Appalachian Family Research Articles

The Rural Appalachian Low-Income Male: Changing Role in a Changing Family

The adult males in rural Appalachian families have been under pressure to change their roles to meet the demands of modern society. This paper looks at the male role derived from the traditional folk culture, the male's place within the family, the pressure for change, and the various role structures that have developed and their impact on family life. Suggestions for intervention programming are discussed. There have been profound changes in the Southern Appalachian family within the past 20-30 years due, in great part, to industrialization and its concomitant modernization of the region. Our specific focus in this paper will be on the changing role of adult males within the isolated rural low-income family system, especially the provider role. Implicit are the effects that this role has on other male roles such as child rearing and sexual partner.

Trismus pseudocamptodactyly syndrome: Dutch-Kentucky syndrome

A hand, foot, and mouth combination of anomalies, which is apparent on motion, has been traced through eight generations of a southern Appalachian family. The clinical features from birth to old age are presented, and attention is called to the handicapping aspects. There is a great variability in severity of the trait. Inheritance occurs as an autosomal dominant trait, but there are fewer affected persons than expected, especially females.