At present there is a resurgence of interest in family relationships as they relate to the major mental disorders. In the period from the early 1950s to the late 1960s research on the family proliferated, particularly in regard to one disorder, schizophrenia (Riskin & Faunce 1972; Goldstein & Rodnick 1975; Jacob 1975; Liem 1980). However, the late 1960s to the late 1970s represents a kind of Dark Ages in research on psychopathological family conditions. Publication in this area diminished markedly, and enthusiasm for what could be learned from direct observation waned. These earlier studies assumed that direct observation contrasting families with and without a mental disorder could provide clues to the psychological precursors of that disorder. These earlier studies were further guided by an ambitious family-system theoretical organization, which assumed (a) that disturbances in family relationships were the major cause of mental disorders in general and (b) that each mental disorder resulted from distinctive patterns of family dynamics.