ABSTRACT
To illuminate this process, we describe a study of 120 parents who were asked to tell a story to their 4-year-old child about when they were growing up. In examining socialization via family stories, we highlight variations in story themes of both storyteller and listener. We propose that there is a developmental press in the thematic content of family stories. Second, as a process, telling stories about growing up provides generational links. Many of the stories include a description of family kinship ties and provide vibrant images of family members who are important to understanding family history but
are removed from the child’s everyday experiences. Family stories provide a unique opportunity to examine both stability and change within the context of the family system. Stories may serve to both preserve family identity across generations, insuring continuity, as well as help members navigate developmental passages, reXecting the changing nature of family life. We also take this opportunity to demonstrate how the study of family stories lends itself well to the systematic integration of qualitative and quantitative research methods.
