Families in trouble / Earl Lomon Koos.

  • Koos, Earl Lomon, 1905-1960.
Date:
1946
Catalogue details

Licence: Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International (CC BY-NC 4.0)

Credit: Families in trouble / Earl Lomon Koos. Source: Wellcome Collection.

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    Intra-Family Effects of Troubles 93 final and independent force, but is a part of the evolutionary proc¬ ess. The social relations which the family helps to preserve and strengthen, themselves constantly reproduce it.^ There is further importance to this study in the fact that the most frequent changes in families in time of trouble occurred in this mat¬ ter of dominance. In other words, the end result of trouble, so far as intra-family effects were concerned, seemed to lie most often in the area of authority in the family. Although not well-stated, the follow¬ ing analysis of the result of trouble by Mr. Kreuger is enlightening in this connection; It doesn't really matter what happens in your family about the money you bring home—you always get along, maybe by getting relief. The real problem in any jamb, is what happens to your standing with your wife and kids. You can earn less money, and get along, except that your wife and kids think less of you and pay less attention to you when you do earn less money. CHANGES IN DOMINANCE It is helpful at this point to introduce a device for showing changes in the dominance pattern of these families. Using the bio¬ logical symbols $ and 2 to represent the sexes, and designating the father and mother with the letters (F) and (M), and the siblings as (1), (2) and so on, in the order of birth, the family is represented by a rectilinear figure with sides and shape gov¬ erned by the memberships and relative dominance of each member.® This relative 2. Max Horkheimer, Studien über Autorität und Familie (Paris: Felix Alean, 1936), p. 900. Quoted in Komarovsky, idem, pp. 3 f. 3. It must be understood that in every family each individual except one has some dominance, just as each member except one is subservient to one or more members. It is probably usual to think of one person as being dominant, but that is hardly realistic. True, not every member is involved in every sphere of family activity, but every member does have a place in the general picture of dominance in the family.