| Abstract: | ![]()
In contemporary Europe the possibilities to practice widespread ideals of modern family life, reflecting new material conditions and ideologies, have been shown to be highly dependant on society's macro level characteristics and formal support system. To broaden the empirical understanding of these processes the European Families in the 90's Projectfocus upon the interactive forms and contexts of modern family patterns. With The Ecology of Human Development Theory working as a conceptual framework, information has been collected from a sample of 100 families each of 12 countries, all with young children regularly in full time public child care. The article presents information on the relations between family members and between the family and its local and general context in two contrasting countries, Sweden and Greece. In the analysis two hypothesis, concerning the general and specific forms of the macro-micro system level relations are tentatively tested. The results indicate that while the ideal educational objectives of the studied type of family mainly correspond in the two cultures, the offered contextual possibilities to practise these ideals vary between them. There are also traces indicating a general difference concerning potential of adjustment between types of relations. While new relations, like the one between family and day care setting, are expected to adjust to practical life circumstances, the traditional roles of mothers and fathers remain more untouched. |
