American families are diverse because they derive from many historical and cultural influences. Only by studying these influences can we understand family strengths and weaknesses and forecast its future possibilities. The Family, Society, and the Individual encompasses the entirety of family systems unified by a central theory: Problems of the family often represent a clash between the needs of the individual and the requirements of the social order. It is only when these two forces are in balance that the individual, family and the society benefit the most. This theory is not just enunciated in an early chapter and then ignored. It pervades and integrates the entire book.
This book also provides a universal definition of the family. A basic premise of any science, including family science, requires an abstract, universally applicable definition of the core unit of analysis. The definition of the family provided in this book incorporates the fact that every family is a social network.
The first edition of The Family, Society, and the Individual was published by William M. Kephart in 1961. The theoretical theme of this book remains through the eighth edition. The teachers and students alike should find this combination of classical theory and modern methodology a liberating framework within which to tell the story of the family comprehensively, inclusively, unbiasely, and clearly.