Successful Single-Parent Families

The "deficit theory" which views single-parent families as "broken" and somehow doomed to develop problems engenders guilt in divorcing parents and blame from others. This pervasive view has restricted Ihe growth of knowledge about success in single-parent families. Twelve successful single-parent families in a large midwest city were studied in this qualitative research project. Extensive family interviews resulted in descriptions of multiple aspects of successful single-parent families. An understanding of the strengths of these families will be useful to researchers and clinicians working with single-parent families.