Family Science Review

Lyle E. Larson

ABSTRACT: The purpose of this paper is to review the linkages between the religious factor and commitment to marriage. The nature and meaning of marital commitment is briefly discussed in the first section. Section two examines the research using religious affiliation as a predictor in explaining marital stability and satisfaction. Religious affiliation seems to be a significant influence in keeping marriages together. There is, however, increasing evidence that "affiliation" is a less elegant measure of the religious factor than actual participation in more conservative religious groups. The third section reviews the linkages between religious commitment (as indicated by religious attendance, measures of religiosity, and religious community) and commitment to marriage and family. Religious commitment is an apparent and quite consistent correlate of marital satisfaction and stability. The evidence, even so, is far from definitive. Several theoretical and methodological concerns in the use of the religious factor in research are raised. Suggestions are made for further research.

Elaine Shaw Sorensen

ABSTRACT: The review explores efforts to identify a relationship between religion and health, and then examines issues and implications for family health research and practice. First, studies that relate religiosity to individual physiological and psychosocial health are reviewed, highlighting the need for definition of terms and exploration of such issues as pain, healing, the meaning of religion, and the faith health connection within the family context. Second, theoretical considerations are offered, noting the need for definition of conepts and development of theoretical frameworks that include family science models. Finally, implications for research and practice in family sciences are presented. Emphasis is on the need for study from the family perspective, the need for observation of both healthy and ill populations within naturalistic family environments, the importance of qualitative data in such explorations, and the value of multidisciplinary approaches to research and therapy.

Thomas W. Roberts

ABSTRACT: This paper explores how a religious belief system could be considered an addiction in the same way alcohol and drugs are addictions. Various aspects of substance addiction are reviewed in terms of their implications for addiction as religious belief systems. A systems perspective of religious addictive families reveals that addictive families tend to have rigid communication patterns. In addition, religious addictive families tend to have an imbalance in the religious and secular rituals which may be expressed through family lift cycle transition dysfunctions. Treatment issues of religious addicts are multifaceted and represent a number of interdependent factors. Clinicians must view the religious addiction within the context which may extend beyond the family. The clinician views the religious addiction as symptomatic behavior which develops similarly to other family dysfunctions. In addition to reducing stress in the family life cycle, the clinician also may want to strengthen secular family rituals.

J. Robin Summers & Jo Lynn Cunningham

ABSTRACT: There are strong historical links between church and family. One of the most frequent manifestations of this link today is premarital counseling by clergy--the source of this experience for the majority of couples in the U.S.  Clergy are the most frequently used source for all personal and family counseling in this country, and premarital counseling constitutes a major portion of the total counseling done by clergy. Limited research has been done concerning the role of clergy as premarital counselors. However, there is evidence that clergy tend to be relatively poorly prepared for their role as premarital counselors, either through their formal educational background or through other means. Recommendations are made for family life educators, clergy counselors trained in other disciplines, and researchers to contribute to ameliorating the present deficiencies in practice and in the literature, and a model is proposed of improving effectiveness of clergy as premarital counselors.

J. Elizabeth Norrell

ABSTRACT: The minister's family provides a variety of complexities and possibilities for family scholars. This review covers many of the stresses felt by clergy and their families in terms of work and family conflict, specifically those relating to time, role, and behavior conflicts. Additionally, a model which is sensitive to individual differences between clergy families (using a systems approach) while allowing for differences between denominational beliefs and values (using Troeltschian model) is proposed.

Richard A. Hanson

ABSTRACT: Christian fundamentalism has emerged on the American scene with a powerful ideological message as well as with considerable political clout. In this paper, after a section defining Christian fundamentalism, the place of family within the fundamentalist consciousness is examined. As a pre-eminent symbol of social stability, protecting and enhancing the American family is a major goal of Christian fundamentalists. Factors delegitimizing the family are discussed along with gender roles, parent-child relations, the methodology of Christian fundamentalism, and social programs for families. The Christian fundamentalist agenda for the family is discussed along with the implications of fundamentalism for family science.

