Evolutionary competence in the postmodern family: an idealized design approach

The complexity of postmodern life simultaneously intensifies our need for meaningful family relatedness and makes it harder to achieve. Families need new images to guide them toward coherence and effectiveness given the multiplicity of postmodern demands and opportunities they face. Idealized family systems design (IFSD) is described as a promising means by which individual families can create such images to guide their own evolution. The experiences of eight middle class American families who undertook IFSD are described.