Marriage, Family, and Parenthood
HENRY GREENBAUM M.D.1
1 Associate Clinical Professor of Psychiatry, New York University School of Medicine, New York, N.Y.
The author discusses the recent attacks against marriage, family, and parenthood by some of the leaders of the Women's Liberation Movement. He points out that the difficulties that cause human suffering in these institutions are not intrinsic to them but are determined by the quality of the people involved in them. He believes there is a deep human need for marriage, family, and parenthood, which has its roots in the prolonged biological and psychological dependency of the human child. The conditions of personality development necessary for successful functioning in marriage, family, and parenthood are analyzed.