Roger L. Dudley & Margaret G. Dudley

ABSTRACT: Five studies are reviewed which explore relationships between religion and family life among members of the Seventh-day Adventist church in the United States and Canada. The tension between social learning and emancipation theories provide the basis for explaining the extent to which family practices influence the religious behavior of offspring. At the same time, intrinsic-extrinsic orientations to religion provide clues as to how religion influences family satisfaction. Studies on adolescent religious alienation, frequency of family worship, transmission of values, youth retention in the church, and marital satisfaction are reviewed within the theoretical framework outlined.

Max E. Stanton

ABSTRACT: The Hutterites represent one of the few cases in which an intentional religious group has survived as a long-term, multi-generational society. Strict communitarianism in the context of an agrarian colony (Bruderhof) is the central focus of the Hutteite pattern of living. The key factors in the successful preservation of the Hutterite Way have been the supportive commitment of the family unit to communal life and a deep, abiding sense of obligation to the religious principles upon which the foundation of a common ownership of goods and property (Guetergemeinschift) is based. The family is the central unit in this arrangement. The family is reinforced in its communal commitment through a network of intense and powerful mechanisms of socialization within the colony. This socialization process takes place within the context of a series of strictly controlled and monitored phases (cycles) of maturation from early infancy to adulthood. In this paper, I will discuss the interplay between the family and the five general phases of maturation within the overall context of colony life. Contemporary forces which are presenting challenges to the Hutterite Way forcing basic reassessment and redefinition of the role of the family in the community also will be discussed.

Bron B. Ingoldsby

ABSTRACT: This article is a review of Mormon belief and practice as it relates to family life. The principle of plural marriage is examined, followed by data on modern day practice in the areas of marriage, divorce, fertility, and family problems and strengths. Drawing heavily from religious sources, some conclusions about social change and accommodation are proposed.

James R. Huber

ABSTRACT: Do you sometimes feel like you've been a student forever? Have you wondered lately if you're getting the most our of your undergraduate education? Are you concerned about how you'll make the transition from being a student to being a professional? If you answered "yes" to any of these questions, then you may be at high-risk for "schooliosis," a paralyzing condition which effects thousands of Family Science majors each year.

Gregory W. Brock and Jeanette D. Coufal

ABSTRACT: The purpose of this chapter is to provide family science majors with guidelines for writing and building an effective resume. First impressions count, and the case of applying for a position, your first impression is your resume. What your resume says and how it says it are both important. The resume usually is the most important factor in determining whether you get an interview. An effective resume, however, is not based on writing alone. Effective resumes are built over a long period of time. The process begins in the freshman year or even earlier.

J. Kenneth Davidson, Sr

ABSTRACT: The quest for voluntary certification has recently been described as a national pastime. In view of the proliferation of certification opportunities through professional societies as well as through technical and industrial organizations, the late twentieth century could well be remembered in the annuals of professionalization as the Age of Certification (Institute of Association Management Companies, 1986). The interest in family life education, however, is rooted in a much earlier era of cultural and social upheaval which occurred during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. At this time, many social and economic forces such as industrialization, urbanization, and mobilization resulted in significant changes in traditional family patterns. Consequently, concern for professional support of families emerged along with the development of
disciplines pertaining to the family. Professions such as home economics, sociology, psychology, health, psychiatry, and psychoanalysis were well in process by the early part of the twentieth century (Darling, 1987). But, despite the widespread interest in family life education, functional courses in marriage and family remained the exclusive purview of home economics for many years. The discipline of sociology, especially was concerned about risking its professional reputation by offering functional courses which were believed by some sociologists to avoid theoretical and/or research perspectives by taking a more applied approach to the subject matter. But, as student interest increased and as demand for credit hour production became increasingly stronger, departments of sociology began to offer functional marriage and family courses (Somerville, 1971).

Carolyn J. Love

ABSTRACT: The major focus of this article is the investigation of advancement criteria in non-academic careers for family professional. Five specific topics will be addressed: the increasing awareness of need for family scientists outside of academia, the kinds of expertise most in demand, motives of family science professionals, marketing family science, and family science career education. It's main target audience is family science professionals who are presently employed by non-academic institutions, are desiring employment in such institutions, and/or educating others about career opportunities in this arena. Emphasis will be placed on those individuals who have already acquired one or more non-academic positions in their career field.

