ABSTRACT
The ambiguities of family structure in Potter Addition are sometimes reflected in its terminology. In Potter Addition's case the idea that a stable form of family life could be an amalgam of contradictory value orientations is by no means farfetched, for the petit bourgeois and uxoricentric family forms are far more than mere theoretical constructions. They are consciously recognized antinomies of everyday life and form part of the common stock of knowledge that makes up Potter Addition's culture of poverty. The uxoricentric family is a composite structure— an uneasy amalgam of contradictory class-based norms and beliefs. Rather than destroying its internal coherence and integration, however, uxoricentrism's contradictory normative composition forms the foundation for its dialectical reproduction. Potter Addition's people are socialized into both systems. The one is transmitted through standard channels of public culture; the other is constructed by them as they meet the challenges of lower-class life.
