Regional family patterns; the New England family.

Abstract

A loose constellation of culture traits distinguishes the traditional New England Puritan family from even somewhat similar families in the Northeast. This includes certain material-ecological patterns, attitudes, and values. While this culture has been diffusing widely, the more recently transplanted Irish-American Catholic complex has found its richest concentration in New England. While differential birth rates have so far favored the latter, and other Catholic ethnic groups settling in New England, the cultural future depends upon many things beside birth rates.