American families past and present : social perspectives on transformations

Author(s)

    • Ross, Susan M.

Bibliographic Information

American families past and present : social perspectives on transformations

edited by Susan M. Ross

Rutgers University Press, c2006

  • : pbk.

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Includes bibliographical references

Description and Table of Contents

Description

American families today are noted for their wide variety of guises. Among the mix are single-parent families, childless-by-choice marriages, nuclear families, multigenerational families, and same-sex couples. Although this diversity has come under the scrutiny of everyone from politicians to the media, family diversity is not a recent development of contemporary culture. While nuclear families with a mother, a father, and children are the presumed historical norm, people have always resided in an assortment of family formations. Bringing together essays by twenty-one distinguished scholars who have helped shape the field of family sociology in the last decade, this interdisciplinary anthology examines variation within family experience, especially as it has evolved across racial, ethnic, social, gender, and generational lines. The essays place historical and institutional frameworks at the center of the discussion. The first part of the book focuses on the development of socially constructed dominant ideologies, demographic shifts in family composition, and historical perspectives on family rituals and mythmaking. Essays in the second part provide a historical perspective on the interdependence between the family as a social institution and other institutions. Selections highlight changes in women's roles, the impact of economic, racial, and social inequalities on household labor and child care, the effects of war and military service, and the implications of the political climate for family welfare policy. In-depth chapter introductions along with critical questions to spark class discussion make this an ideal text for courses focusing on family composition, trends, and controversies in the United States.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments Introduction Family Transformations from a Sociological Perspective Part I Family Transformations in Social-Historical Perspective Constructed Meanings From Patriarchy to Androgyny and Other Myths: Placing Men's Family Roles in Historical Perspective / Steven Mintz Bastardy, Fitness, and the Invention of Adolescence / Kristin Luker The Modernization of Grandparenthood / Andrew J. Cherlin / Frank F. Furstenberg, Jr. Changes in Family Composition Historical Perspectives on Family Diversity / Stephanie Coontz Fertility on the Frontier: Bringing Women Back In / Anita Ilta Garey Multigenerational Families in Nineteenth Century America / Steven Ruggles Developing Family Rituals Calling Cards and Money / Beth L. Bailey Making Time for Family: The Invention of Family Time(s) and the Reinvention of Family History / John Gillis Part II The Interplay of Social Institutions with Family Formations Changing the Legal Boundaries of Family The Civil Contract and Family Life in the United States / Lisa J. McIntyre Do Wedding Dresses Come in Lavender? The Prospects and Implications of Same-Sex Marriage / Angela Bolte Medicine and Science's Influence on Fertility and Mothering Behavior Constructing Mothers: Scientific Motherhood in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries / Rima D. Apple Motherhood Denied: Women and Infertility in Historical Perspective / Margaret Marsh Families during War America's Home Front Children in World War II / William M. Tuttle, Jr. Containment at Home: Cold War, Warm Hearth / Elaine Tyler May Intersections of Work, Social Policy, and Family Our Mothers' Grief: Racial Ethnic Women and the Maintenance of Families / Bonnie Thornton Dill The Arduous Transition to the Industrial North / Donna L. Franklin Who Deserves Help? Who Must Provide? / Linda Gordon Money and Morality / Sharon Hays Child Care and Social Citizenship for Women / Sonya Michel Lessons from Abroad: Leave Policy from an International Perspective / Steven K. Wisensale List of Contributors

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