Families : Joys, Conflicts, and Changes.

Cover -- Half Title -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Dedication -- Table of Contents -- Preface -- Acknowledgments -- Chapter 1 Setting the Scene -- Family Changes, Family Continuities -- Seven Family Scenes -- Plymouth Colony, 1680s -- A Kentucky Mountain Family, 1887-1946 -- An Italian Family, 1910s-1930s -- A Lesbian Family, 1990s -- African American Families Returning South -- Working-Class English Families, 1950s -- Polynesian Families, 1930s -- What Are Families? -- Major Themes of the Book -- Appendix A: Data on U.S. Families -- Appendix B: Some Terms to Understand -- Chapter 2 Families in U.S. History -- Introduction and Overview -- Images and Fears of Family Decline -- Colonial Families -- Families under Industrialism -- Families in the Twentieth Century -- Companionate Families and Marriages -- Muncie, Indiana, 1890s, 1920s, and 1970s -- The 1950s, in Memory and Reality -- Enslaved and "Free" African American Families -- The African Heritage -- African American Families after Emancipation -- Northern Free Blacks, 1700-1860 -- Sharecropping, the Journey North, and the 1950s -- Conclusion -- Chapter 3 Making Sense of Families -- Ideals, Longings, and Realities -- Perspectives on Families -- The Decline and Demise of Families -- Families Are Well and Healthy -- Anxious, Distressed, and Enduring Families -- Power, Feminism, and Families -- Letty Cottin Pogrebin -- Joan Walsh -- Judy Aulette -- Judith Stacey -- Summary -- Sociology, History, and Families -- Difficulties in the Study of Families -- "The Good Old Days" -- The Nuclear Family as "Normal" and Universal -- Family Secrets and Façades -- Conclusion: Beyond Power Struggles and Conflicts -- Chapter 4 Marriage, Cohabitation, and Same-Sex Marriage -- Marriages -- Why Marry? -- Some Statistics on Marriage -- Marriages in U.S. History -- Good Marriages and the Benefits of Marriage.

Research on Marriage -- Characteristics of Good Marriages -- The Benefits of Marriage -- Marriages over Time -- Debates on the State of Marriage -- Feminist Critiques -- Marriages in Muncie, Indiana, in the 1970s -- The Decline of Marriage? -- The Rise of Cohabitation -- What Is Cohabitation? -- The Normalization of Cohabitation in Europe and the United States -- Why Do People Cohabit? -- Cohabitation and Divorce -- Cohabitation and the Law -- Same-Sex Couples-and Marriages? -- The Struggle for Same-Sex Marriages -- Same-Sex Unions in Other Countries -- Rights and Benefits -- Debates on Same-Sex Marriages -- Conclusion -- Chapter 5 Parents and Children -- The Joys of Childhood and Parenthood -- "Me and My Dad" -- Celebrating a Family's Good Times -- Why Have Children? -- Parents and Children in Earlier Times -- The Mundurucu of the Amazon in the 1950s -- The Tikopia of Polynesia in the 1930s -- The Mbuti of Zaire -- The Montagnais of the St. Lawrence Valley -- Our Babies, Ourselves: Some Lessons on Parenting -- Bonding -- Sleeping -- Touching -- Feeding -- Parents and Children in African American Communities -- All Our Kin -- Call to Home -- Historical Notes on Childhood and Parenting -- Children -- Parents -- Children Today -- Busy Parents, Fear, Computers, and the Decline of Childhood? -- "The Devaluation of the Work of Raising Children?" -- Child Care and Day Care -- Class, Race, and Childhood -- Parents Today -- Blaming Parents -- Fatherless America? -- One-Parent Families -- Gay and Lesbian Parents -- Conclusion -- Chapter 6 Living in Families -- Cooking and Eating Meals -- Being Together and Having Fun -- "Women, Families, and the Work of Kinship" -- Caregiving -- History -- Caregiving Today -- Call to Home and Caregiving -- Crisis in and Solutions of Caregiviging -- Experiences of Caregiving -- The Stresses of Caregiving.

