ABSTRACT
The households of Pruitt-Igoe have on the average a larger number of children than most American families. Mothers in Pruitt-Igoe introduce children into the instrumental organization of the family at early ages, to help with the heavy demands of homemaking. Most mothers in Pruitt-Igoe try to keep their children within the apartment as much as possible, or allow them to venture outside only when a responsible member of the family can watch over them. Pruitt-Igoeans are socialized to enjoy and to give enjoyment immediately, because their relationships cannot be counted upon to be stable enough to encourage deferring gratification in the hope of a long-term and more secure flow of interpersonal rewards. As a result of the strains to which they are subject, most families in Pruitt-Igoe develop a structure of internal family relationships that is quite open to penetration by the outside world.