Nelwyn B. Moore

ABSTRACT: The focus of this paper is the affective domain--that area of learning concerned with emotional, attitudinal or psychological issues (DeVito, 1986). The three domains of human learning are differentiated as Cognitive--mental or intellectual abilities; Psychomotor--neuromuscular coordination, muscular or motor skill, and/or manipulation of materials and objects; and Affective--values, attitudes, feelings, and emotional sets (Green, 1975). While the cognitive and psychomotor domains of learning are organized by increasing complexity, the affective one is organized by increasing internalization. The goal of all learning is to integrate these domains in a process that David Mace has described as "the long, long trail from information-giving to behavioral change" (1981:599). Further clarifying the concepts, Olson and Moss (1980) suggest that teaching about family life is within the cognitive domain while teaching for family living concerns the affective domain. Specifically, this paper will address the need for affective competencies in the training of family life educators. It will identify needed personal relationship competencies, the extent of their inclusion in professional preparation, as well as suggested program strategies. Finally, it will consider assessment as a tool to effect a better match of affectively competent individuals and the field of family life education.

Robert E. Keim and Barbara Kimes Myers

ABSTRACT: This review can be helpful not only for emerging students entering the professional ranks but for the seasoned professional as well. Occasionally someone will ask the established professional for suggested resources on a given topic. Often there are a vast pools of resources presently existing which are overlooked due to the lack of knowing them or not knowing of the resources which can guide a person to them. More precisely, the purposes of the article are: (1) To provide some principle resources to the professional and (2) To introduce the professional to specific reference guides and encyclopedias to assist them in locating other resources.

Richard C. Endsley, Marilyn R. Bradbard, and Greg Lang

ABSTRACT: Previous research has documented that investigators of parent-child (p-c) relations who publish either in Child Development (CD) or Journal of Marriage and the Family (JMF) are from essentially two different research communities that function in virtual isolation from each other. The present study attempted to test the hypothesis that the differences in methods used and age groups of subjects studied can be accounted for by meta-theoretical differences that derive from child specialists' closer links to the discipline of psychology and family specialists' closer links to the discipline of sociology. However, the results indicated that the two groups' conceptions of variable molarity and the sources of external causation were more notable for their similarities than their differences. Further, the groups differed on the frequency with which reciprocal interaction measures were employed, even though both have long held similar views about the importance of such assessments. Therefore, it was concluded that methodological and/or substantive traditions of their respective root discipline.

Roberta Magarrell

ABSTRACT: This paper is an attempt to begin identifying the literature that has had and is having the most influence in the family field. A random sample of members of the National Council on Family Relations was surveyed to determine which books and articles had the most influence. The responses indicated there is considerable diversity in what people view as the most influential literature in the field, and the patterns are different for different disciplines.

Robert L. Moxley and Douglas Bachtel

ABSTRACT: This article highlights the challenges associated with reviewing articles for professional journals in the social sciences. Topics explored include the importance of reviewers in the publication process, how reviewers are selected and their willingness to review. Suggestions on critiquing a paper such as (a) having its eventual publication in a journal as the goal and (b) taking a "state-of-the-art" perspective rather than a "how would I do this' approach also presented. Finally, the importance of spelling out the reasons regarding revision or rejection and the tendency of some reviewers to reject all papers are discussed.

Robert E. Keim and Deborah J. Cassidy

ABSTRACT: Family scientists have an effective way of working with people in the family and social services field that is qualitatively different than employees with other backgrounds. The family scientist should recognize these qualities in themselves as they seek to compete in the career areas outlined in this article. They bring a greater understanding, knowledge, and sensitivity to an individual's human predicament and family dynamics.

The article is written predominantly for students or graduates from bachelor's degree programs in family science or an equivalent degree. It also may be helpful for graduates from master's programs as a means to become more acquainted with other possible options within different client populations.

A broad overview of entry level positions in local community and local governmental agencies and organizations will be presented in this article. Other articles in this series should be consulted for positions in business and industry, in county and state cooperative extension programs, and in civil service positions connected with the federal government and the military services.

