Canetto S S
Department of Psychology, Colorado State University, 80523, Fort Collins, CO.
J Prim Prev. 1996 Sep;17(1):31-46. doi: 10.1007/BF02262737.
The social and applied human sciences have been built upon the assumption that the "normal" family consists of a first-marriage conjugal couple cohabiting with biological children. It is taken for granted that the wife should be responsible for child and domestic work, and that the husband should be the family's economic provider and ultimate authority. In the professional literature such "traditional" family structure is often described as normal in the sense of most common, as well as normal in the sense of well-functioning. Current psychological, sociological, anthropological and historical studies, however, do not support the assumption that the "traditional" nuclear family is the most "natural," "common," and/or "healthy" form of family arrangement. The idealization of the "traditional" nuclear family has had implications for theory, research, mental health practice, and social policy. Scientists and practitioners have been slow to recognize pathology in "traditional" nuclear families. Families other than "traditional" nuclear ones have been rendered invisible or pathologized. It is time for contemporary social and applied human sciences to recognize that the "traditional" nuclear family is a culturally- and historically-specific construct. It is also time for contemporary social and applied human sciences to develop an account of, and a research agenda about, families that take into consideration their variations across time, place, social class, ethnicity, and culture.
社会科学和应用人文科学一直基于这样一种假设，即“正常”家庭由初婚的夫妻与亲生孩子共同居住组成。人们想当然地认为，妻子应该负责照顾孩子和家务，而丈夫应该是家庭的经济支柱和最终权威。在专业文献中，这种“传统”家庭结构通常在最常见的意义上被描述为正常，同时在运作良好的意义上也被视为正常。然而，当前的心理学、社会学、人类学和历史研究并不支持“传统”核心家庭是最“自然”、“常见”和/或“健康”的家庭形式这一假设。对“传统”核心家庭的理想化对理论、研究、心理健康实践和社会政策都产生了影响。科学家和从业者一直未能及时认识到“传统”核心家庭中的病态现象。“传统”核心家庭之外的其他家庭要么被忽视，要么被视为病态。当代社会科学和应用人文科学应该认识到，“传统”核心家庭是一种特定文化和历史背景下的建构。现在也是当代社会科学和应用人文科学制定关于家庭的描述和研究议程的时候了，这些议程应考虑到家庭在时间、地点、社会阶层、种族和文化方面的差异。
