Family Worlds: A Psychosocial Approach to Family Life

How does a family function? How does a family make a distinctive life of its own while living according to the values of society? In what ways is a family a unit when all its members have personalities of their own? How can we understand diversity among families?

Robert D. Hess and Gerald Handel sensitively explore the dynamics of family life in five narrative case studies. The Clarks, Lansons, Littletons, Newbolds, and Steeles are all "typical" families with representative social, cultural,...