Author Description

From before birth, children enter networks of relationships that are crucial to their subsequent cognitive, social, and emotional development. Since the effects of early relationships may persist into adult life, they may also shape marital relationships and parenting style, thereby influencing future generations. The contributors to this authoritative volume explore the ramifications of relationships within the family, with particular emphasis on consequences for children. Their focus ranges from conceptualizing the family as an entire system with constituent subsystems to the analysis of moment-to-moment interactions between individuals. Coherence within families; marital and parent/child relationships; parent/first-born/second-born relationships; coherence across generations; and families in distress are considered.