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SUSSMAN, Marvin B„ 1918-
FAMILY CONTINUITY: A STUDY OF FACTORS
WHICH AFFECT RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN
FAMILIES AT GENERATIONAL LEVELS.
Yale University, Ph.D., 1951
Sociology, family
University Microfilms, Inc., Ann Arbor, Michigan
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FAMILY CONTINUITY: A STUDY OF FACTORS WHICH
AFFECT RELATIONSHIPS BETWEEN FAMILIES
AT GENERATIONAL LEVELS
MARVIN B. SUSSMAN
A DISSERTATION
PRESENTED TO THE
FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL OF YALE UNIVERSITY
IN CANDIDACY FOR THE DEGREE OF
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
1951
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ABSTRACT
This th esis is a study in in terg eneration al
fam ily co n tin u ity . An attem pt has been made to estab
lis h the importance of fac to rs which a ffe c t re la tio n
ships between fam ilies a t two generation le v e ls . The
facto rs investigated are: 1) The so c io -cu ltu ra l back
ground of the marriage mates; 2) Type of courtship and
marriage ceremony; 3) Family and child rearin g philosophy
and p ractice; 4) The development of fin a n c ia l and other
service p attern ; and 5) The re s id e n tia l location of the
parental and c h ild ’s fam ily a fte r m arriage.
To determine the importance o f these fac to rs,
parents of 97 fam ilies who were m iddle-class, w hite,
P ro testan t, whose children had married and le f t home
were intensively interview ed. From those interview s
195 parent-ch ild relatio n sh ip s were selected which com
p rise a fin a l sample. A case study approach was em
ployed and s ta tis tic a l procedures used with some of the
dsita .
Our findings suggest th at the continuity of
in terg en eratio n al family rela tio n sh ip s tends to be in
creased when marriage partners share sim ila rity of back-
groundj observe the tra d itio n a l conventions regarding
courtship and marriage ceremony, have been raised to be
family-minded and s e lf -r e lia n t, continue in moderation
a p attern of economic help and service with th e ir
parents, and liv e in the same or nearby community as
th e ir elders •
These facto rs appear to be in te rre la te d , each
operating in association with the other in any given
paren t-ch ild re la tio n sh ip . Thus, if a child m arries a
mate of sim ilar background the p ro b a b ilitie s are that
he w ill have an approved courtship and wedding, and
generally develop a pattern of jo in t fam ily a c tiv itie s
with his p a re n ts.
Our data suggest th at so c io -cu ltu ra l s im ila ri
tie s are the most important of the fiv e facto rs studied,
in a ffe ctin g family c o n tin u ity . Next in importance to
fam ily continuity is the observation of the tra d itio n a l
sequence, followed by the rearing p ractices under which
the child was ra ise d .
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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
To the persons of the G reater New Haven Area
who served as respondents in th is research p ro je c t, and
gave fre e ly of th e ir time, I am indebted and sincerely
appreciative* They are too many to mention indiv id ually
I am also obligated to Professor Maurice R. Davie, Chair
man, Department of Sociology, Yale U niversity, Mirra
Komarovsky of Barnard College and Ralph Linton of the
Department of Anthropology, Yale U niversity, and to mem
bers of the facu lty in the Department of Sociology at
Yale, fo r th e ir h elpfu l suggestions) to Jim and Helen
Davie, who validated some of the data; Ray Porer, who
rated the fam ilies and read some of the o rig in al manu
sc rip t; Barbara C hatfield, who proof read some of the
fin a l copy; and L u cille Chamberlain, who typed the fin a l
m anuscript; I am sincerely g ratefu l fo r th e ir help.
P a rtic u la r acknowledgments are to John Sirjam aki,
d irec to r of th is th e sis, who gave u n stin tin g ly of his
time, Pred Strodtbeck, who advised on the use of s ta
t is ti c a l procedures, and Ruth Sussman, who typed the
o rig in al m anuscript•
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TABLE OP CONTENTS
CHAPTER PAGE
I INTRODUCTION 1
II CHARACTERISTICS OP THE GROUP;
METHODS; PROCEDURES 17
I I I SOC10-CULTURAL SIMILARITIES 42
IV THE TRADITIONAL SEQUENCE 73
V CHILD-REARING PRACTICES 103
VI SERVICE EXCHANGE PATTERN 133
VII RESIDENTIAL NEARNESS 163
' V III SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS 182
BIBLIOGRAPHY 196
APPENDIX 204
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LIST OF TABLES
Page
1 . LEVELS OF FAMILY CONTINUITY AS RATED
BY AUTHOR AND JUDGE 39
2. PERCENTAGE OF POSITIVE FACTORS (SOCIO
CULTURAL SIMILARITIES, TRADITIONAL
SEQUENCE, CHILD REARING PRACTICE) BY
FAMILY CONTINUITY LEVEL 192
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CHAPTER I
INTRODUCTION
Fam ilies have need to perpetuate themselves and
the society of whioh they are a part by ensuring the
marriage of th e ir child ren , and thus the creation of
fam ilies a t constantly new generational le v e ls., In a l l
human so c ie tie s procreation Is lim ited to the fam ily:
marriage is regarded as licen sin g parenthood, and I l l e
gitim acy is un iv ersally condemned and punished.1 Only the
*
fam ily, as a sanctioned union between persons of the two
0
sexes, can provide the constant and prolonged care necessary
to rea r human o ffsp rin g . Hence every society zealously
safeguards the fam ily and confines the procreative processes
to i t . The fam ily rears and so cializes i t s young,^ then
when they have grown u,p and are ready to marry, o rd in arily
exeroises some supervision over th e ir manner of marriage and
the launching of the new fam ily. In th is fashion each
generation makes provision fo r the next and c arries on in
to tim e.