Sandra W. Smith and Thomas B. Holman

ABSTRACT: In this paper, we have made an effort to be very explicit about job titles, required competencies, and job descriptions of existing jobs for which a family scientist could qualify. Tables 1 and2 are tabulated listings of job openings which were announced through the placement center of a large western university over a two year period. The information was compiled from weekly employment information bulletins. In the bulletins, jobs for family science, psychology, sociology, social work, political science, and human development were listed along with jobs for such majors as English, languages, drama, speech, communication, advertising, broadcasting, humanities, police science and library science. This was a stroke of good fortune for our investigation, since the placements for these "generic" college degrees provided many possible options for family scientists. DelCampo (1989) says that a family science degree is like a "specialized liberal art degree." In agreement with this concept, we have identified all the generic job listings from the bulletins that were originally listed for liberal arts majors, but that require the specific skills and qualifications acquired by the typical family science undergraduate or graduate student. These job listings represent openings throughout the United States. Often they require a willingness relocate.

Barbara Vance

ABSTRACT: Just about everybody has had someone ask, "What are you going to be when you grow up?" When we were little kids, some of us said we were going to be cowboys or firemen or policemen or nurses. When we became adults we had to get serious about this business of what we were going to do when we "grew up." This business is sometimes called career planning. During childhood and maybe adolescence it's okay not to know what we are going to be when we grow up. Then lots of us go on to college and career planning becomes serious business.

Some of us have made a career choice that includes the family at its core. Some
of us want to work inside academia. Some of us want to work outside academia. But we want to focus on the family.

Is it possible to be a family professional and find fulfillment and satisfaction? Is it possible to make a decent living as a family professional? This article explores career possibilities for family professionals inside academia and outside academia.

Robert F. Stahmann and Joe Edgar Glenn

ABSTRACT: Marriage and family therapy (MFT) is the youngest and most rapidly growing of the mental health professions (American Psychological Association, 1986). MFT was formally acknowledged as a mental health discipline in 1978 when the United States Office of Health, Education and Welfare recognized the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education as the official accrediting body for MFT. "Marriage and family therapy means the process of providing professional psychotherapy to individuals, married couples, and family groups, either singly, or in groups...Marriage and family therapy includes individual, premarital, relationship, martial, divorce and family therapy, and is specialized mode of treatment for the purpose of resolving emotional disorders, modifying interpersonal and intrapersonal dysfunction and promoting mental health" (Utah Marriage and Family Therapist Licensing Act, 1987).

Jerald Mason

ABSTRACT: During the second half of the 20th century, the level of living for most American dramatically improved over the level enjoyed by their grandparents. By almost any standard used, most Americans today should be financially well off. However, there is a lot of data that indicates people are having serious problems managing their finances. Bankruptcies are at an all time high, so are mortgage foreclosures. Consumer debt is breaking records, while savings rates continue to decline. In spite of many government transfer programs, the number of Americans living in poverty is not that much better than it was 30 years ago, with many older Americans joining the poverty ranks. The divorce rate in America is high and researchers report that family financial problems usually play a key role in almost all separations. Most Americans' real income is much higher than it was one, two and especially three generations ago; so why all the financial problems.

Mick Coleman and Chrystal Barranti

ABSTRACT: As "the largest problem-solving educational system in the world" (Vines & Anderson, 1976), the mission of the Cooperative Extension Service is to improve the quality of life for individuals, families, and communities through the application of research to daily economic, social, and environmental problems. The manner in which this mission if fulfilled makes Cooperative Extension a unique educational force, as indicated in the following characteristics (see Sanders, 1966a; U.S. Department of Agriculture, 1986).

Gary L. Bowen

ABSTRACT: Faced with decreased opportunities for employment in academe, there is an increasing trend toward nonacademic employment among doctoral-level graduates. This article examines the career prospects, issues, and obstacles for family science Ph.D.s outside of academe. Specific recommendations are offered for doctoral-level family science graduates as well as for faculty members and graduate departments for confronting this changing employment situation.

Erik E. Filsinger

ABSTRACT: During my academic career as a student and as a faculty member at the various professorial and administrative ranks, I had maintained the academic bias about the "dirty" world of business, its profit motive, and its lack of values, excepting, of course, the almighty buck. However, after making friends in the private sector- and becoming
somewhat more informed about the darker side of life in the Ivory Tower, I began to  reevaluate my own views of the private-public dichotomy. I also began to wonder what working in the private sector would be like.

