Handbook of Family Diversity / Edition 1

by David H. Demo, Katherine R. Allen, Mark A. Fine

Overview

The status of the American family has been the topic of considerable debate in recent years. As demographic changes make our country more multicultural and as new types of families continue to form and become more common, it is essential for sociologists, social workers, family researchers, and psychologists to understand the full range of diversity in American families. However, to varying extents, African American families, Latino families, Asian American families, poverty-stricken and near-poor families, lesbian and gay families, single-parent families, and stepfamilies have been marginalized from mainstream scholarship. As a result, students taking courses on families are typically not exposed to the experiences of these groups.
The Handbook of Family Diversity fills this gap in scholarship by providing a comprehensive discussion of several key dimensions where families differ: race, socioeconomic status, family structure, sexual orientation, and gender. It is designed to inform and broaden the debate among students, family scholars, practitioners, and policymakers as to what constitutes a family and how families should function. Featuring commissioned chapters by prominent scholars from a variety of fields, The Handbook of Family Diversity discusses different types of families from widely varying social and economic backgrounds. These authoritative yet highly readable essays discuss important public policy issues pertaining to family diversity and describe the everyday realities of family interactions—the tensions and dynamics of intimacy, support, control, communication, and conflict. Multiple disciplinary, theoretical, and methodological perspectives are presented throughout the volume, providing evidence that there is no unified or monolithic perspective on families. Emphasizing the most current and cutting edge knowledge on family diversity, The Handbook of Family Diversity sets a new standard for research in this important and vital area of study.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780195120394
Publisher:	Oxford University Press, USA
Publication date:	11/11/1999
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	480
Product dimensions:	9.10(w) x 7.40(h) x 0.80(d)

About the Author

University of North Carolina, Greensboro

Virginia Tech.

University of Missouri-Columbia

Table of Contents

Foreword, Kathleen Gerson
Acknowledgments
PART I. Introduction
1. An Overview of Family Diversity: Controversies, Questions, and Values, Kathleen R. Allen, Mark A. Fine, and David H. Demo
PART II. Reflections on Family Diversity: Past and Present
2. Historical Perspectives on Family Diversity, Stephanie Coontz
3. Diversity of Family Structure: Economic and Social Influences, Jay D. Teachman
PART III. Gender Dynamics in Families
4. Gender, Marriage, and Diverse Possibilities for Cross-Sex and Same-Sex Pairs, Virginia Rutter and Pepper Schwartz
5. Gender and Parent-Child Relations,, Gary Peterson, Denise Ann Bodman, Kevin R. Bush, and Debra Madden-Derdich
6. Gender and Intergenerational Relationships,, Debra Umberson and Ellen Slaten
7. Kinship and Gender, Colleen L. Johnson
PART IV. Family Structure and Diversity
8. Diversity Within Single-Parent Families, Paul R. Amato
9. Diversity Among Stepfamilies, E. Mavis Hetherington and Margaret Stanley-Hagan
10. Lesbian, Gay, and Bisexual Families, Ritch C. Savin-Williams and Kristin G. Esterberg
11. Older Adults and Their Families,, Victoria Hilkevitch Bedford and Rosemary Blieszner
PART V. Racial, Ethnic, and Cultural Diversities in Families
12. Diversity Within African American Families, Ronald L. Taylor
13. Diversity Within Latino Families: New Lessons for Family Social Science, Maxine Baca Zinn and Barbara Wells
14, Masako Ishii-Kuntz
PART VI. Class Diversities in Families
15. Poverty and Economic Hardship in Families, Mark R. Rank
16. Diversity in Family Structure: Effects on Schooling,, Doris R. Entwisle and Karl L. Alexander
PART VII. Applications for Working With Families
17. Culture and Narrative as Central Metaphors for Clinical Practice with Families, Joan Laird
18. Family Diversity and Family Life Education, Judith A. Myers-Walls
19. Family Diversity and Family Policy, Richard M. Lerner, Elizabeth E. Sparks, and Laurie D. McCubbin
PART VIII. Conclusion
20. Family Diversity and Intersecting Categories: Toward a Richer Approach to Multiple Roles, Stephen R. Marks and Leigh A. Leslie
21. The Handbook's Tail: Toward Revels or a Requiem for Family Diversity?, Judith Stacey
22. Family Diversity in the 21st Century: Implications for Research, Theory, and Practice, Mark A. Fine, David H. Demo, and Katherine R. Allen