Jetse Sprey

The Family as a System in Conflict.

In this paper the conventional treatment of family harmony and conflict, in a consensus-equilibrium framework, is discussed and judged inadequate. Instead a view of the family as a system in conflict is suggested as an alternative and more fruitful theoretical approach. The major premises underlying such a frame of reference are briefly outlined. Its theoretical implications for the study of the family are explored.

Contemporary Grandparenthood: A Systemic Transition:

The transition to grandparenthood is presented as a stage in the family life cycle in which meaning comes from outside the boundaries of the original nuclear family unit through alliances initiated and produced by offspring. A demographic picture of grandparenthood is presented that shows that the transition is likely to occur in middle age and to overlap less with active parenting than was the case in the past, and that the ages of both grand-parents and new parents are important variables affecting transition. Past research has focused on grandparenthood as a role and has largely ignored the effects of family systems on role performance. A systems perspective shows that the grandparent-grandchild bond is initially mediated by the parents. As time passes, however, the bond becomes more direct, although it continues to be negotiated within the extended family system, which is always in flux. Focus on role has obscured the nature of the transition to grandparenthood and the years immediately following it, viewing it as an extension of parenting and not characteristic of real grandparents.

Current theorizing on the family: an appraisal.

This essay presents an appraisal of current theorizing about the institutions of marriage and the family in the US. It aims to exemplify rather than explain or in any way treat the process exhaustively. Central to the discussion is a view of theorizing as an intentional activity that occurs within a time-bound sociocultural setting. The current and future course of mainstream family thought is evaluated and a number of rival approaches toward knowledge acquisition are recognized. It is suggested that 3 of these hermeneutics critical theorizing and feminist thinking must be considered both challenges and potential sources of enrichment to family scholarship. (authors)

On the Management of Conflict in Families.

An attempt is made to add conceptual strength to the conflict approach toward the study of family process. The concepts developed aim to provide analytical access to the nature of the family negotiating process. The focus thus is on the conceptions of bonding, aggression, appeasement, and threat. In addition the extramarital nature of familial and marital conflict management is discussed. Throughout the argument, findings from the field of ethology are used, heuristically, to aid in the attempts at problem formulation.

On the Institutionalization of Sexuality

Human sexuality has been analyzed traditionally within the conceptual frameworks of marriage and the family. This paper deals, however, with the premise that sex is becoming an autonomous and distinct realm of social interaction. The sociological implications of such a development are explored. An attempt is made to design an analytical framework suitable to the study of sexual behavior-and its interconnections with other social institutions-as an end in itself. Finally, a case is made in support of the analysis of sexual interaction within a framework of reciprocity and exchange.

Family Disorganization: Toward a Conceptual Clarification

The concept of family disorganization is frequently equated with other but closely related concepts, such as family dissolution, marital maladjustment, etc. In this paper family disorganization is defined as a separate analytical tool. For this purpose major attention is paid to the distinction between disorganization and the violation of family role obligations. Cohens analytical distinction between social disorganization and deviant behavior is applied to the institution of the family. It is concluded that in concrete cases family disorder and deviancy often coincide, but that logically neither is a necessary condition for the occurrence of the other. Within the general frame of reference formulated in the paper, family and marital disorganization are conceptually distinct, while the phenomenon of marital maladjustment also warrants separate conceptualization.

Born to Rebel: Birth Order, Family Dynamics, and Creative Lives

Why do people raised in the same families often differ more dramatically in personality than those from different families? What made Charles Darwin, Benjamin Franklin and Voltaire uniquely suited to challenge the conventional wisdom of their times? This pioneering inquiry into the significance of birth order answers both these questions with a conceptional boldness that has made critics compare it with the work of Freud and of Darwin himself. During Frank Sulloways 20-year-research, he combed through thousands of lives in politics, science and religion, demonstrating that first-born children are more likely to identify with authority whereas their younger siblings are predisposed to rise against it. Family dynamics, Sulloway concludes, is a primary engine of historical change. Elegantly written, masterfully researched, BORN TO REBEL is a grand achievement that has galvanised historians and social scientists and will fascinate anyone who has ever pondered the enigma of human character.