Scott D. Wright & Donald A. Herrin

ABSTRACT: In this article we continue our discussion of the precursors to a Family Ecology by articulating the conceptual commonalities and differences that are found in the utilization of an ecological framework within the social and behavioral sciences. We then examine the implications of human ecology for an ecological study of the family. Finally, we identify and discuss four critical tenets for a Family Ecology which is offered as an alterative interdisciplinary approach to the complex study of family phenomena.

Larry L. Constantine

ABSTRACT: The theoretical limits to variation in the organizational interactional premises of family systems are investigated. A formal logic is applied to the elementary requirements of human systems in the abstract, independent of empirical issues. This leads to the conclusion that, with reasonable restrictions on the domain of application, only a finite series of fundamentally distinct family paradigms are possible. Beyond the four variants previously recognized (closed, random, open, and synchronous), an additional regime, representing a synthesis of "open" and "synchronous" systems, is hypothesized as necessary and sufficient to close the series and account for all possible mechanisms of regulation. Some characteristic features of this form of systemic organization and operation have been derived.

William H. Meredith & Douglas A. Abbott

ABSTRACT: The study of family issues has long been a topic of interest in the general disciplines of sociology, psychology, anthropology, home economics, psychiatry, education, and social work. In recent years, family studies, rather than being of tangential interest, has blossomed into an identifiable field of study in its own right (Task Force #5, 1987). Many sociologist identify themselves as family sociologists or family demographers. Even in psychology, where the traditional focus of attention has been intrapsychic, there is a greater recognition of the family context. In fact, in 1985 the APA established the division of "Family Psychology" and in 1987 a new professional journal by the same name was founded (Liddle, 1987). Family development also has been emerging as a force in the family field, and many scholars associated within these departments refer to themselves as as family scientists (Leigh, 1987). A new journal, started by the Family Discipline section of the National Council on Family Relations, called Family Science Review, was also established 1987.

 Randal D. Day, Donna S. Quick, Geoffrey K. Leigh, & Patrick C. McKenry

ABSTRACT: A review of undergraduate and graduate programs is presented to identify some of the similarities and differences in family science departments, especially in terms of structure, emphases, and admission criteria. In addition, the information provides a comparison for students, both in terms of departments and available options, as well as some of the issues facing students in making a decision of where to attend school. This analysis is not an attempt to make a comparison in terms of quality, but only in terms of structural and entrance criteria.

Bron B. Ingoldsby

ABSTRACT: Let me say from the outset that I am a loving and loyal member of the National Council on Family Relations (NCFR). I joined while attending graduate school at the University of Georgia in 1977, and I have not missed an annual meeting since that time. NCFR is the professional home for family scientists and such, is worthy of our support and scrutiny. the purpose of this brief commentary is to provide a friendly critique of NCFE in the hopes of generating some discussion and to make a few suggestions toward some positive change.

William H. Meredith, PH.D

ABSTRACT: In recent  years, family life education has received increased emphasis in China. In the 1980s, a greater need has been seen for research on family issues as well as educating families about family life and parenting in particular. While the educational content presented in China has many similarities to that presented in America, one notable difference exits. In America, family education often is separated from other aspects of life, while in China family education is very much related to social issues, the welfare of society, general education, and Marxist philosophy. The Chinese believe that one aspect cannot be taught without the others. Therefore, family life education begins with a base of Marxist philosophy and presents the family in terms of its relationship and responsibility to society. Beyond this base, the content of family education in China includes much that is familiar to the West.

This article includes an examination of the extent to which family life is taught in the colleges and universities of Guangdong Province, Peoples of Republic of China In addition, a description is provided of the formal means of disseminating information to the public.

Guangdong Province is in the southeastern part of China, bordering Hong Kong and Macao. It has 62 million people and is considered to be China's most prosperous and westernized area. The capital of Guangdong Province is Guangzhou (formerly known as Canton) with a metropolitan population of 6.7 million people.

Donald A. Herrin & Scott D. Wright

ABSTRACT: In this article we attempt an historical overview of the developments and streams of through in ecology and human ecology in order to establish a framework for the study of family life from an ecological perspective. In part two of this paper (to published in the next issue of Family Science Review), we will identify and discuss in more detail the important considerations and constructs of ecology we believe are applicable to the study of family life.

