Family Development's First Forty Years

The history of family development and its interdisciplinary nature are reviewed. Variations as well as the universality of the family life cyc/e and developmental tasks are explored. Examples of the applications of family developmental concepts by a variety of practitioners in the family field are presented. W hy should I undertake a history of family development at this time? Many of you are better equipped in theory-building, research, and the history of family studies than am 1. Most of you have academic settings where such endeavors flow more easily than in my idiosyncratic situation. But, I am one of the few survivors of those early days when family development was conceived, born, and named as a respectable member of family study. So, bear with me while I tell you about the olden days when the family development conceptual framework was very young. At the end of World War 11, American families were in disarray. Marriage on a weekend pass all too often was followed by a Dear John letter. Women are reluctant to leave jobs that had given them independence. Men, too, had changed; and the crisis of reunion was general as families struggled to establish themselves in the postwar economy.