THE CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN FAMILY,
by Ernest R. Groves '03 and GladysHoagland Groves. J. B. Lippincott Company, 1947. pp. 838, $4.50.
There have been many developments in the objective study of marriage and the family since the authors wrote The American Family, in 1934. These developments are reflected in this rewritten text. Such new insights are obviously not so apparent in the first section which is concerned with contrasting contemporary marriage and family forms with those of other cultures and the historical background of the present American family. The second section, dealing with the interactions of personalities within the family, does reveal the further accumulation of tested knowledge. An excellent and judicious selection of case material makes the reader wish that this section had been enlarged. Part Three is concerned with the Social Problems of the Family. The multiple factors in contemporary life making for failure to achieve parenthood constitute the subject matter of a stimulating chapter entitled, "The Arrested Family." The final section discusses in a very adequate manner the various programs that have arisen to combat the increase in family disorganization: the legal, biological, mental hygiene, home economics and educational.
By universal agreement, the names of the late Professor Groves and his equally competent wife, Mrs. Gladys Hoagland Groves, have been associated, in a unique way, with the advance in contemporary interest in and knowledge of marriage and family life. Several characteristics of this text make it a valuable addition to the growing literature in this field: (1) constant emphasis on the fact that the family does not exist in a vacuum but is interwoven with all other social institutions in such a way that the integration or the disintegration of the larger society cannot fail to be reflected in family life; (2) a considered and successful effort to relate increasing knowledge about marriage and the family to the practical needs of the student. Values and ideals receive their due emphasis in the typical Groves' fashion; (3) an excellent bibliography for the intellectually alert student.
