Disparities between legal principles and social practices are noted. The African American family is not simply a product of existing social conditions but a reflection of a history and a culture that has been conducive to the survival of the African American population. The effect of social and economic exploitation and exclusion of the African population in America during slavery and its aftermath is summarized by a historical approach, which is sensitive to culture. The contemporary household structures of the European and African American populations differ in a similar although more extreme manner than in the past. This article explores the forms of family organization in a mountain community of Greece during the end of the 19th and the early 20th century.
Special attention is paid to the concept of a system of household formation.
Preliminary research on the history of family and demography among Czechs and Slovaks in the pre-modern period suggests that these central European peoples shared both western and eastern characteristics, but also that results depend very much on the geographical location of the community being analyzed, on its nationality composition, and its socioeconomic characteristics. Using internationally accepted analytical techniques such as family reconstitution and household-structure analysis, research continues on a wide range of sources such as ecclesiastical registers, household listings, and the population sources known as status animarum. During the period between the World Wars differences in the age at first marriage and proportions married in the Czech and Slovak areas of the Czechoslovak Republic showed the two to be distinct regions. In the post World War II period, however, differences in both measures have diminished and have almost disappeared, suggesting homogenization of demographic behavior. Current ages at first marriage have fallen to the levels interwar demographers believed to be conducive to family instability.