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This article argues that the scope and depth of understanding in the field of family studies would be advanced if some theoretical questioning were at a higher level of abstraction. A way to achieve this is to shift some of the focus of questioning from individuals to social relationships. The potential benefits of 3 concepts drawn from the exact sciences—attractors, nonlinearity, and chaos—are discussed in turn to demonstrate that their metaphorical use can lead to new questions about process that may advance theoretical understanding of the institutions of the family and marriage.

This paper argues that to explain the institutionalization processes named the family and marriage, it is necessary to recognize the ontological distinction between their cognitive and relational realities. Institutionalization is an ordering process analogous to instinct in animal societies. In that capacity the human family and marriage collectively order the care and social placement of offspring. Given the biology of Homo sapiens, the family preceded the onset of the human race by millions of years, whereas marriage, the contract that legitimates the social placement of offspring, represents a strictly cultural aspect of human social evolution. The current state and uncertain future of the cognitive and relational components of the institutions of the family and marriage are addressed.

The transition to grandparenthood is presented as a stage in the family life cycle in which meaning comes from outside the boundaries of the original nuclear family unit through alliances initiated and produced by offspring. A demographic picture of grandparenthood is presented that shows that the transition is likely to occur in middle age and to overlap less with active parenting than was the case in the past, and that the ages of both grand-parents and new parents are important variables affecting transition. Past research has focused on grandparenthood as a role and has largely ignored the effects of family systems on role performance. A systems perspective shows that the grandparent-grandchild bond is initially mediated by the parents. As time passes, however, the bond becomes more direct, although it continues to be negotiated within the extended family system, which is always in flux. Focus on role has obscured the nature of the transition to grandparenthood and the years immediately following it, viewing it as an extension of parenting and not characteristic of real grandparents.

The transition to grandparenthood is a stage in the family life cycle in which meaning comes from outside the boundaries of the original nuclear family unit through alliances initiated & produced by offspring. A demographic picture of grandparenthood shows that the transition is likely to occur in middle age & to overlap less with active parenting than was the case in the past, & that the ages of both grandparents & new parents are important variables affecting transition. Past research has focused on grandparenthood as a role & has largely ignored the effects of family systems on role performance. A systems perspective shows that the grandparent-grandchild bond is initially mediated by the parents. As time passes, however, the bond becomes more direct, although it continues to be negotiated within the extended family system, which is always in flux. Focus on roles has obscured the nature of the transition to grandparenthood & the years immediately following it, viewing it as an extension of parenting & not characteristic of real grandparents. 1 Figure. HA.