This book takes us deep into the complex, mysterious world of families. It is about the ways in which families form and operate, and the means by which positive changes can be brought about. In this groundbreaking work, Scarf spins out the stories of several representative families, starting from the least well-functioning (the Andersons) and moving up through the next level of functioning (the Maguires), then further upward through the Giffords and finally the Walkers, who are at the optimal level of functioning. In these pages, the author describes the five structural blueprints that characterize most families’ modes of being and relating by taking us into the very heart of these family worlds at each level of health and development.

At the lowest rung of the health and well-being ladder is the dysfunctional family (level 5) typified by a system-wide sense of chaos and powerlessness. At the rung above is the borderline family (4), where strict order is maintained by a family tyrant; and at the one above is the midrange family, where life has improved but everyone feels controlled by an internal referee, making constant judgments about his or her own behavior. Here, at level 3, matters are improved; but people feel fenced in and uncomfortable. At the next rung of development is the adequate family (2) which is a kind of mezzanine between the midrange family and the healthiest family of all—the optimal family, at level 1.
The dramas of these families are the dramas of life itself. Their stories make up a tapestry of the human story, as the author explores such topics as the nature of human love; nurturance; sexuality and other appetites—some of them destructive, such as alcohol abuse and bulimia. She explores the conscious and unconscious aspects of a family’s world; the maladaptive yet common coping strategies, such as scapegoating and emotional triangling; and the eerie ways in which the patterns of the past can spill into the here-and-now of the family’s present-day life—in ways that often go completely unrecognized and unnoticed by the family members themselves.