In a society undergoing constant changes, the way family crises are portrayed in contemporary drama becomes a kind of reflection of the human experience and a mirror that reflects the social context. Taking into account the changes in social norms and values, playwrights focus on exploring the crises that shake the family system and impact family relationships. This doctoral thesis examines family crises in German, Croatian, and English drama of the first quarter of the 21st century, starting from the hypothesis that contemporary drama in the first quarter of the 21st century has a predominantly subversive attitude towards the nuclear family. The thesis corpus consists of fifteen plays by established, award-winning authors, first published between 2000 and 2022, placing the nuclear family at the center of the dramatic action as the still dominant form of family. The corpus includes six plays from the German-speaking area: Lukas Bärfuss’ Die sexuellen Neurosen unserer Eltern (2003) and Malaga (2012), Anja Hilling’s Monsun: Ein Stück in fünf Akten (2020), Marius von Mayenburg’s Das kalte Kind (2001) and Freie Sicht (2009) and Roland Schimmelpfennig’s Die Frau von früher (2004.); five Croatian plays: Monika Herceg’s Ubij se, tata (2022), Nina Horvat’s Do posljednje kapi krvi (2013), Ivor Martinić’s Dobro je dok umiremo po redu (2015), Milko Valent’s Mala klaonica nježnosti (2007) and Tomislav Zajec’s Ono što nedostaje (2019); four plays from the English-speaking area: Marina Carr’s Ariel (2002), Caryl Churchill’s Ding Dong the Wicked (2013), Mark Ravenhill’s The Cut (2006) and debbie tucker green’s born bad (2003). The selection of the dramatic corpus considered the inclusion of established and award-winning playwrights to provide insight into the dramatic oeuvre of potentially canonical authors. Additionally, recent research materials were incorporated into the study, including texts first published within the last twenty-four years. The corpus selection was guided by the explicit presence of dramatic conflict and the existence of the nuclear family system, which, despite the increasing pluralism of family types in contemporary society, remains a dominant form of family. The nuclear family was defined as having characters portraying parents (marital partners) and at least one child within dramatic texts. The aim of this doctoral thesis is to observe and systematize the causes of the crisis, relationships affected by the crisis, patterns of character behaviour and their interpersonal dynamics, as well as the attitude towards the crisis, and ultimately, the outcome of the crisis. This is primarily achieved through an interdisciplinary approach that involves hermeneutic and comparative methods of analysis, as well as a sociological approach supported by research from the fields of psychology, philosophy, and gender theories. The interdisciplinary approach enables the determination of how much social reality correlates with dramatic creation, namely whether and to what extent social circumstances influence the shaping of dramatic characters and situations, and conflicts. The concept of crisis was defined within the theoretical framework and observed in dramatic texts as a disturbance in the lives of family system members, serving as a turning point in the development of events. The crisis represented a challenging state with an anticipation of resolution or catastrophe, namely the maintenance of the status quo. The nuclear family, comprising parents and at least one child, was viewed through the interpretations of Niklas Luhmann and Urie Bronfenbrenner, both theorists emphasizing the susceptibility of families to external influences. Addressing the first research question – What is the cause of the family crisis in drama? – the study identified external (influences from systems outside the family) and internal (the family system as the source of crisis) causes, with internal causes systematized into subcategories: conflicts of worldviews, the child as a catalyst for crisis, and violence. The second research question – What relationships are thematized in drama? – focused on whether conflicts arose between marital partners, parents and children, and/or siblings. The third research question – What are the relationships between characters in the work? – examined elements of (non)communication, (un)stability, (absence of) unity, and adaptation and construction, or discord and disintegration. These elements were studied in the context of concepts such as functional and dysfunctional families, further classified according to the typology of families by Ana Wagner Jakab, the perspectives of diadic and triadic relationships by Josip Janković, and various concepts of family dynamics by Vlasta Štalekar. The fourth research questions focused on the behaviour patterns of characters and their relationship to the crisis through the lens of constructive or destructive activities and passivity. The outcome of the crisis in the work was observed through three categories – maintaining the status quo, disintegration of the family system, or the existence of a future for the family system. The results of the analysis led to the conclusion that there are similarities in emphasizing internal and external causes of crises. While plays in German and Croatian mostly focus on internal causes, plays in English equally address internal causes and the interplay of internal and external factors, with the business sphere highlighted as the most common external cause of crises. This simultaneous reflection underscores the autonomy of the family as a community but also its susceptibility to external influences, considering that plays can be seen as a reflection of changes in contemporary society. The challenge of balancing private and professional life, particularly emphasizing productivity and career advancement, leaves less room for family commitment. Another notable trend in plays is the expression of individualism, which can be linked to the influence of a capitalist and consumerist way of life that emphasizes the fulfilment of personal desires and needs. The plays depict this phenomenon through conflicts of worldviews, where characters often lean towards individualism at the expense of the family system. While there is a positive departure from tradition with greater gender equality, the negative aspect of neglecting traditional values comes to the forefront, involving disrupted family relationships, lack of connection among characters, and the absence of portraying the family as a secure space. Furthermore, violence, especially emotional/psychological and silent violence manifested in the absence of love, emerges as the most common trigger for family crises. Although the dramatization of violence is not new in drama history, with a historical tendency to emphasize physically violent family relationships, hidden forms of violence have an equally destructive effect on family homeostasis. In plays, violence often reflects an imbalance of power among characters, with women and children most frequently becoming victims, potentially rooted in entrenched patriarchal traditions. The position of children as catalysts for crises indicates a failure in the fundamental functions of the family, especially in terms of upbringing and socialization. Children in drama have a 'silent' or even invisible role, particularly pronounced in plays from the German-speaking area where characters almost never appear in scenes with parents but rather become sporadic subjects of discussions. This suggests their position as silent victims, as children in plays often endure violence and are frequently either harmed or killed. In all analysed plays, family homeostasis is disrupted, indicating a lack of connection and (quality) communication, as well as a lack of constructive approaches to resolving conflicts within the family. Characters reflect a crisis of connection and communication not only present in the analysed texts but also in society, where alienation is heightened by technological progress and constant stimuli of consumer society. In conclusion, the analysed plays confirm the hypothesis that contemporary drama of the first quarter of the 21st century predominantly takes a subversive approach to nuclear family, as almost all characters exhibit either passive behaviour patterns or destructively active behaviour patterns. Passivity manifests in various ways, such as avoiding conflict, neglecting responsibilities, and failing to address key issues. Parents, in particular, take the lead in passivity, often not responsibly fulfilling their roles and making detrimental decisions for their children and the entire family system. The passivity of characters also serves as an escape from reality, as they avoid confronting traumatic events or crises, seeking connections outside the family system, or resorting to other forms of escapism. The outcomes of the analysed plays mostly indicate the disintegration of the family system, often involving the death of at least one character, or the maintenance of the status quo without re-establishing family homeostasis. Attempts at positive changes are often in vain, with the majority of characters remaining passive or perpetuating destructive behaviour patterns. In conclusion, this study unveils numerous possibilities for future research, emphasizing that family crises continue to be a compelling source of inspiration for playwrights.