This book is about love, labor and loss. It deals with the affection and guidance of family, teachers, and friends, and the intimacy of primary relationships; with rites of passage from childhood to adulthood; with the problems of dating and mating; with the critical importance of occupation and the significances of age and the later years. it consists of a variety of articles by prominent sociologists and sociologically sensitive writers whose research reports and commentaries offer the reader a close look at the process of socialization from cradle to grave -- and, in a sense beyond the grave, since the functions of bereavement for survivors are also considered.