"Using an interdisciplinary approach that draws on the latest research in sociology, anthropology, psychology, and cultural studies, this text expertly traces how families have changed over time and reveals how both personal preferences and social circumstances influence family relationships and society's shared perception of the family."--Publisher's description.

This work explores the nature of marriages and of the families that spring around them.

This textbook introduces students to the study of marriage and the family in ways they can easily relate to. The text gives equal and balanced attention to people of all racial, ethnic, and other societal groups, and treats a variety of lifestyles with equal attention. The author focuses on the way families are changing, and acknowledges the constraints that families face today.

All of the same content as the comprehensive text in a convenient, three-hole-punched, loose-leaf format at a discounted price! "Changes, Choices, and Constraints" Marriages and Families offers students a comprehensive introduction to many issues facing families in the twenty- first century. The text's major theme "Changes, Choices, and Constraints" explores: Contemporary "changes "in families and their structure Impacts on the "choices "that are available to family members ""Constraints ""that often limit our choices Through this approach, students are better able to understand what the research and statistics mean "for themselves"! Marriages and Families balances theoretical and empirical discussions with practical examples and applications. It highlights important contemporary changes in society and the family. This text is written from a sociological perspective and incorporates material from other disciplines: history, economics, social work, psychology, law, biology, medicine, family studies, women's studies, and anthropology. "More about the themes: " "Changes"Examines how recent profound structural and attitudinal changes affect family forms, interpersonal relationships, and raising children. It reaches beyond the traditional discussions to explore racial-ethnic families, single-parent families and gay families as well as the recent scholarship by and about men, fathers, and grandfathers.Contemporary American marriages and families vary greatly in structure, dynamics, and cultural heritage. Thus, discussions of gender roles, social class, race, ethnicity, age, and sexual orientation are integrated throughout this book. To further strengthen students understanding of the growing diversity among todays families, the author included a series of boxes that focus on families from many cultures. "Choices"On the individual level, family members have many more choices today than ever before. People feel freer to postpone marriage, to cohabit, or to raise children as single parents. As a result, household forms vary greatly, ranging from commuter marriages to those in which several generations live together under the same roof. "Constraints"Although family members choices are more varied today, we also face greater macro- level constraints. Our options are increasingly limited, for example, by government policies. Economic changes often shape family life and not vice versa. Political and legal institutions also have a major impact on most families in tax laws, welfare reform, and even in defining what a family is. Because laws, public policies, and religious groups affect our everyday lives, the author has framed many discussions of individual choices within the larger picture of the institutional constraints that limit our choices.

This is the study guide to accompany a textbook which introduces students to the study of marriage and the family in ways to which they can easily relate. Giving equal attention to people of all racial, ethnic, and other societal groups, the author shows students that as families continue to change, they have more and more choices, but that those choices are also subject to often serious constraints on both the macro and micro level. The author's approach encourages students to think for themselves, and practical guidelines in every chapter encourage them to go beyond thought to action - to become part of the effort to resolve some of the crucial issues that confront all 21st-century families.

This current and timely volume presents new thinking and new directions in feminist legal scholarship. Rethinking key concepts in legal feminism, Cowan and Hunter provide a unique examination of key socio-legal concepts in law, jurisprudence and legal and political theory. Written by an international cast of contributors, offering different cultural perspectives as well as doctrinal and theoretical knowledge, this collection of essays presents a dialogue between different feminist positions and approaches to a common theme. It addresses a range of questions, including: Can 'consent' be rethought and infused with different meanings in a post-liberal feminist politics? Can the concepts of 'choice' and 'consent' have consistent meanings and functions between different areas of law, or whether they prove to be highly contingent when viewed across the broad field of law. Exploring the deeply gendered concepts of ‘choice’ and ‘consent’ and examining the philosophical and jurisprudential issues surrounding them as well as how ‘choice’ and ‘consent’ operate in particular areas of law, including criminal law, medical law, constitutional law, employment law, family law and civil procedure, this volume is a key resource for postgraduate law students studying jurisprudence.

Each chapter consists of chapter summaries, definitions of key terms/concepts, critical thinking exercises geared to the questions in the text, and a self-test questions page referenced to the text.

Maternal research is a rapidly expanding, multi-disciplinary form of scholarship. Prior to second wave feminism most motherhood literature was written from a male perspective. This literature focused on telling mothers how to practice mothering without acknowledging the expertise of the mothers themselves. Research on motherhood as it is experienced in all its facets by mothers has only emerged in recent decades. This book is aimed at expanding academic knowledge of motherhood, from a feminist perspective, looking particularly at how maternal subjectivities can be represented and theorised. When mothers themselves (academic or not) are responsible for theorisation and representation of maternal ‘realities’, dominant theories and representations of motherhood are radically challenged. In Theorising and Representing Maternal Realities the contributors argue that it is no longer acceptable to regard mothers as mere objects of knowledge and research. They are primarily the subjects of knowledge and research.

Revised edition of tha author's Marriages & families, [2015]