From Publishers Weekly Decrying recent "nostalgia for the lost family，" especially as idealized in such 1950s TV shows as Ozzie and Harriet ， research psychologist Skolnick ( The Intimate Environment ) suggests in this debatable but determinedly positive history that the traditional structure， though not necessarily the value system， of the American family has been radically transformed. Examining American family life from its colonial and frontier patterns to the present， she contends that changes wrought by post-1960s sexual and cultural revolutions (as observed， e.g.， in feminism， gay pride， increased cohabitation and single parenting) are adaptations to demographic trends and a stagnant economy. The need for women to be wage earners is less threatening to family values， she insists， than is our society's overemphasis of individualism and self-fulfillment. Copyright 1991 Reed Business Information， Inc. From Library Journal Families in contemporary America are indeed embattled. Far from being the often wistfully Victorian models or 1950s TV images， the family units of the 1990s reflect the wrenching social and economic changes of the past five decades--feminist and alternative lifestyle movements， narcissism， an expanding underclass， a growing elderly population， single parenting， working mothers， high divorce rates， serious homelessness， drug abuse， and crime. Skolnick， a research psychologist at the Institute of Human Development (Univ. of California-Berkeley)， is thoughtful and persuasive as she argues for "both political will and social creativity" in dealing constructively with the special problems "besetting" family life today. Embattled Paradise is highly recommended for policymakers， academics， and the general public.- Suzanne W. Wood， SUNY Coll. of Technology， AlfredCopyright 1991 Reed Business Information， Inc. See all Editorial Reviews