Family survival - coping with stress. - book reviews

Parker Rossman, a former minister of Old Lyme Congregational Church in Connecticut, adapts sociological theory on support networks in his book on coping alternatives for families. He is particularly concerned with young parents who live at a distance from extended families and families that face a crisis because of the illness or handicap of one member.

The first part of the book examines types of support networks that can help families in crisis, including surrogate extended families, therapy networks and self-help groups. The Christian church and Jewish religious fellowships are discussed as catalysts in community development of support groups.

Part II elaborates on one informal and two more formal "models" of support. The first, and most informal, focuses on the value to service delivery professionals of informal networks of families. These groups are both a resource in the delivery of services (particularly when budgets are reduced) and a back-up when the professionals attempt to modify a service delivery system. The second, and more formal, model focuses on the hospice idea. This

model of a holistic support system is based on a partnership between diverse groups of families and professionals. As a team that has been planned and has undergone training, it sustains a family during a serious crisis. The third, and even more formal, model focuses on the "refugee resettlement" experience, based on the idea that one person decides to act, involves key people in an indigenous network who are committed to action, and--through pooling of both resources and efforts--develops a strong internal support system.

Part III is primarily a "how to do it" approach for the development of support systems for family survival and for coping with stress through use of these networks. For example, in anecdotal fashion, it discusses dynamics of networking in a chapter on "plugging into new connections."

Family Survival was discovered one hot day in a bookstore located in the cool crypts below the Washington Cathedral. Whether it has direct utility for preventing problems and/or coping with stress among individuals who are alienated is open to question. A body of literature suggests that while support groups are particularly helpful in mitigating or overcoming such problems as unemployment, mental illness or drug abuse, some individuals and/or families that face these as a chronic condition often have difficulty in forming meaningful attachments. The act of reading the book in itself may not be sufficient cause for social networking.

However, as used by a minister concerned with "what people in neighborhoods do to help families in crisis--particularly at a time of Federal budget cuts," the network theory developed in the late '50s in England has considerable relevance. The author's folksy style, involving much narrative of fictional characters, may be usefuls to those readers who want a grassroots approach but may cause some impatience on the part of others. The "models" presented are more appropriately examples than logical components of a typology. However, this is a book with a message ("Support networks ... are essential for personal survival, (and) for family survival."), some charm and one unexpected additional asset--a range of varied and good bibliographic references on support networks!

COPYRIGHT 1985 U.S. Government Printing Office
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group