2. Wilkerson’s
The Wilkerson Family Consists of six
immediate family members, the
two parents and four children, all
male.
The parents are Lois and Hal
Lois comes across as a stubborn
control freak while trying to keep
her children in check. She comes
across as the strict housewife while
also keeping a job at a local
grocery store.
Hal is the much more laid back
almost childish parent always
wanting to join in with the kids
activities, and sometimes doing it.
He does however know when to
be a father.
3. Wilkerson Kids
The four sons in order by age are
Francis, Reese, Malcolm, and Dewey.
Francis while being in the show the
least out of any of the main
characters, due to attending a
military academy is looked up to by
his brothers and while not being a
great role model gives great advice
when needed.
Although he is the second oldest
Reese is the least mature out of the
brothers. He is always bullying others
and getting in trouble. He is naturally
gifted at random tasks which always
comes up throughout the show.
4. Wilkerson Kids Continued
Malcolm who is the main character
of the show, has the most common
sense out of his brothers as well as
being a child genius, which
sometimes gets him in trouble. He is
able to help his family get through
troubles. He does have quite an
ego because of his intelligence
which can sometimes make others
dislike him.
Dewey is the somewhat innocent
youngest brother. He is the victim of
many of Reese’s and Malcolm’s
pranks while actually being very
intelligent, even out doing
Malcolm.
5. Family Structure
The Wilkerson’s are a Caucasian
two-parent biological family who
live in a suburban area.
They are lower middle class who
are always struggling financially
while both parents work.
They do not keep a clean house
as the inside is cluttered and the
yard is not well maintained, which
causes aggravation with the
neighbors.
6. Family Functions
The Wilkerson family is a very
cohesive family as every
member is a huge part of
the family unit.
While Malcolm, Reese, and
Dewey fight constantly there
are multiple examples of
when they put their
differences aside to help
one another.
7. Family Functions Continued
The roles that the family
members play in terms of
flexibility is somewhat in
between structured and
flexible.
While there is a lot of chaos
going on in their lives the
family is still able to “maintain
predictable relationships
and common meanings.”
8. Relational Maintenance
Hal and Lois.
Hal and Lois find little time to be
romantic with one another.
When they do though they take
advantage of it. They are
always Positive and rarely get
into arguments.
“Sharing Tasks. Includes jointly
performing tasks…”
These two do a great job of
balancing their lives by sharing
their family duties while each
having a job, relieving the stress
off of one another.
9. Relational Maintenance
Parent and Child
As stated in earlier slides Lois comes
across as the dictator parent while
Hal the more fun loving. But each
relationship is different with each
child.
As Dewey is the youngest of the
four he is still treated as such and
given the most attention. On the
other hand Francis being the eldest
is expected to help out more and
given less attention.
Reese and Malcolm are a similar
age but because of their attitudes
Malcolm who is younger than
Reese is allowed to be more
independent.
10. Relational Maintenance
Sibling Maintenance
“Female siblings use relational
maintenance behavior at a higher
rate than males”
As all of these four siblings are male
there isn’t a whole lot of maintenance
going on.
Malcolm and Reese spend the most
time together because of their similar
age. They engage in shared activities
in almost every episode while when
they add Dewey into the mix he is
usually being picked on.
Francis is looked up to by his brothers
more for support, emotionally and
morally, and asked for advice many
times. As he is away at military
academy he is only spoken to on the
phone making every conversation
that much more important to
maintaining their relationships.
11. Family Boundaries
The Family has a few close
friends and other family
throughout the show that
they are open with.
Malcolm has a friend, Stevie,
that he shares everything
with, but besides this open
boundary they are closed
off from the rest of society.
This creates tension with the
family and others because
of the differences in life style.
