This volume brings together leading experts from different disciplines to offer new perspectives on contemporary African American families. A wealth of knowledge is presented on the heterogeneity of Black family life today; the challenges and opportunities facing parents, children, and communities; and the impact on health and development of key cultural and social processes. Comprehensive and authoritative, the book critically evaluates current policies and service delivery models and sets forth cogent recommendations for supporting families' strengths. Following an overview that traces the ongoing evolution of theory and research in the field, the book examines how African American families fare on numerous indicators of well-being. Throughout, contributors identify factors that promote or hinder healthy child and family development, writing from a culturally sensitive, nonpathologizing stance. The concluding chapter provides an up-to-date framework for culturally competent mental health practice.

As the variety and number of nontraditional families grow, so does the need for new models of family and parenthood. Diversity in Family Life discusses the relationship between shifting gender identities and the processes of family formation, examining non-traditional family structures, including asexual couples, child-free couples, living-apart-together couples, single parents, and homosexual and transsexual parents. Calling for bold reformulations, it argues that it is possible to live, love, and form a family in an astounding variety of ways.

Historical and contemporary perspectives on families -- Pathways to family formation -- Union dissolution and repartnering -- Adult and child well-being in families -- Family policy issues : domestic and international perspectives

This volume explores the causes and consequences of family inequality in the United States, Europe, and Latin America.

Family Configurations develops current scholarship on families and intimate lives by demonstrating that family relationships, far from being fluid and inconsequential, are more structured and committed than ever. Based on a series of empirical studies carried out in the US and Europe, this volume reveals the diversity of family relationships that emerge as a result of various key family issues, emphasizing the supportive and disruptive interdependencies existing among large sets of family members beyond the nuclear family. By applying social network methods to uncover the relational patterns of contemporary families, and making use of rich empirical data, this book draws on recent developments in family sociology, social network analysis and kinship studies to present a fascinating interdisciplinary approach to the family.

When a teacher asks her class to think about what makes their families special, the answers are all different, but the same in one important way ... When a teacher asks the children in her class to think about what makes their families special, the answers are all different in many ways — but the same in the one way that matters most of all. One child is worried that her family is just too different to explain, but listens as her classmates talk about what makes their families special. One is raised by a grandmother, and another has two dads. One has many stepsiblings, and another has a new baby in the family. As her classmates describe who they live with and who loves them — family of every shape, size and every kind of relation — the child realizes that as long as her family is full of caring people, it is special. A warm and whimsical look at many types of families, written by award-winning author Sara O’Leary, with quirky and sweet illustrations by Qin Leng. Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.1 With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.2 Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.6 Identify who is telling the story at various points in a text. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.9 Compare and contrast the adventures and experiences of characters in stories. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.6 Acknowledge differences in the points of view of characters, including by speaking in a different voice for each character when reading dialogue aloud.

Big or small, similar or different-looking, there are all kinds of families. Celebrate diversity with this picture book for very young children about the many faces of contemporary families. Bright photographs by National Geographic photographer Shelley Rotner capture families having fun together, enjoying all the ways they are similar and different. Some families have one parent, and some have two; some have aunts and uncles and grandparents living with them. Some have adopted children, some have children born to them. Whether they live all together or far apart, families love and care for each other. Designed to showcase the wide variety of modern families and spur discussions about young readers' own family history, this beautiful picture book is a must-have for children beginning to learn about the world and the people around them.

Family in all its aspects Familienbande International experts provide an overview of the current state-of-the-art of European family research and outline the multiple formations, structures and configurations of family in Europe. Four aspects are discussed in depth: family images, sex/gender roles, globalisation and family development processes. Influenced by globalisation, European countries experience processes which still have greatly varying consequences. Cultural differences, reflected in a range of family schemes and national family policies, are one reason for the continued existence of differences in the scope and speed of change processes. Quite generally, images and concepts of family have become more heterogeneous and flexible. The flip side of this coin is that family members are increasingly faced with the challenges of achieving a satisfactory work-life balance – a task aggravated by globalisation. We therefore need to ask how family policy can help families enjoy adequate freedom of action and latitude for their decision-making. To summarise: a read well worth the effort for all experts working in family research and family policy.

An international textbook designed as a quick introduction for students from around the world studying sociology of family, this text provides comprehensive coverage of the major topics in the sociology of family life. Written in an easy access style it opens with a chapter on defining family and family structures. It then moves on to discuss over a dozen major topics; from interaction and meaning in families to sexuality. David Cheal provides coverage of these topics by drawing on a variety of international material. Most of the studies focus on contemporary family life but Cheal also presents information on historical changes which have shaped family life as it is known today. This book an incredibly valuable teaching tool as it presents diversity in family patterns through thinking about family life from a global perspective.

This nonjudgmental, inclusive, and far-reaching text focuses on the diverse patterns of family structure prevalent in our society today. Family Diversity presents empirical research on the internal dynamics, social environments, support factors, prevalence of discrimination, and common stereotypes that account for the issues surrounding current family relations. By examining the history and nature of foster and adoptive, single-parent, lesbian/gay, step- and grandparent family units, Pauline Irit Erera is able to challenge both the idealized family prototype and the hegemony of the traditional structure.