This book, originally published in 1927, belongs to the University of Chicago Sociological Series. Its primary function is as a textbook. In this revised edition the author states that the statistical data on divorce and non-support has been brought up to date and that in addition there is 'a recognition of the relationship between personality factors and conflict in marriage relations'. It is this last interest of the author which gives the book its chief importance for the psychoanalyst.

In the introductory chapter a simple concise account is given of the change in family life as a result of urbanization. There follows a brief summary of the remedies which have been proposed by the church, state, and individuals to prevent the ever increasing disintegration of the family. These palliative procedures which society naïvely wishes to employ as defenses against the breakdown