Overview

This collection of papers originated as a symposium at the 24th Annual Conference of the Australian Psychological Society in Hobart in September 1989.

In the last decade a much greater social acceptance has been given to different models of marriage and family and more diverse lifestyles. In his foreword to this book Don Edgar, the Director of the Australian Institute of Family Studies, suggests that 'the study of images of families is worthwhile in its own right, as a window on a changing world', but more importantly as a contribution to predictions of 'later outcomes for individual life choices and of social trends that will affect the nature of society itself'.

The book consists of the following ten papers, each of which has a separate entry in the database: Family: an overview, by Kathleen Funder; Images of the typical Australian family, by Patricia Noller and Victor J Callan; When is a family? by Ailsa Burns; Adolescent visions of family: reflections of a family therapist, by Lawrie Moloney; Graphic representation of family structure, by Johanna Watson and Graeme Russell; Children's constructions of their post-divorce families: a family sculpture approach, by Kathleen Funder; Life in stepfamilies: conceptions and misconceptions, by Ruth Webber; Migrant family structure, by Peter McDonald; Family processes: towards a theoretical framework, by Rosemary Dunlop; Methods for studying Australian families, by Victor Callan.

Table of contents

• Foreword
• Notes on Contributors
• Acknowledgements
• 1. Family: An overview - Kathleen Funder
• 2. Images of the typical Australian family - Patricia Noller and Victor J. Callan
• 3. When is a family? - Ailsa Burns
• 4. Adolescent visions of family: Reflections of a family therapist  - Lawrie Moloney
• 5. Graphic representation of family structure - Johanna Watson and Graeme Russell
• 6. Children's constructions of their post-divorce families: A family sculpture approach  - Kathleen Funder
• 7. Life in stepfamilies: Conceptions and misconceptions - Ruth Webber
• 8. Migrant family structure - Peter McDonald
• 9. Family processes: Towards a theoretical framework - Rosemary Dunlop
• 10. Methods for studying Australian families - Victor J. Callan
• Index

Foreword

Families are more than just groups of people related by blood, marriage or adoption. They are more than statistics and categories based on size, number of parents and children, or marital status.

Families are cultural conveyor belts, the carriers of images, traditions, the meanings of life. The very word 'family' is embedded in our personal psyche and in the political structure of the society in which we live. This is precisely why 'family' is a concept slippery to the grasp, a battleground for competing ideologies and loyalties. Our own experiences of family determine the basis of our view of reality, of what is 'normal'. Consequently they lie 'underground' for most of us as a central part of a 'world taken for granted', guiding our reactions to others and our judgements of those whose lives have taken a course different from our own.

Many of us forget that this private image of family is formed also by forces that go beyond our personal experiences. We forget that we live in a historical time, in a given social structure, shaped by cultural forces that are not entirely of our own making. If paid work is only for men, and women are universally confined to home work and child rearing, the notion of family takes on a certain shape. But if the ecology of childhood shifts to a pattern of both parents working outside the home, a more pressured time scale, and formal carers whose emotional attachment is less intense, not only will 'family' be experienced very differently, but that image will also transfer in new ways to a child's later attempts to re-create or reshape it in his or her own later adult reality. Similarly, if a strong ideological image of one preferred model of family prevails and is reflected in normative behaviour, in the media, and in educational and religious institutions, our capacity to move beyond that standard image is much restricted.

We have been, in the sense of the Chinese proverb, condemned to live 'in interesting times'. In the last decade we have moved from a unidimensional model of marriage and the family to multiple models, with much greater social acceptance of diverse forms and lifestyles. Not only do we have 'his' and 'her' marriages, we have each child experiencing family in his or her own way. While we may have replaced the stereotype of the traditional nuclear family with new types such as the one-parent family, the stepfamily and so on, there is a shattering and a scattering of the images, and much greater interest in how those images affect later development and decision-making.

The study of 'images of families' is worthwhile in its own right, as a window on a changing world, but its more important use is, in my view, as a predictor of later outcomes for individual life choices and of social trends that will affect the nature of society itself. One of the Australian Institute of Family Studies' current concerns is whether the (overall desirable) extension of autonomy and choice beyond the domain of men and the better off may be loosening the ties that bind, the 'social cement' of mutual interdependence, cooperation, negotiation and compromise on which a society in the end relies for survival. If a child's experience of family demands self-direction and self-preoccupation from an early age, what image of family will result in the reality-testing oflater life? Will this be a lonely exploration and assertion of self, or will it be a more healthy construction of a 'partnership of equals' in future 'marriages' and family life?

This book makes a start towards clarifying the variety of family images that have emerged as well as how and why they have developed. Each author explores ways in which research can capture these elusive images of family. It is not as simple as merely asking the question 'How do you see the family?' or 'What image do you have of family life?' In fact, different methodologies (statistical analysis of existing data sets, survey interviews, the use of attitude scales, intensive counselling casework, or 'family sculpture' tests) yield new insights into what 'family' means to adults or children, men or women, ethnic grou ps, and those with one or two parents or step-parents. For this reason, as much attention is given to the research techniques used as to the substance of the findings, in the hope that the book will stimulate further research.

The careful reader will find much of interest, ranging from the appealing personal stories to the broader demographic pictures drawn: Kathleen Funder is to be applauded for bringing together work at the forefront of thinking about Australia's changed and changing 'family'.

Dr D. E. Edgar
Director
Australian Institute of Family Studies