self-sacrifice to its members, it is hardly probable that they will get
very much of that spirit from society at large. The ideal of a human
brotherhood has no meaning unless family affection gives it meaning. If
the family is the chief generator of altruism in human society and if
society depends upon altruism for each forward step in moral progress,
then the family is the chief source of social progress.

What we have said is a brief presentation of the claims of the family in
modern society to count not only as the primary but also as the most
important human institution. The family, it is evident, is charged by
society with the most important task, not only of producing the new
individuals in society, but of training each individual as he comes on
the stage of life, adjusting him to society in all of its aspects, such
as industry, government, and religion. If the family fails to perform
these important functions the chances are that unsocialized individuals
will take important places in society, and this means ultimately social
anarchy.

_The Family Life may be regarded as a School for Socializing the
Individual._ We need not trace in detail how the family does this for
the child. It is evident that the rudiments of morality, of government,
of religion, and even of industry and knowledge, must be learned by the
child in the family group. If the child fails, for example, to learn
morality, to get moral standards and ideals from his family life, he
stands but poor chance of getting them later in society. Again, if the
child fails to learn what law is and to get proper ideals of the
relation of the citizen to the state in his family life, there are good
prospects of his being numbered among the lawless elements of society
later. In the family, we repeat, the child first experiences all the
essential relations of society, learns the meaning of authority,