Child abuse is a major cause of concern in our society. Despite increased awareness of the problem, many children still suffer abuse at the hands of their parents and guardians.

All family members, no matter how independent, have a direct or indirect effect on the family as individuals with personal likes, dislikes, strengths, and weaknesses.

Finances represent one of the biggest conflicts in a marriage. People marry with established attitudes about money that stem from their ethnic, cultural, and economic backgrounds.

Domestic violence is something that in the past was frequently ignored, but physical abuse of a spouse, more often of the wife, is now recognized as a social problem that is punishable by law.

Along with the usual difficulties associated with raising children, stepparenting can present its own unique problems. The stepparent may resent the stepchild from a spouse's previous marriage.

When a family member abuses alcohol and drugs, the addiction affects the whole family. Family members may become co-dependent, causing the quality of the relationship between them to suffer.

Successful marriages take a great deal of work and compromise. Marriages that fail during the first few years frequently occur because the two parties cannot make the compromises that are necessary when two separate people begin to live their lives together.