Wesley R. Bur Donald A. Herrin, Randal D. Day, Ivan F. Beutler, & Geoffrey K. Leigh

ABSTRACT: This paper is an attempt to describe several aspects of the epistemologies that are used in the family discipline. It argues that phenomena such as the birth process and generations make the "family realm" unique, and the same way economic, psychic, social, and historical phenomena are unique, and this has allowed scholars in the last four decades to begin developing a family discipline that is as basic or primary as the other social sciences. The four intellectual traditions that have been using these new epistemologies in studying the family are described, and it is suggested that they have constructed more primary explanations than is generally recognized. Several examples of their primary explanations are described, and the paper concludes with some speculations about future possibilities the new epistemologies may make possible.  .

James E. Deal

ABSTRACT: The role of similarity in the mate selection/courtship progress area is examined. A brief history of the use of similarity and the problems associated with its use are discussed, low to modest relations, unusable relations, no clear view of how similarity operates in relationship development. It is proposed that a possible explanation for the problem lies in the ways in which similarity is measured. A comparison of self perceptions is the more dominant assessment technique, but evidence form social interaction theory and the social psychological literature on person perception suggests that such comparisons may be inappropriate. A comparison of self- and other-perceptions may be a more appropriate method of assessment, but has its own problems. The literature in this area is reviewed and directions for future research are suggested.

 Richard C. Endsley, Marilyn R. Bradbard, Greg Lang

ABSTRACT: The present study updates the findings of our previous research that child and family specialists function in virtual isolation from each other (Endsley & Brody, 1981). Examining the parent-child (p-c) relations research published in Child Development and the Journal of Marriage and the Family since 1980, and comparing these data to our earlier findings, we have concluded that child and family specialists still approach the study of p-c relations with substantially different methodologies and subjects. However, concomitant with a dramatic increase in the percentage of p-c studies published in both journals during 85- 86, there are recent signs of rapprochement in the use of more similar research methods and in more frequent cross-journal citations.

David C. Payne

ABSTRACT: "Family Science Undergraduate Programs: Time For A New Approach?," (Brock, 1987) presents a curriculum approach focusing on "skills training" as a solution to the following assumed deficits in Family Science undergraduate programs: a) The lack of a clear-cut occupational identity, b) An insufficient amount of professional training, c) Declining numbers of undergraduate majors, and d) A career path which is not economically competitive. Noting that new approaches  to therapy are assuming forms which focus more on "...prevention services, educational intervention, psychoeducation...", the author suggests that family science departments will benefit from using similar "skill training" emphasis as a new model for curriculum development.

Gregory W. Brock

ABSTRACT: The rejoinder presents the opportunity to reply and reiterate several points from my original statement:
1. Changing the traditional family science curriculum by augmenting what exists is a good strategy, and one that I recommended.
2. The curriculum I proposed includes all of the traditional undergraduate course work plus the addition of professional level skills. Any reference to minimizing course work on theory is a simple misreading of the proposal.
3. Teaching skills to undergraduates was labeled as vocationalism (usually connoting trade skills). The traditional curriculum trains students to become academicians or in the view of many, nothing much at all (avocational pursuit). My proposal seeks to broaden, strengthen, and professionalize the undergraduate degree. Family science undergraduates should learn family theory, human development theory, and the ecological view of human problems experienced today. They also need the professional level skills required to change families and foster optimum human development.
4. The concern expressed about the effects of adopting a professional skills orientation on so called non-intervention faculty is very real. If the number of our majors continues to drop, non-intervention faculty will have few students to teach. Adding skills training of the type I have suggested to some content courses is well within the considerable capacity of existing faculty. We have tended to believe that intervention is the turf of the psychologists and social workers. We must discard that myth, value our expertise, and rightfully assume our role in the academic and professional services communities.

Douglas C. Bachel, James Walters, & David B. Eastwood

ABSTRACT: The purpose of this report is to present guidelines for authors submitting articles to the refereed scholarly journals in the social sciences. The recommendations are based on "collective experience of three editors of such journals and were delivered at a session of the Southeastern Regional Family Economics/Home Management 17th Annual Conference in Athens, Georgia held in February, 1988. The theme of the session was to present guidelines to assist faculty in preparing manuscripts for scholarly journal review. The panel presentation and discussion led to the points outlined below.

