ABSTRACT
This chapter provides an overview of the forces that influence family life. Family life is complicated. A person’s relationship with a parent, sibling, or child is affected by and, in turn, affects relationships with others in the family. Families are complex social systems that comprise subsystems of individuals such as parent and child, siblings, and husband and wife. Similar diagrams or models can be constructed to depict the complex interactions of other family subsystems. The emphasis in most writings about good parent-child relations is upon the parent’s responsibility to the child. Much of the writing on abuse of the elderly has focused upon the stresses that stem from assuming new responsibilities for a dependent, elderly family member. One of the factors that mediates the relationship between stress and family violence is social support, which is available through a variety of sources. Environmental and cultural forces external to the family also strongly influence family relationships.