1
Bronislaw Malinowski, "Parenthood— the Basis of
Social S tru ctu re." The New G eneration. V. F. Calverton and
3. D. Schmalhauser, ed s., i&So • "(Ifew 'STork: The Macauley
Company 1930), pp. 137-144.
2 '
Ralph Linton, The Study of Man (New York: D.
Appleton Century Co., 1936), pp. lb i-15 7 .
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-2 -
Thls co n tin u ity between in terg en eratio n al fam ilies
is characterized by so cial rela tio n sh ip s between parents
and th e ir m arried children which aid considerably in s ta b i
liz in g the younger fa m ilie s, The elders may a s s is t th e ir
4
children economically, or give them a home, or in stru c t them
in m arital ro le s . They may intervene a ctiv e ly in family
c rise s, to p rotect ag ain st outside aggression, or to nurse
sick members, or to provide food or other n e c e ssitie s,
4
Typically, elders in every society dote on th e ir grand
children and lav ish affectio n upon them. Common needs and
understanding also e x ist between the generations and these
strengthen the human resources of both fa m ilie s. The flow
of a ssistan ce, i t should be noted, is not always in one
«
d ire c tio n : the m arried children, in tu rn , are often r e
quired to care fo r parents when they become old and incap
able of managing fo r them selves,
Today in American society the continuity between
Intergen eratio nal fam ilies is sometimes impaired because of
changing so cial conditions which a ffe c t both the fam ily in
s titu tio n and so c ie ty . Children se le c t th e ir own marriage
partners on the b asis of mutual a ffe c tio n , and parents may
p a rtic ip a te in th e ir choices very l i t t l e , if a t a ll.^
4
Therefore, parents may acquire sons- or daughters-in-law
1
W illard W aller, The Family; A'Dynamic In terp re
ta tio n (New York: The Dryden Press, I n c ,, I&&8), pp. 17V-
TT§~.
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-3 -
w ith whom they cannot read ily e stab lish frien d ly re la tio n -
*
sh ip s. Upon m arriage children found independent households,
whose lo cation is usually determined by the husband*s place
of employment.^ Even though th is may not be fa r from the
parents* home, the rela tio n sh ip s between the two fam ilies
may be d isa ffe c te d . Often the parents* e ffo rts to help th e ir
children may be resented as in terferen ce in th e ir a ff a irs ,
and th e ir indulgence of the grandchildren regarded as counter
acting the mother*s d isc ip lin e over them. Furthermore, the
two fam ilies may find i t d if f ic u lt to e stab lish common under-
standing because ad u lt members d iffe r in class p o sitio n ,
ethnic background, relig io u s a f f ilia tio n , occupation and
lev els of schooling. Thus, the nuclear fam ily comprised
of parents and children has tended to become independent
and iso lated from i t s p arental fam ily.
This separation between the two fam ilies a fte r
— *
marriage is of course never complete, since parents and
children re ta in strong, bonds of a ffectio n and in terd e-
* *
pendence, which are not e asily destroyed. N evertheless,
they tend to be weakened by urban in d u strialism of con
temporary so ciety , the prolonged schooling of ch ild ren ,
1
T alco tt Persons stre sse s the economic emancipa
tio n of the in d iv id u al from the fam ily of o rien tatio n and
m obility of the new fam ily in terms of the child*s indepen
dent ohoice of occupation. ”The Social S tructure of the
Family”, in The Fam ilyi' Its Function and'D estiny (New
Yorks Harper and feros., k . Anshen, eel., p. 92.
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and the increasing number of other in s titu tio n a l member
ships ■which ' phrpn’tsvandp©hll£fcren have ap art frhmtieabh
p&her*-!-. Furthermore, the fam ily*s loss of productive
i
functions and i'ts sharing of other functions with in s titu
tions in the society have reduced i t s former so lid a rity as
a work group, thus the dependence fam ily members have upon
2
i t . They find employment without the fam ily * s. help and
make th e ir way independently. Upon marriage they e stab lish
themselves independent of both sets of p aren ts. Often they
marry a fte r completion of school or a period of employment
away from home, therefore th e ir contacts with the home have
weakened before m arriage and may not be resumed th e re a fte r.
As a consequence of these developments the fam ily
has been weakened by the in s ta b ility of m arriage tie s ,
demonstrated by high divorce ra te s , economic in se cu rity ,
individuation of fam ily members with reduced emphasis on
1
Adolph S. Tomars, in a b rie f but precise essay,
in d icates how rapid social change and urbanism has modified
fam ily rela tio n sh ip s and fu n ctio n s. Human R elations in a.
Changing Society (Hew York: New York Society if’or fethical
djuliurej 1 9 4 ( 5 pp. 22-38.
2
F aris suggests th at the continuity of in te r
generational relatio n sh ip s i>s breaking down because of the
opportunities for occupational advancement and the disap- •
pearanoe of the apprenticeship system . Robert E'. L. F a ris,
"In teractio n of G enerations,and Family S ta b ility ." Amer.
S oclo. Rev.. XII (A pril, 1947), 159.
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