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)IMENSIONS Dr. Richard Barham. Chairman. Department of amin Studies. College of Family and Consumer tttdics. University of Guelph. keynote speaker. was ‘ tscinaled with the theme ofthe Conference, “Dimen- tins." Referring to the program cover. he asked the dele- .ites what came to their minds as they looked at it. The word dimension has two basic meanings. One inveys a concrete meaningâ€""the measurable extent 1‘ a thing". while the other is a more abstract mean- igâ€"“the character and quality of a thing.“ This is vmething to keep in mind during this Conference. Di» tL'l'lSlOI'lS are both concrete and abstract. A Conference allows delegates to explore. so let us agelher explore some of the dimensions of the Cana- llill'l. Family. Dr. Barham’s reasoning for choosing this Iintension. as chairman of Family Studies. he felt he an well equipped to speak about the family. 4H lnmemaking Club girls have a real interest in the tmily; and the doomsayers would have us believe the imin as an institution is a dead horse. And lastly were is another group who would have us believe that i only the family would get its act together. our social wroblems would disappear. is the family a dying institution? We were re- minded by Dr. Barham that we still know very little tl‘lDUl the family. how it functions and why. about why .nme families work well and others fail. Universities ire one of the few institutions set up to undertake re- search which enables us to understand our world betv tcr. In spite of all the research. there is still much more [itth we do not know. Why do some mothers brutally abuse their children? Why do some children overcome the limitations of their home life? Why are some mar» ridges so successful? _ From statistical data presented. it was evident the lamily is not dead or going out of style. however. cer- tain characteristics of the family are changing. Change Which has been going on since recorded history) is a far cry from collapse. it is a priority that families can and should put their own houses in order then we shall be rid of many of our social problems. Recognizing that families are made up of people. each with individual behaviours. beliefs. attitudes and values. psychologists have shown us a good deal about how people come to have these individual behavrours. Dr. Barham asked. how do you come to be what you are‘.7 You develop a certain freedom of choice and have a responsibility for your actions. but both that freedom and that responsibility are bound to be within limits. if you have been raised in an environment of racial prejudice and injustice it is highly likely that you are unable to rid yourselfof similar attitudes and values. regardless of appeals made to you to change, it is nonsense to think that we can improve the quality of life by admonishing families to pull up their socks and be better families. If we are trying to grasp the dimension of family life then we should not only understand that these di- mensions undergo change ever the years, but also that these changes have causes that are deeply imbedded in a host of aspects of our social structure. The social institution is so much taken for granted. so ill understood, so little researched and so vulnerable to outside forces of self interest. Craft Activities 21