Family life has been radically transformed over the past three decades. Half of all households are unmarried, while only a quarter of all married households have kids. A third of the nation's births are to unwed mothers, and a third of America's married men earn less than their wives. With half of all women cohabitating before they turn thirty and gay and lesbian couples settling down with increasing visibility, there couldn't be a better time for a book that tracks new conceptions of marriage and family as they are being formed.
The editors of this volume explore the motivation to marry and the role of matrimony in a diverse group of men and women. They compare empirical data from several emerging family types (single, co-parent, gay and lesbian, among others) to studies of traditional nuclear families, and they consider the effect of public policy and recent economic developments on the practice of marriage and the stabilizationor destabilizationof family. Approaching this topic from a variety of perspectives, including historical, cross-cultural, gendered, demographic, socio-biological, and social-psychological viewpoints, the editors highlight the complexity of the modern American family and the growing indeterminacy of its boundaries. Refusing to adhere to any one position, the editors provide an unbiased account of contemporary marriage and family.
- Table of Contents
- List of Illustrations
- List of Tables
- Acknowl
edgments
- Introduction
- Part I:
Perspectives on Marriage
- 1. Historical and Cross-
Cultural Perspectives on Marriage
- 2. Marriage and Family: Th e Evolutionary Ecological Context
- 3. A Gender Lens on Marriage
- 4. Institutional, Companionate, and Individualistic Marriage:
A Social Psychological Perspective on Marital Change
- Part II: Contemporary Families
- 5. Single Parenthood and Child Well-Being: Trends, Th
eories, and Evidence
- 6. Cohabitation and Parenthood: Lessons from Focus Groups
and In- Depth Interviews
- 7. An Examination of Child Well- Being in Stable Single- Parent
and Married Families
- 8. Reconsidering the Association Between Stepfather Families
and Adolescent Well- Being
- 9. Parenting by Gay Men and Lesbians: Beyond the Current
Research
- Part III: Strengthening Marriage
- 10. Supporting Healthy Marriage: Designing a Marriage Education
Demonstration and Evaluation for Low- Income Married Couples
- 11. Diffe
rentiating Among Types of Domestic Violence: Implications for Healthy Marriages
- Part IV: The Future of Marriage
- 12. The
Growing Importance of Marriage in America
- 13. The
Future of Marriage and the State: A Proposal
- 14. Why Won’t African Americans Get (and Stay) Married? Why Should They?
- 15. Race, Immigration, and the Future of Marriage
-
Contributors
- Index
Text
Audio
Adobe DRM
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