Families are rule-governed systems of interdependent individuals whose interaction follows an intricate pattern of behavior. Communication patterns in a family reflect and emerge from contradictions in rules. A function may be defined as something that a system does and must do if it is not to break down. For instance identity and stability…

The booklet contains proceedings of a 1982 conference focusing on the needs of parents of handicapped children. Summaries of presentations and panels address the following topics: federal support systems for parents of handicapped children, parents' reactions to learning their child is disabled, early intervention services, community support…

This paper discusses path analysis and the applicability of this methodology to the field of family studies. The statistical assumptions made in path analysis are presented along with a description of the two types of models within path analysis, i.e., recursive and non-recursive. Methods of calculating in the path model and the advantages of…

The two sections of this monograph deal with child abuse and spouse abuse as separate issues. The authors discuss the factors that have contributed to these problems, including historical antecedents, attitudes, and practices; and identify the characteristics of abusive caretakers of children, violent spouses/partners, and abused or neglected…

Retrospective accounts of the nature of adolescence as experienced by mildly handicapped individuals were gathered through indepth conversations and interviews over an 18 month period with 48 mildly retarded adults (ages 22 to 60) living independently in the community. Structured life history interviews were also conducted with parents or other…

This is the 1976-1977 final report of Work Unit III of Southwest Educational Development Laboratory's Early Childhood Program. The Unit was funded to develop media products, mass media delivery strategies, television spot announcements and supportive booklets designed to increase awareness of certain child-rearing skills and practices among low…

This paper demonstrates, with reference to the Samal of Tagtabon Island, how the structure of local domestic groups and the statistical distribution of residence types can be derived from a detailed description of the decision rules used by Samal native actors themselves in making, evaluating and predicting residence choices. Considering the…

The experience of consultants in a pediatric hospital indicates that infant failure to thrive is almost always associated with strain in the relationships of the infant's caregivers. Consequently, a nontraditional, long-term, home-based, and family-centered model of evaluation and treatment of failure to thrive has been developed which involves…

Freud brought the concept of incestuous impulses and their repression into the mainstream of developmental psychology and emphasized the importance of incestuous stimulation as a source of psychopathology. Traditions of denial and victim blaming were established in the psychotherapeutic community, and Freud's belief that incestuous acting out…

This paper describes a program providing support, education, and skill-building within a self-help format for the children of aged parents. The selection of the 18 initial program members, each with relatives living either in their homes, in a nearby location, or in nursing homes is reviewed. The 90-minute group sessions which met weekly for 8…

The American family has undergone many changes in the last 20 years, due to divorce, death, or separation of parents, parents who have never married, and mothers who work. To determine how well school reading materials reflect the changing American family, seven basal reader series for grades four, five, and six were studied. Three random family…

A study utilized a family systems approach, in which two groups of mainland based Puerto Rican families were interviewed, to compare Puerto Rican families whose children have identified handicaps (N=14) and Puerto Rican families whose children do not have handicaps (N=14). Investigated were the quality and quantity of stresses which impinge upon…

This student guide for a program focusing on the relationship or bond between parent and child discusses how this bond forms, how it affects the development of the child, why children find it hard to separate from their parents and how they deal with the separation fears, and provides some practical suggestions for making inevitable separations…

The influence of the sex, grade, religiosity and birth order of adolescents on adolescents perceptions of the parental power structure in the family was examined in this study. Parental Power was conceptualized as a multidimensional variable following the French and Raven (1959) formulation of social power bases. The parental power dimensions…

Hospitalized latency age children must confront their feelings surrounding illness, treatment, and hospitalization; and care must be taken so that normal developmental stages are minimally disrupted. Roadblocks to psychosocial growth may occur in the development of mastery, body image, cognitive understanding and family relationships. Often the…