ABSTRACT
The vast area covered by the term "the family" has been studied in many ways. An attempt will be made to relate the function of the family to the idea of trauma, and this must involve a study of trauma as a concept in metapsychology. The link between the two ideas is that the family gives to the growing child a protection from trauma. Gross trauma of the kind that occurred in this case is prevented in the family by the taboos against incest that are generally operative. The idea of trauma involves a consideration of external factors; in other words it belongs to dependence. A study of trauma therefore involves the investigator in a study of the natural history of the environment relative to a developing individual. The mother is always "traumatising" within a framework of adaptation. In this way the infant passes from absolute to relative dependence.
