Starting with Castel's description of the network society the author examines the disintegration of the patriarchal family. A process that is dependent on the diversification of family types, the increasing amount of women in working life and the feminist movement. The changes in ideology and in the means of production influence the development of individuals. This is discussed with respect to Erikson's epigenetic diagram and Fromm's theory of a social character. These social processes also effect psychoanalytical theory especially how we understand female sexuality and perversions or neoesexuality.