Elsevier. Bertrando, P., & Lini, C. (2019). Theory and Practice of Systemic‐Dialogical Therapy. Australian & New Zealand Journal of Family Therapy, 40(2), 176–189. https://doi-org.ezproxy.csusm.edu/10.1002/anzf.1365 Denham, S., Eggenberger, S., Young, P. & Krumwiede, N. (2015) Family-Focused nursing care. F.A. Davis: Philadelphia. ISBN-13: 9780803629103 Kaakinen, J. R., Coehlo, D. P., Steele, R., & Robinson, M. (2015). Family Health Care Nursing: Theory, Practice, and Research (5th Edition). Philadelphia, PA: F.A. Davis Company. Publication Manual of the American Psychological Association (7th ed.). (2010). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. Wäsche, H., Niermann, C., Bezold, J., & Woll, A. (2021). Family health climate: a qualitative exploration of everyday family life and health. BMC Public Health, 21(1), 1–13.
IMAGE REFERENCES [Untitled illustration of Logan Roy]. Vox. https://www.vox.com/culture/2019/9/22/20876082/succession-season-2-episode-7-return-recap-winners-losers [Untitled illustration of Connor Roy]. Uproxx. https://uproxx.com/tv/alan-ruck-interview-succession-connor-roy-president/ [Untitled illustration of Kendall Roy]. Refinery29. https://www.refinery29.com/en-us/2019/09/8454789/succession-cast-kendall-roy-attraction. [Untitled illustration of Roman Roy]. Newstatesman. https://www.newstatesman.com/culture/tv/2021/10/how-successions-roman-roy-became-the-most-compelling-and-grote sque-character-on-tv. [Untitled illustration of Sibohan Roy]. Nbcnews. https://www.nbcnews.com/pop-culture/pop-culture-news/succession-star-sarah-snook-secretly-got-married-february-n12 81766. [Untitled illustration of Roy family sitting around table]. Fandom. https://succession.fandom.com/wiki/Roy_family. [Untitled illustration of Roy family walking]. Daily Express. https://www.express.co.uk/showbiz/tv-radio/1508115/who-succession-based-on-family-murdochs-real-life. [Untitled illustration of Young Roy children]. Thrillist. https://www.thrillist.com/entertainment/nation/succession-season-3-opening-credits-easter-eggs. [Untitled illustration of current Roy family]. iNews. https://inews.co.uk/culture/television/succession-season-2-true-story-rupert-murdoch-real-billionaires-inspiration-32450 2