W. F. OGBURN and M. F. NIMKOFF. Tech nology and the Changing Family. Pp. v, 329. Boston; New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1955. $3.75

• Author: Clifford Kirkpatrick
• Published date: 01 July 1955
• Date: 01 July 1955
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1177/000271625530000152
• Subject Matter: Articles

158

with

Professor

Linton’s

distinguished

con-

tributions

to

the

ethnology

of

three

major

world

areas

nor

with

some

of

his

more

creative

volumes

such

as

The

Study

o

f Man

and

The

Cultural

Background

of

Person-

ality.

CORA DU BOIS

Cambridge,

Mass.

W.

F.

OGBURN

and

M.

F.

NIMKOFF.

Tech-

nology

and

the

Changing

Family.

Pp.

v,

329.

Boston;

New

York:

Houghton

Mifflin

Company,

1955.

$3.75.

The

well-known

veteran

team

of

Ogburn

and

Nimkoff

has

produced

a

readable,

well-

organized

book

which

is

accurately

de-

scribed

by

its

title.

The

conceptual

frame-

work

of

the

book

is

distinctively

socio-

logical

and,

as

might

be

expected,

centers

about

technology

as

a

prime

mover

having

impact

on

family

functions.

Many

ideas

are

familiar,

but

writings

of

Shakespeare

seem

full

of

&dquo;quotations.&dquo;

It

should

not

be

forgotten

that

Ogburn

was

the

pioneer

who

originated,

some

thirty

years

ago,

many

concepts

now

taken

for

granted

by

younger

sociologists.

Rather

than

tracing

the

social

conse-

quences

of

a

single

invention,

the

authors

devote

themselves

to

a

scientific

analysis

of

the

causes

of

family

change.

They

ask

questions

about

causes

and

seek

to

answer

them

by

organizing

empirical

evidence,

largely

statistical,

and

by

shrewd

deduction

and

extrapolation

when

evidence

is

inade-

quate.

In

Part

I

the

authors

are

guided

in

their

selection

of

important

changes

in

the

family

by

opinions

of

experts,

in

spite

of

some

diversity

of

&dquo;expert

opinion.&dquo;

The

second

chapter

contains

a

lucid

explana-

tion

of

causes

and

criteria

of

relative

im-

portance

in

causation.

Special

stress

is

laid

on

clusters

of

converging

causes

which

may

include

ideologies

as

well

as

inventions.

The

eight

selected

family

changes

analyzed

in

the

nine

chapters

of

Part

II

are

indicated

by

the

titles,

&dquo;From

Economics

to

Romance,&dquo;

&dquo;Starting

Earlier,&dquo;

Toward

a

Smaller

Family,&dquo;

&dquo;Shrinking

Functions,&dquo;

&dquo;More

Working

Wives,&dquo;

&dquo;Away

from

Au-

thority,&dquo; &dquo;Accent

on

the

Child,&dquo;

&dquo;More

Disruption,&dquo;

and

&dquo;How

and

Why

the

Fam-

ily

has

Changed.&dquo;

Only

one

who

has

worked

with

Federal

statistics

can

appreci-

ate

the

labor

expended

by

the

authors

who

do

not

just

copy

available

tables,

but

rather

seek

out

pertinent

documented

material,

reorganize

it

to

bear

on

questions,

and

finally

subject

it

to

sophisticated

interpre-

tation

in

terms

of

the

causation

concept.

The

final

analysis

stresses

the

family

as

a

whole

with

respect

to

causation

clusters,

such

as

urbanism,

birth

control,

and

ideologies.

The

authors

reject

biological

constants

as

causes

of

variables

and

show

an

inclination

to

trace

back

the

web

of

causation

to

science

and

technology.

The

final

section

of

the

book

consists

of

two

brilliant

and

stimulating

chapters

on

the

future

of

the

family

as

affected

by

technology

and

scientific

discoveries.

Imagination,

insight,

and

wide

knowledge

of

recent

developments

here

are

combined

with

respect

for

facts

and

reluctance

to

pass

value

judgments.

The

book

should

be

required

treading

for

those

who

regard

family

sociology

as

preachy

advice

to

persons

wanting

simple

answers

to

not

very

thoughtful

questions.

CLIFFORD

KIRKPATRICK

Indiana

University

FRANK

LORIMER

and

others.

Culture

and

Human

Fertility.

Pp.

514.

Paris :

UNESCO,

1954.

(Distributed

by

Co-

lumbia

University

Press,

New

York.)

$4.50.

This

work

was

produced

under

the

auspices

of

the

International

Union

for

the

Scientific

Study

of

Population,

and

was

financially

supported

by

UNESCO.

Its

purpose,

in

the

words

of

Professor

Lorimer,

is

that

of

&dquo;an

examination

of

cultural

con-

ditions

affecting

fertility

in

different

non-

industrial

societies

in

the

context

of

their

social

organization

and

cultural

values-

especially

with

respect

to

the

organization

of

the

family

and

kinship

relations....&dquo;

The

work

is

avowedly

tentative

and

ex-

ploratory.

The

first

half

of

the

volume

is

devoted

to

a

generalizing

essay

by

Lorimer

based

on

a

wide

range

of

secondary

sources.

This

is

followed

by

a

series

of

culturally

specific

research

reports

including

a

demo-

graphic

field

study

in

Ashanti

by

Meyer

Fortes;

an

analysis

of

Brazilian

birth

rate