Homeless People and Their Families -- Conclusion -- Chapter 7 Families, Kin, and Communities -- Kin and Community of Sofia Stratis -- Extended Family and Kin -- Gathering-Hunting Societies -- Kinship in East London in the 1950s -- The Abkhasians -- Extended Families in U.S. History -- Plymouth Plantation -- Early Twentieth Century -- Second Half of the Twentieth Century -- Extended Families and Kin Today -- Extended Families -- Kin Ties of Elderly People -- Personal Reflections -- Grandparents and Grandchildren -- Three Societies, 1930s-1960s -- Grandparents in Recent U.S. History -- U.S. Grandparents Today -- The Importance and Benefits of Generational Ties -- Raising Grandchildren -- Families and Communities -- Societies outside the United States -- The United States through the 1800s -- The United States in the Twentieth Century -- Kin and Community Today: A Memory and a Wish? -- Conclusion -- Chapter 8 Economies, Migration, and Families -- Migration and Families -- Poverty, the Search for Work, and Migration -- Migration to the United States -- Migration within the United States -- Debates on the Effects of Migration -- Migrants Who Return Home -- Reflections about Migration -- The Changing U.S. Economy -- The 1950s to mid-1970s -- Economic Problems and Inequalities since the 1970s -- Consequences for Families -- Families Doing Well -- Trials and Predicaments -- Families before Economies -- Conclusion -- Chapter 9 Families and Gender -- Sex and Gender -- Socialization, Social Barriers, and Resistance -- Gender in U.S. History -- Families and Gender Today -- Men as "Good Providers" -- Work, Income, and Gender -- Toward Equality and Sharing -- Conclusion: Sharing Our Lives -- Chapter 10 Class, Race, and Families -- Classes and Families -- What Are Classes? -- How Classes Shape Family Life -- Summary of Classes and Families -- Race and Ethnicity.

Trials and Strengths of African American Families -- Economic and Social Statistics -- Breakdown or Strengths of African American Families? -- Summary of Race and Ethnicity -- Chapter 11 Families, Work, and Housework -- The Nature of Work -- Work, Identity, and Gender -- Interactions between Work and Family -- How Work and Family Influence Each Other -- Work and Types of Families -- Negative Spillover from Work -- A Theory of Family and Work -- Recent Changes and the Time Bind Debates -- Reversal of Home and Work? -- Trends in Hours at Work -- Why Do People Work Long Hours? -- Chaotic Lives and Other Issues -- What Are We to Do? -- Individual Solutions -- Social Policies and Political Struggles -- Some Guiding Principles -- Housework: Dust Wars and Stealing Our Lives -- Reflections and Scenes -- History and Nature of Housework -- Why Do Women Do Most Housework? Part I -- Why Do Women Do Most Housework? Part II -- Farming out Family Chores and Responsibilities -- Conclusion: Sharing It All -- Chapter 12 Divorce: A World Tradition -- Perspectives on Divorce -- A Universal Experience -- An American Tradition -- Statistics on Divorce -- Experiences, Attitudes, and Laws of Divorce -- Experiences -- Beliefs and Culture -- The Debate over No-Fault Divorce -- Women, Men, and Divorce -- Women's Experiences -- Men's Experiences -- Custody of Children -- Economic Issues -- Why Do People Divorce? -- Some Preliminary Observations -- The Rise in Divorce -- Other Conditions That May Contribute to Divorce -- An Ethic of "Obligation to Self"? -- Children and Divorce -- Facing Parental Separation -- Living Arrangements -- Child-Support Payments -- Divorced Fathers and Their Children -- Does Divorce Damage Children? -- What Do Children of Divorce Need? -- Life after Divorce -- "Divorce is never good, but good can come out of it" -- New Families.

Conclusion: The Meanings of Divorce -- Chapter 13 Violence in Families -- Introduction -- Stories -- What Does It all Mean? -- Types of Violence -- Violence in Intimate Relationships -- Cultural Perspectives -- History of Violence in the United States -- How Much Violence? By Whom? -- Experiences of Violence, Control, and Terror -- Staying and Leaving -- Shelters -- The Reasons . . . ? Because He Could -- Isolation, Control, and Economic Dependence -- Other Explanations -- Men Beat Their Wives and Partners Because They Can -- What Should We Do? -- Progress Made -- An Anthropologist's View -- Jane Doe, Inc. -- Autonomy and Gender Equality -- Men against Violence -- Legal Strategies -- The Limits of Therapy -- Some Practical Advice -- Conclusion -- Chapter 14 Closing Reflections and Parting Comments -- Recent and Ongoing Changes -- Same-Sex Marriages -- Divorce -- Working Mothers -- Perspectives on Families -- Some Important Reminders -- A Toast and a Wish: More Family Time -- References -- Index -- About the Author.

Unlike other family textbooks that mostly emphasize conflicts and problems, this book also features the joys and pleasures of family living and its mutually nourishing qualities.

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.

Electronic reproduction. Ann Arbor, Michigan : ProQuest Ebook Central, 2024. Available via World Wide Web. Access may be limited to ProQuest Ebook Central affiliated libraries.