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The family is a human institution whose membership is divided into at least two generations. As an institution essential to the survival of the young it has evolved in all societies and exists also among some animal species. In the course of human history and development, however, the family has also become essential for education in the productive and creative modes of the group or culture, and societies in turn depend upon the family to inculcate their values and traditions and collectivesurvival techniques. As the latter have become increasingly specialized, industrialized and intellectualized, the family's role and existence have become less crucial as a survival instrument, and family size has become less important for the group's welfare and sustenance than the family's effectiveness in providing tangible and intangible nurturance for the younger generation's personality development, socialization, and cognitive and symbolic competence.
We can forgo the ancient and modern thesis that the deterioration of the family as an institution is imminent, as well as the cause of all social ills. This was heard in Socrates' day, in the Middle Ages, and in our day. The family has changed and is changing, and so are societies. These changes are circular as well as complex or cybernetic. Since families in modern society do not need to produce jointly their food and shelter and since the rigid traditions and rituals of the past no longer govern family life and ensure its continuity, family cohesion and continuity depend primarily on the affective bonds in the group. The so-called isolated nuclear family prevalent in industrial societies is exposed to special stresses, different from but not necessarily more severe than the vicissitudes of the past. The special stresses that beset the modern family derive from increased mobility and urbanization and from the rapid pace of value changes in industrialized and industrializing societies. These changes lead to the isolation of the two-generational family from its origins and collaterals, often a geographic but also necessarily an emotional and psychological separation.
Separation mastery and competence therefore are crucial issues and necessary accomplishments in the family life cycle that the parents must effect by themselves in the framework of a wholesome structural and functional system. Parents' personal resources, and the persons they are, have become the...