Developmental Tasks of the NCFR--1963-1988.

Reuben Hill has indicated the disagreement which exists among family-field professionals regarding premarital sex morality and the function of constructive conflict in marriage; he has also called attention to discontinuities between individual versus marriage and family goals. Other problems include the presumption, despite an emphasis on preventive mate selection, that marriage is the best design-for-living for everyone; the misconceived nature of sexuality in women; and the idolization of reproduction. Particularly important problems are the neglect of lower socio-economic families, especially of Negroes; and the apparent inadequacy of value foundations fostering family stability, such as the Protestant Ethic which has previously served middle-class families. The latter concerns suggest major developmental tasks for NCFR during the next 25 years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]