This report, based on a study by the Subcommittee on Intergovernmental Relations and Human Resources of the Committee on Government Operations examines the magnitude of the problem of homeless families. Its findings include the following: (1) causes of family homelessness include scarcity of low income housing, inadequate income or public…

This paper discusses the concept of a family system in terms of an interactive system of interrelated, interdependent parts and suggests that VHS movies can act as perturbations, i.e., change promoting agents, for certain dysfunctional family systems. Several distinct characteristics of a family system are defined with particular emphasis on…

This paper discusses the changing concept of the American family, identifying four major trends in family structure: (1) a dramatic increase in two-wage-earner families; (2) more working women; (3) more single-parent families; and (4) restructuring of families through divorces and remarriages. The family has been losing many of its traditional…

This document presents a guide for parents to help them understand and effectively parent their adolescent children. Section I focuses on Parent Haven, a weekly parent support group run by parents, volunteers, and staff of the Family Enhancement Program in Madison, Wisconsin, which provides on-the-job training and support for parents of preteens…

This document contains testimony and prepared statements from the Congress presented at a hearing on family violence. Statements are given from an executive involved in a television special about incest, a victim of abuse, Senator Ted Stevens of Alaska, and representatives from a victim witness program, the United Way, the National Conference of…

This document provides witnesses' testimony and prepared statements from two sessions of the Congressional hearing called to examine allegations of sexual abuse of children by parents or stepparents, and the problems associated with children's court testimony in criminal sexual abuse cases. Testimony from the first session includes statements from…

Casa de Esperanza, Incorporated, is a program which provides residential care to severely disturbed children, ages birth to 6 years. The philosophy of the program is to provide care to the disturbed child and counseling to the parents so that the child may return to the parental home once the crisis is past. The children are cared for in shelter…

Homelessness among families is quickly reaching crisis proportions across the country. Over 30 percent of America's three million homeless people are members of families, and families are the fastest growing segment of the homeless population. Perhaps more disturbing, homelessness represents only the most extreme manifestation of a more…

This booklet describes the work of the Alaska Women's Commission, a state agency dedicated to the achievement of equal legal, economic, social, and political status for women in Alaska. Since its inception, the Alaska Women's Commission has provided funding for regional women's conferences in rural parts of the state. The document describes four…

A tutorial program of family life education has been developed for use in the homes of parents who are clients of Franklin County Children Services (FCCS) in Columbus, Ohio. The subject matter of the Parent Tutorial Curriculum (PTC) is divided into five content areas: self esteem (2 modules), communications (9), child rearing (4), homemaking (9),…

First of a two-part report on a 1982 study by the staff of the Education and Work program at Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory (NWREL), this issue presents the preliminary findings from questionnaires (and telephone surveys) of 30 unemployed men and women. In order to determine how unemployment affects people, NWREL's study identified and…

In reviewing the literature related to education for family life, this discussion focuses on three main areas: the need for such education, trends in the development of family life education programs, and the results of evaluations of a wide range of programs. Evidence was found concerning (1) the key role families play in their members'…

Alcoholism, and particularly alcoholism in the family, is an unsolved medical and social problem. Addictive drinking results in several social and psychological problems, most of which are caused by a change in brain function. Excessive drinking of alcoholic beverages operates as a stressor and produces alkaloids at the base of the brain that are…

This workshop manual is an education and training resource tool for the religious community, both individuals and groups, working to mobilize resources in response to sexual and domestic violence in rural areas. The first section presents an approach to education and training on family violence (goals; where to begin, how to proceed, and why;…

Theorists have suggested that domestic abuse may be a result of psychopathology in the abuser or the result of severe stress. To determine whether the families of aged victims exhibit an inordinate number of stressful situations, 20 elderly abuse victims were interviewed about family relationships and problems, and completed a modified version of…