China's Families: Experiment in Societal Change by V. Hildebrand; J. HildebrandReview by: Constance W. NicholsFamily Relations, Vol. 31, No. 3 (Jul., 1982), p. 473Published by: National Council on Family RelationsStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/584189 .

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parents. Once again, however, the line is not as distinct as one would wish. It is unclear how durable such changes are; it is certainly unclear whether they are all func- tions of participation; and it is unclear whether the presumed sequence of knowledge to attitudes to behaviors is valid.

This book will be stimulating to students of the family, and should add status to parent- hood education programs, and converts to the cause.

Parizeau, A. Parenting and delinquent youth. Lexington, MA: D. C. Heath and Company, 1980, xxii + 179 pp. $22.95 h.b.

Ruth Shonle Cavan Northern Illinois University

The main thesis of Alice Parizeau's book is that the genetic relationship between natural parents and their children does not necessarily make for good parent-child relationships. At the same time she asserts that a family en- vironment is superior to a communal or institu- tional environment. A stable foster home is superior to an unstable home with the natural parents. Adoption is preferable to foster home placement since the latter gives the parents the right to reclaim the child. Parents whose children are neglected or delinquent need more than financial help but rarely get it.

Parizeau supports her theses with Quebec court records of delinquent boys and question- naires, interviews, and records for adult male and female prisoners. The delinquent boys re- mained with inadequate parents while their delinquencies increased in frequency and seriousness until they were criminal offenders and referred to the adult court. The right of parents to keep their children took precedence over the needs of the children.

The general picture of both male and female prisoners was that they had had an unstable home life as children and were poorly adjusted as adults. Parizeau seriously questions whether such parents can rear well-adjusted children. Parizeau concluded that her initial thesis was correct.

Parizeau placed all the cause for dependent or delinquent children on inadequate parents. She did not consider the effects of poor school adjustment, which was prevalent, or the in- fluence of street companions.

Hildebrand, V., & Hildebrand, J. China's families: Experiment in societal change. Minneapolis: Burgess Publishing Company, 1981, 115 pp., $7.50 p.b.

Constance W. Nichols McPherson College

In this day when more than one billion of the earth's 4.5 billion members of the human race are Chinese, the Hildebrands share their in- sights about Chinese families. The authors, as social scientists, are concerned that the Chinese, as part of the human family, have many problems and aspirations in common with all people and social exchange of ideas is mutually valuable.

Based on their 1977 trip to The Peoples Republic of China, the authors present their perspectives on Chinese economic, sociological, and political conditions. The em- phasis is on linkages of Chinese families to natural, human-built, and behavioral en- vironments within an ecosystem.

While the framework is universal and scholarly, the content is effective in its warm and readable style. The book is personalized with thoughtful observations and candid photographs of the faces of China. It is a useful reference for both the classroom and prospec- tive China travelers.

As a family scientist who has just returned from a brief visit to China, I appreciate the in- troduction this book provides to some of the strengths of Chinese families. I would underscore with the Hildebrands the rich ex- perience that a visit to China provides. I also echo their challenge to our profession to learn from and about Chinese families.

July 1982 FAMILY RELATIONS 473

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