ABSTRACT
The family is a unit of interacting persons, the source and seedbed of human personality, the wellspring of affection, emotional support, and lifelong security. Families determine the kinds of persons who grow up in any generation, time, or place; and the kinds of persons they become determine the nature of their community, nation, or world. The image of the family in rural society must not be frozen in "still life" forms, like a Grandma Moses painting or a Currier and Ives print. The family in rural society would be more accurately characterized as the "family-in-process" or the "family-becoming." The traditional rural family was assumed to have "roots" in one place, one farm, one village. Families perform an infinite variety of functions, some shared with other groups and agencies, others divided among family members or shared by family members.
