ABSTRACT
This chapter describes about small family groups and how they manage the disturbance of adolescence. It also describes some of the themes that adolescents and their parents have highlighted when asked what they hope and expect from a family life. Protection from unnecessary shame and humiliation is something that all adolescents need at some time, particularly in their phases of intense self-consciousness. Lone parenting is certainly something of a balancing act at the best of times and it would probably be true to say that there are very few single adults who would make the choice to parent adolescents alone, if circumstances did not require them to do so. Lone mothers also have a tendency to find new partners and this is sometimes very difficult for adolescents to accept. The chapter focuses on two significant themes that were highlighted in the introduction; these are the adolescent tendency to mystification and the restorative influence of humour.
