The vanishing nuclear family constitutes one of the most significant demographic and social transformations in recent history. A voluminous body of theoretical and empirical literature in family studies, proceeding on the assumption that the nuclear family is the optimum child-rearing structure, suggests this change will have dire consequences for the well-being of future generations. The present essay challenges that conclusion, pointing out various methodological and conceptual problems with the extant research on which this prediction is based.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Bane, Mary Jo. 1976. Here to Stay: American Families in the Twentieth Century. New York: Basic Books.
2.
Berg, B. and R. Kelly.1979. “The Measured Self-Esteem of Children from Broken, Rejected, and Accepted Families.”Journal of Divorce2:363-370.
3.
Berger, Brigitte and Peter L. Berger. 1983. The War over the Family. Garden City, NY: Anchor/Doubleday.
4.
Biller, H. B. and A. Davids. 1973. “Parent-Child Relations, Personality Development, and Psychopathology.” Pp. 48-77 in Issues in Abnormal Child Psychology, edited by A. Davids. Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole.
5.
Blanchard, R. W. and H. B. Biller.1971. “Father Availability and Academic Performance Among Third-Grade Boys.”Developmental Psychology4:301-305.
6.
Blechman, E. A.1982. “Are Children with One Parent at Psychological Risk? A Methodological Review.”Journal of Marriage and the Family44:179-195.
7.
Blechman, E. A. , R. M. Berberian, and W. D. Thompson.1977. “How Well Does Number of Parents Explain Unique Variance in Self-Reported Drug Use?”Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology45:1182-1183.
8.
Burgess, Ernest W.1926. “The Family as a Unity of Interacting Personalities.”Family7:3-9.
9.
Burton, R. V.1970. “Validity of Retrospective Reports Assessed by the Multitrait Multimethod Analysis.”Developmental Psychology Monograph3:1-15.
10.
Cherlin, Andrew J. 1981. Marriage, Divorce, Remarriage: Changing Patterns in the Postwar United States. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
11.
Cooper, J. E. , J. Holman, and V. A. Braithwaite.1983. “Self-Esteem and Family Cohesion: The Child's Perspective and Adjustment.”Journal of Marriage and the Family45:153-160.
12.
Demos, John and S. Boocock, eds. 1978. Turning Points: Historical and Sociological Essays on the Family. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
13.
Desimone-Luis, J. , K. O'Mahoney, and D. Hunt.1979. “Children of Separation and Divorce: Factors Influencing Adjustment.”Journal of Divorce3:37-42.
14.
Edwards, John N. and Mark L. Wardell. 1986. “A Political Economy of the Family.” Unpublished paper.
15.
Eisenstadt, J. M.1978. “Parental Loss and Genius.”American Psychologist33:211-223.
16.
Elder, Glen H., Jr.1981. “History and the Family: The Discovery of Complexity.”Journal of Marriage and the Family43:489-519.
17.
Ericksen, J. A. , W. L. Yancy, and E. P. Ericksen.1979. “The Division of Family Roles.”Journal of Marriage and the Family41:301-313.
18.
Furstenberg, Frank F. 1983. “Divorce and Child Development.” Paper presented to the American Orthopsychiatric Association, Boston.
19.
Glueck, Sheldon and E. Glueck. 1962. Family Environment and Delinquency. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
20.
Gubrium, J. F. and R. J. Lynott.1985. “Family Rhetoric as Social Order.”Journal of Family Issues6:129-152.
21.
Hacker, Andrew , ed. 1983. U.S.: A Statistical Portrait of the American People. New York: Viking.
22.
Hareven, Tamara K. 1981. Family Time and Industrial Time. New York: Cambridge University Press.
23.
Herzog, Elizabeth and C. E. Sudia. 1973. “Children in Fatherless Families.” Pp. 141-232 in Review of Child Development Research, Vol. 3, edited by B. M. Caldwell and H. N. Ricciuti. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
24.
Hess, R. and K. Camara.1979. “Post-Divorce Family Relationships as Mediating Factors in the Consequences of Divorce for Children.”Journal of Social Issues35:79-96.
25.
Hetherington, E. Mavis , Martha Cox, and R. Cox.1979. “Play and Social Interaction in Children Following Divorce.”Journal of Social Issues35:26-49.
26.
Hetherington, E. Mavis , Martha Cox, and R. Cox. 1978. “The Aftermath of Divorce.” Pp. 146-176 in Mother-Child, Father-Child Relations, edited by J. H. Stevens and M. Matthew. Washington, DC: National Association for the Education of Young Children.
27.
Hill, Reuben.1981. “Whither Family Research in the 1980s: Continuities, Emergents, Constraints, and New Horizons.”Journal of Marriage and the Family43:255-257.
28.
Hofferth, Sandra L.1985. “Updating Children's Life Course.”Journal of Marriage and the Family47:93-115.
29.
Kellam, S. G. , M. E. Ensminger, and R. J. Turner.1977. “Family Structure and the Mental Health of Children: Concurrent and Longitudinal Community-Wide Surveys.”Archives of General Psychiatry34:1012-1022.
30.
Kinard, E. and H. Reinherz.1986. “Effects of Marital Disruption on Children's School Aptitude and Achievement.”Journal of Marriage and the Family48:285-293.
31.
Kohn, W. and B. L. Rosman.1973. “Cognitive Functioning in Five-Year-Old Boys as Related to Social-Emotional and Background Demographic Variables.”Developmental Psychology8:277-294.
32.
Kurdek, L. A.1981. “An Integrative Perspective on Children's Divorce Adjustment.”American Psychologist36:856-866.
33.
Lasch, Christopher. 1977. Haven in a Heartless World: The Family Besieged. New York: Basic Books.
34.
Lynn, D. B. 1974. The Father: His Role in Child Development. Monterey, CA: Brooks/Cole.
35.
McCord, J. , W. McCord, and E. Thurber, 1962. “Some Effects of Parental Absence on Male Children.”Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology64:361-369.
36.
Parsons, Talcott and R. F. Bales. 1955. Family, Socialization and Interaction Process. Glencoe, IL: Free Press.
37.
Reiss, D. 1981. The Family's Construction of Reality. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
38.
Schultz, David A. and R. A. Wilson.1973. “Some Traditional Family Variables and Their Correlations with Drug Use Among High School Students.”Journal of Marriage and the Family35:628-631.
39.
Select Committee on Children, Youth, and Families. 1983. U.S. Children and Their Families: Current Conditions and Recent Trends. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
40.
Shorter, Edward. 1975. The Making of the Modern Family. New York: Basic Books.
41.
Slater, E. J. and J. D. Haber.1984. “Adolescent Adjustment Following Divorce as a Function of Familial Conflict.”Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology52:920-921.
42.
Svanum, S. , R. G. Bringle, and J. E. McLaughlin.1982. “Father Absence and Cognitive Performance in a Large Sample of Six- to Eleven-Year-Old Children.”Child Development53:136-143.
43.
Thornton, Arland and Deborah Freedman.1983. “The Changing American Family.”Population Bulletin38:1-44.
44.
Thwing, C. F. and C. F. B. Thwing. 1887. The Family: An Historical and Social Study. Boston: Lee & Shepard.
45.
Wallerstein, Judith S. and Joan B. Kelly.1980. “Children and Divorce: A Review.”Social Work24:468-475.
46.
Werner, E. E. and R. S. Smith. 1982. Vulnerable but Not Invincible: A Study of Resilient Children. New York: McGraw-Hill.
