The systems approach to the family is based on the assumptions that there is equality between men and women in the family, and that women and men are treated equally in clinical practice. The contributors to this book challenge these hidden assumptions, discussing the issues from both a conceptual and clinical viewpoint. They argue strongly that questions of gender and power should be central to family therapy training and practice.

Gender, Power and Relationships is a follow-up volume to Gender and Power in Families (Routledge 1989) which marked a milestone in the application of feminist thinking to therapeutic work with families, bringing new ideas to students, trainers and professionals. Contributions from leading practitioners demonstrate how feminist ideas have been taken up by therapists in a variety of different settings. The chapters explore and extend previous debates on sexual and physical abuse and ethnicity, addressing the many contradictions and dilemmas inherent in this work for feminist systemic approaches. They also consider changing family structures and the role of men within them, gendered aspects of HIV prevention, and work with women drug addicts, and a variety of other approaches each set in the context of an overview of feminist theories of the family.

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Do women express their feelings more than men? Popular stereotypes say they do, but in this provocative book, Leslie Brody breaks with conventional wisdom. Integrating a wealth of perspectives and research--biological, sociocultural, developmental--her work explores the nature and extent of gender differences in emotional expression, as well as the endlessly complex question of how such differences come about. Nurture, far more than nature, emerges here as the stronger force in fashioning gender differences in emotional expression. Brody shows that whether and how men and women express their feelings varies widely from situation to situation and from culture to culture, and depends on a number of particular characteristics including age, ethnicity, cultural background, power, and status. Especially pertinent is the organization of the family, in which boys and girls elicit and absorb different emotional strategies. Brody also examines the importance of gender roles, whether in the family, the peer group, or the culture at large, as men and women use various patterns of emotional expression to adapt to power and status imbalances. Lucid and level-headed, Gender, Emotion, and the Family offers an unusually rich and nuanced picture of the great range of male and female emotional styles, and the variety of the human character.

"[A] comprehensive, critical, empirical, and practical compilation of investigations about how diverse couples are trying to implement change and pursue equality in their relationships." -Katherine R. Allen, PhD Virginia Polytechnic Institute & State University "[A] true gift to couple researchÖ.The studies reported in this marvelously disciplined collection hold living implications for couples and their therapists." -Evan Imber-Black Director, Center for Families and Health, Ackerman Institute for the Family While numerous couples strive for equality in their relationships, many are unaware of the insidious ways in which gender and power still affect them-from their career choices to communication patterns, child-rearing, housework, and more. Written for mental health professionals and others interested in contemporary couple relationships, this research-based book shows how couples are able to move beyond the dangers of gendered inequality and the legacy of hidden male power. The book analyzes the relationships of couples from various racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic backgrounds. The contributors present innovative clinical interventions, and suggest strategies therapists can use to help couples transform their relationships from being gender-based to equality-based. Explores these key issues: The risks of being in a relationship ruled by "gender legacy" behavior The differences between couples who get caught in gender legacy patterns and those who do not Gender-based patterns across the life cycle, including newly formed couples; early marriage; child-rearing; mothering and fathering Gendered power in couples dealing with illness; ethnic and racial differences; immigration and displacement issues

Gender and Families uses cultural events from our everyday lives to explore how families and gender are mutually produced and inseparably linked. In this updated second edition, Coltrane and Adams continue to demystify the complexities of gender and family with discussions of racial difference, ethnicity, and social class.

A collection of essays which provide portraits of eight of the Mendoza family's female members. It explores the lives of powerful women whose lineage gave them status within a patriarchal society designed to keep women from public life.

Nuclear Family Values, Extended Family Lives shows how the current emphasis on the nuclear family – with its exclusion of the extended family – is narrow, even deleterious, and misses much of family life. This omission is tied to gender, race, and class. This book is broken down into six chapters. Chapter one discusses how, when promoting "family values" and talking about "family as the basic unit of American society," social commentators, politicians, and social scientists alike typically ignore extended kin ties and focus only on the nuclear family. Chapters two and three show that the focus on marriage and the nuclear family is a narrow view that ignores the familial practices and experiences of many Americans – particularly those of women who do much of the work of maintaining kin ties and racial/ethnic minorities for whom extended kin are centrally important. Chapter four focuses on class and economic inequality and explores how an emphasis on the nuclear family may actually promulgate a vision of family life that dismisses the very social resources and community ties that are critical to the survival strategies of those in need. In chapter five, the authors argue that marriage actually detracts from social integration and ties to broader communities. Finally, in chapter six, the authors suggest that the focus on marriage and the nuclear family and the inattention to the extended family distort and reduce the power of social policy in the United States.

The chapters in this book illustrate, from a number of different perspectives, the ways in which power is located and articulated through gendered negotiations and acted out within the changing and differing setting of the household. The book is divided into four sections. The first section provides a theoretical, historical and philosophical setting, whilst the following three sections provide empirical contributions which examine aspects of Gendered Care ; dimensions of Gendered Time and Space , and straddling work and home, Gendered Work, Income and Power .