NCFR Task Force on the Development of a Family Discipline

ABSTRACT: This paper reviews the historical development of family science. It began as an interdisciplinary area in the early decades of the twentieth century. Several new professions, such as marriage and family therapist and family life educator appeared, and a new disciplinary perspective emerged. The result is that family science is now a large, changing dynamic, complex, and multifaceted field. There are scholars in many disciplines who contribute knowledge from their perspective, and there are also several groups of scholars and practitioners who view the family field as their primary discipline. These complicated patterns make it difficult for new students to understand what the field is, and this paper is an attempt to help them by describing historical and current patterns of scholarship and intervention.

Suzanne K. Steinmetz & Karen F. Stein

ABSTRACT: A typology of diverse family forms, based on past research studies of family functions and structure, is developed to help researchers and theorists organize and classify, family type. The matrix, based upon traditional and emerging family functions and structures, appears superficially to follow the mold of the traditional structural/functional framework with each type of family fitting into one mutually exclusive quadrant. However, unlike earlier applications of structural-functional analysis, this typology of applied to a range of variant family forms instead of treating non-nuclear families as problematic.

Teresa D. Marciano

ABSTRACT:

 Wesley R. Burr, Jay D. Schvaneveldt, George Roleder, & Christina Marshall

ABSTRACT: Considerable data have been gathered on American graduate programs for over five decades, but none of the surveys have included family science programs. This study is an attempt to begin correcting this deficiency. The data reported here are from anonymously completed questionnaires from 55 professionals who were interviewed as part of a fact finding tour of family science programs. The sample is therefore small and accidental, but eve with these limitations, if appropriate care is taken in how findings are used, the data are better than the previous condition of no data at all.

Gregory W. Brock

ABSTRACT: Valid, reliable program admission criteria and applicant screening procedures are important to high quality graduate training of any kind. This need is perhaps more pronounced among disciplines such as family therapy where faculty-student contact is highly intimate over a long time period. Clinical training also demands students who serve clients in a responsible and ethical  manner. Once in place, however, program admission criteria and the procedures used to screen applicants are seldom examined. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness of the admission criteria and screening procedures used in an accredited family therapy degree program. Our intent in communicating the the results is threefold: to describe admission criteria and procedures used in one program, to provide a model of evaluation perhaps useful to other programs, and to show how such an evaluation can change admission criteria and procedures.

Patrick C. Mckenry & Sharon J. Price

ABSTRACT: Harold Christensen wrote in 1964 that family research was a difficult undertaking because of the inability of scholars to put aside their strong values about family living and their own family experience for the sake of objective social science research. The literature in family science has more than tripled since Christensen made this statement, and we're now talking about  distinct knowledge base in family study, i.e. family "science." Yet we would contend that not only is family research still difficult to conduct, but that it suffers qualitatively as a result of persisting personal and even political bias in the formulation of research problems and the interpretation of research findings.

Ad-Hoc Family Discipline Section Publication Committee

ABSTRACT: The first issue of Family Science Review was published in November, 1987. At the time the decision was made to print the first issue, it was believed by  the leaders of the family discipline section of the National Council on Family Relations that enough "guidelines" had been provided that it had permission to publish FSR. Discussions prior to and during the annual meeting in Atlanta, however, revealed there were several misunderstandings, and a number of issues and procedural matters had not been dealt with adequately. The result is that FSR has become an ongoing periodical, but it does not have endorsement of NCFR and is separate publication. In fact, currently, FSR is a publication independent of any professional organization.

Pamela A. Moore

ABSTRACT: Family scientists are beginning to recognize that any career options are available to them. Ours is relatively new discipline, and our past efforts were focused on developing a sense of identity as a profession. We could hardly prepare students for alternative careers until there were enough scholars and professors to handle the academic training of family scientists. Now, we are approaching the saturation point for academic positions. In a 1987 survey of all student members of the National Council on Family Relations, nearly 40% of respondents indicated that they expected to practice family science in an academic setting. It is my opinion that our academic job market simply cannot absorb so many new professors. It is time for faculty members and students to consider, prepare for, and even create new opportunities for family scientists. This essay will describe one such career, that of the legislative research analysts.

