The family, that most fundamentalof human groups, is currently perceived
to be changing in response to social, biological, cultural and
technological developments in our postmodernsociety. While the observed
changes in families have been considered by some sociologists to be
evidence of adaptation and, therefore, normal, the authors of this
volume, consider them maladaptive. Viewing society from the point of
view of clinical psychiatry, they point to greatly increased numbers of
children born to single mothers, soaring rates of divorce, a
statistically confirmed increase in mental disorders, increase in
reported incest, high rates of depression in younger people and
escalation of the amount of reported family violence as evidence that
the family, as a social institution, is in crisis and can either move
toward renewed vitality or continued deterioration. Perceiving a need to
obtain information about family functioning that might lead to the
increased stability and well-being of this critically important type of
system, Dr. John Schwab and his associates designed and camed out a
research program that began with a thorough review of relevant
literature beginning with LePlay's study of 300 families in the
1850'sand including important recent statistical studies. They found
that although these studies represent advances in understanding the
family system, some serious problems with the research remain, one of
which is confounding variables such as family function and mental or
substance abuse disorders so that if a family member has a problem, such
as drug abuse, the family is classifiedasdysfunctional.
