ABSTRACT
This chapter looks at the family in two ways: as a small group of people sharing love, intimacy, and responsibility for children, and as a social institution that serves and reflects the American macrosystem. It views ethnic, cultural, historical, and personal variations as sources of potential strength, as adaptations to specific conditions that provide different answers to the age-old question of how to achieve personal closeness and share rights, responsibilities, and participation in the wider society. Contemporary social forms, most particularly the single-parent household, challenge traditional formulations of "family". Just as individuals develop within the family microsystem, families are situated within society. Most children are prepared for membership in society through family socialization in social relationships. The chapter addresses current family weaknesses and points of stress with an eye toward ways that helpers and policymakers can build family strengths and ameliorate family weaknesses.
