Talcot Parsons

This volume is designed as a contribution to the synthesis of theory ineconomics and sociology. We believe that the degree of separationbetween these two disciplines separation emphasized by intellectualtraditions and present institutional arrangements arbitrarily concealsa degree of intrinsic intimacy between them which must be brought tothe attention of the respective professional groups.

This is Volume VII of fifteen in a series on the Sociology of Gender and the Family. Originally published in 1956, this collection of papers demonstrates the authors’ interest is in the functioning of the modern American family and its place in the structure of our society and that perhaps the most important function of the family lies in its contribution to the socialization of children. In view of this fact an analysis of the family with special reference to its functions as a socializing agency should contribute importantly to our understanding, both of the family itself and of its relations to the rest of the social structure in which it exists.

This is Volume VII of fifteen in a series on the Sociology of Gender and the Family. Originally published in 1956, this collection of papers demonstrates the authors’ interest is in the functioning of the modern American family and its place in the structure of our society and that perhaps the most important function of the family lies in its contribution to the socialization of children. In view of this fact an analysis of the family with special reference to its functions as a socializing agency should contribute importantly to our understanding, both of the family itself and of its relations to the rest of the social structure in which it exists.

This volume is designed as a contribution to the synthesis of theory ineconomics and sociology. We believe that the degree of separationbetween these two disciplines separation emphasized by intellectualtraditions and present institutional arrangements arbitrarily concealsa degree of intrinsic intimacy between them which must be brought tothe attention of the respective professional groups.