"Life reform" is an umbrella term used for describing the movements critical of modernisation whose main features were the desire to return to nature and naturalness, to self-healing and finding lost integrity again. They also have close ties to the educational reforms of the time. These movements were particularly active in the German,…

This paper examines the need and the context for alternative living arrangements for older persons, and describes some recent attempts to devise new family arrangements for the elderly. Particular attention is focused upon Share-A-Home in Florida, a "family" of nonrelated senior adults who share their own household expenses. (Author)

For thousands of years China has been troubled by droughts and floods. In the past 25 years, the country has worked to alleviate these problems. Numerous water conservation projects requiring the communal efforts of the people have been carried out. Record grain crops have resulted from these projects. (MA)

Data are presented demonstrating that the life expectancy of kibbutz members--both men and women--is higher than that of the overall Jewish population in Israel. These data add to and support other research findings illustrating the more positive mental health and well-being found among kibbutz members than among other comparative populations.…

This study explored some of the impacts of the presence of others on the most intimate human relationships: those of couples and parents and children in communal households. The shift from essentially dyadic to larger group relations in the home adds a number of complex phenomena: audiences, alternative resources, coalition partners,…

The contemporary development of communes and intentional communities is described and accounted for as an institutionalizing response to the development of an alternate culture. Various themes of communal life are discussed and the implications of these themes for sexual and genderal relations is considered. (Author)

This report describes a project designed to explore the feasibility of undertaking a systematic 6-year longitudinal study of how children being reared in alternative family life styles are being socialized and how these patterns of socialization affect the development of the children. Pilot investigations were conducted to (1) identify the…

While community living may introduce some new interpretations and extension of the present statues, it does not appear that major changes or problems of decision will appear. The problems posed for the courts may be nowhere near as severe as the problems that children pose for their own communities. (Author)

Examined by follow-up interviews the attitudes and behavior about marriage, parenting, and lifestyle among former commune members (N=344) previously interviewed in 1974-76. Found ex-commune members: (l) less likely to have married, (2) more likely to live in multi-adult households and, (3) more receptive to possible collective living arrangements…

This paper provides a descriptive summary of the historical development, the basic features, the organizational structure, the patterns of child-rearing and education, and specific research findings concerning the Kibbutz Movement in Israel. Four main types of collective settlements are described, along with the main characteristics and tenets…

An interview with a mother and daughter living in an intentional community in New Hampshire explores how their choices about lifestyle have shaped them, how homeschooling worked for them, the role of other community adults in raising children, why the daughter left and later returned, and how community is more than proximity to other people. (TD)

This study, part of a naturalistic longitudinal study of infants being reared in a variety of family life styles, attempted to establish the extent to which differing parenting patterns affected early developmental outcomes. Subjects were 200 infants: 50 of single mothers who headed their family units, 50 of mothers in communal living groups, and…