Modern family

The two purposes of this book are to present a general theory of the family, and to utilize this theory in an analysis of the family in the United States. The general theory of the family is both sociological and sociopsychological. The family as a social system and the determinants of its structure and functions are the focuses of sociological analysis. Such considerations lead into the concepts and principles of general sociology and to a view of the family as a social system with respect to which the general theory is applied. The sociological level of analysis is explicit in Chapter 1 and is conspicuous in Parts I through III. The interpersonal relations of family members, the effects of members on each other and the pressures they experience from extrafamilial systems necessitate analysis at the level of social psychology. This is especially evident in Parts V and VI. Of course both levels of analysis permeate the entire book.

The sociological analysis of the family is much more thorough and more developed in this revised edition than in the first. The point of view is structural-functional. To the writer the essence of this point of view is that the social structure of the system defines the social roles and positions of those individuals to whom the actor is related; social functions denote the content of meaningful interaction.