This scholarly and personal exploration of what it is like to grow up feeling unloved describes personality types and syndromes that often manifest, regardless of whether the family unit was "dysfunctional" or not.

Though recent decades have seen a great deal of discussion on the "dysfunctional" family, many people share a different problem, regardless of whether their family was "functional" or not: they are never given love, or taught how to receive it. This book will establish the concept of the loveless family by investigating scholarship on the subject as well as through the personal reflections and experiences of author Jon P. Bloch.

The Loveless Family: Getting Past Estrangement and Learning How to Love explains what a loveless family is, some of the typical syndromes seen within it, how families may cope with serious physical or mental issues, and how adults who came from a loveless family can develop meaningful relationships. This book is written to be engaging and accessible to the average reader, yet authoritative and also of value to scholars.

Jon P. Bloch, MA, PhD, is professor of sociology and chair of the Department of Sociology at Southern Connecticut State University, New Haven, CT.