William H. Meredith, Larry D. Kallemeyn, & Pauline D. Zeece

ABSTRACT: In a cooperative arrangement between a private foundation and a university academic department, the Human Development and the Family Department at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln for the past one and half years to provide managerial and professional services for the Cedars Home for Children in Lincoln, Nebraska. the Cedars Home has served as an excellent training facility for undergraduate and graduate students in the department. To our knowledge this arrangement is the only one of its kind in the United States where a university academic department runs a licensed private family and child service agency.

Wesley R. Burr and Timothy A. Lowe

ABSTRACT: This paper reviews the literature about Olson's Circumplex model, and attempts to resolve two problems that have been discovered by attempts to use the model. The two problems are that: (1) the model theorizes that the relationships in it are curvilinear, but some data and some other theorizing suggest that at least on of the relationships is linear; and (2) the role of communication in the model is problematic. This paper proposes that the solution to the controversy about the shape of the relationships is that the relationships probably have a different shape than previously thought. The solution to the problem of communication being generally excluded from the model about the three factors in the model. Moving to a profile system also makes it easy to expand the model to include other factors, and one way of expanding it is presented.

Patricia A. H. Dyk and Jay D. Schvanevldt

ABSTRACT: With the increased interest in stress theory, "coping" has become a popular concept in family science. Most studies have focused on individual coping behavior of family members as they deal with stressful situations ranging from normal to catastrophic. However, there is an increasing need to understand how families cope as groups. To date, there has not been an in-depth discussion or clarification of coping as a family-level construct. By reviewing the development of the concept of coping to its integration into current family studies and theory building efforts, this paper enhances clarification of family coping with encouragement that future research efforts be directed toward increased understanding of this complex, multi-dimensional concept.

Erik E. Filsinger and Mark W. Roosa

ABSTRACT: Distinctions among types of explanations of research findings are made. Four types are identified: Sticking with the data, substantiated speculation. Using a sample of 82 articles from the 1960, 1970, and 1980 issues of the Journal of Marriage and the Family, the authors found that unsubstantiated speculation is the norm in family science and that its usage has not changed over time.

Task Force on the Development of a Family Discipline

ABSTRACT: In 1981 there were 51 universities that offered a masters or doctoral degree in a family department (Burr & Leigh, 1982,). However, there was little consensus about what to name these programs. This can be illustrated by the following partial listing of the names that were  used: family development, family ecology, family economics, family education, family environment, family interaction, family life, family living, family relation(ships), family resources, family science, family services, family social science, family studies, family therapy, and "the family."

William H. Meredith, Douglas A. Abbott, and Mary Ann Lamanna

ABSTRACT: The testing of family theory and the generation of new concept and information is of considerable importance to our profession and to our society. Thus, research, which is the vehicle for accomplishing these task, is an important component of any academic department's research strength is the number of professional publications. For this reason a study was undertaken of the publications frequently used by family researchers in order to determine which academic departments made major contributions to the field of family studies. This was determined by counting publications in selected journals fir the period 1980-1986.

Randal D. Day, Gary W. Peterson, and George T. Roleder

ABSTRACT: This paper is an attempt to illuminate several ideas about professional networks in family science programs. Data were gathered from faculty in a number of family science departments as part of a survey of prominent programs. It was discovered that there were few chairpersons or mentors who could be identified as having leadership for a large proportion of professionals in the field. instead, faculty members seemed to have been trained by a wide variety of individuals. Based on the connective hiring patterns of prominent family science programs, suggestions. Several implications suggested for students considering different doctoral programs in family science.

Randal D. Day

ABSTRACT: One of the initial purposes of creating the Family Science Review was to provide an outlet for critical essay and dialogue about issues that emerge in the field of family science. It is the feeling of the editors of this publication will be an important way to enhance the growth and development of the discipline. The Forum section will provide an outlet for such exchange.

Gregory W. Brock

ABSTRACT: The variability of undergraduate family science programs is of concern throughout higher education. Casual observation shows that the number of majors in many programs is decreasing. With this decline, faculty allocations to family science departments are being withdrawn along with other resources. Some universities no longer have a family science program or department. Other disciplines in the social sciences with student credit hour problems are stepping up turf-raiding efforts. All the social sciences are under stress. Times are hard!