ABSTRACT
THE PROPER TIME to influence the character of a child, according to William Inge, is about one hundred years before he is born. This, no doubt, is true. The development of children is substantially affected by the character of their parents, whose development likewise was affected by their parents and the times in which they lived. Even with the increase in our population of more and more generations that overlap, literal implementation of this Anglican prelate’s admonition is not practical in the cycle of family life as we know it today. However, the nature of marital equilibrium established and maintained by the married partners and the forces that influence the marital equilibrium have a marked impact on the family equilibrium which both affects and is affected by the children. Indeed, the marital equilibrium in large measure determines 98the children’s emotional security, their capacity to trust and to learn self-control, their development of proper sex identity, and their competence in functioning socially, economically, and psychologically in a dynamic, changing society.
