The last two decades have seen a dramatic growth in the proportion of families headed by women. Most of these families are poor and include dependent children--causing the development of a large underprivileged class across the western world. This book explores the causes and implications of this development. Because the increase in mother-headed families is an international trend, an international perspective has been adopted. The discussion centers on selected countries where certain trends are most visible. Among the western nations particular attention is given to the United States, Sweden, and the former U.S.S.R., because of their high prevalence of mother-headed families; and trends in some countries with a middling prevalence are also discussed. Japan is included, because of its combination of advanced industrialization with a non-western tradition and a low incidence of mother-headed families. Accordingly, the book considers broad supranational influences, and proposes some explanations that draw on material from history, anthropology, sociology, psychology, women's studies, economics, literature, and religious studies.
The authors present definitive information on the incidence of mother-headed families across historical epochs and culture groups. This includes an exploration of the conditions under which such families have been many or few and have been treated well or poorly by their communities. They also offer some theoretical explanations for the increasing frequency of this family form and consider whether these interpretations fit the facts that have been gathered. Finally, there is a detailed discussion revealing what these explanations may imply for the future--that is, whether the number of mother-headed families is likely to increase, stabilize, or decrease.

This book brings together a group of scholars to share findings and insights on the effects of media on children and family. Their contributions reflect not only widely divergent political orientations and value systems, but also three distinct domains of inquiry into human motivation and behavior -- social scientific, psychodynamic (or psychoanalytical), and clinical practice. Each of these three domains is privy to important evidence and insights that need to transcend epistemological and methodological boundaries if understanding of the subject is to improve dramatically. In keeping with this notion, the editors asked the authors to go beyond a summary of findings, and lend additional distinction to the book by applying the "binoculars" of their particular perspective and offering suggestions as to the implications of their findings.
One of the goals of the conference that resulted in this book was consensus building in the area of media and family. From examining the findings and insights of a diverse group of scholars, it seems that consensus building in several areas is a distinct possibility. Addressing the concerns of educators about the influence of the mass media of communication -- entertainment programs in particular -- on children and the welfare of the nuclear family, this volume projects directions for superior programming, especially for educational television. The influence of sex and violence on children and adults is given much attention, and the development of moral judgment and sexual expectations, among other things, is explored. The critical analysis of media effects includes examination of positive contributions of the media, such as the search for missing children and exemplary educational programs.

Marriage and monogamy are not what they used to be, and today many couples are opting to start families before getting married, or deciding not to get married at all. At the same time, gay couples in states that recognize same-sex marriage are getting married in droves. Some people prefer non-monogamy and have relationships that include swinging and polyamory. The landscape of American marriage and relationships is changing, and a variety of family systems are developing and becoming more common. The Polyamorists Next Door introduces polyamorous families, in which people are free to pursue emotional, romantic, and sexual relationships with multiple people at the same time, openly and with support from their partners, sometimes forming multi-partner relationships, or other arrangements that allow for emotional and sexual freedom within the family system. In colorful and moving details, this book explores how polyamorous relationships come to be, grow and change, manage the ins and outs of daily family life, and cope with the challenges they face both within their families and from society at large. Using polyamorists' own words, Dr. Elisabeth Sheff examines polyamorous households and reveals their advantages, disadvantages, and the daily lives of those living in them. While polyamorous families are increasingly common, fairly little is known about them outside of their own social circles or of the occasional media sensationalism. This book provides information that will be useful for professionals with polyamorous clients, educators who wish to understand or teach about polyamory, and especially people who wish to better understand polyamory themselves or explain it to their potential partners, adult children, or in-laws.

This book presents a new approach to understanding the family unit and how and why it functions as it does. The approach focuses on the cognitions of family members and how these, in turn, shape individuals' behavior and the functioning of the family system.
The use of the cognitive-behavioral perspective in family science has gained a quick and broad acceptance among social scientists and practitioners during the past decade. One reason for its success is that the basics of the approach are easy to learn and apply. Specifically, the approach maintains that a person who believes that he or she is a failure will -- because of this cognition -- act in certain self-defeating ways and have various self-deprecating feelings.
The wide acceptance of the cognitive-behavioral approach rests on more than its simplicity: the approach has repeatedly proven itself in the laboratory and in the clinic. The knowledge readers of this volume will gain about the cognitive-behavioral approach provides them with tools that they can use to better understand not only the family interactions, but the thoughts, feelings, and behaviors of individuals -- including themselves -- in the family setting.

eBook available with sample pages: HB:0415075645

Considerable social changes are underway as more women, particularly mothers, enter and remain in paid employment. The authors explore these changes (which include an increase in dual-earner families, declining fertility, and growing problems of work-life 'balance'), both comparatively and specifically in a number of European countries (Britain, France, The Netherlands, Finland, Norway, Sweden and Portugal). Original survey data, and qualitative evidence, is deployed in a series of cutting-edge chapters written by national and international experts.

This inspiring book focuses on the spiritual aspect of psychotherapy with couples. Spirituality and Couples demonstrates that spirituality is an important factor in both the therapy process and the healing process. Chapters provide models to help therapists and counselors incorporate various aspects of spirituality into their therapy practices. They show the importance of a conscious attention to spirituality as a means of strengthening the effectiveness of individual therapy sessions as well as overall therapy efforts. Mental health professionals will find that including spiritual factors into their therapy will increase the effectiveness of their work as it opens new channels of communication between clients and therapists.Spirituality and Couples stresses that therapy should be viewed as a process between human beings rather than the use of a set of tools by a therapist on clients. Chapters cover a variety of topics including: an interview with Virginia Satir on the importance of not removing "heart and soul" from her work by reducing it to a set of techniques the need to find a new basis for enduring, enriching relationships the relevance of Buddhist meditation for the practice of couples therapy spiritual awakening in the couple relationship the sacredness of marriage spiritual connections between two people an analysis of Virginia Satir's philosophy of treatment in terms of spirituality Mental health professionals, couples therapists, pastoral counselors, and clergy will find the information and strategies in this book interesting to read and helpful in their work.

Individuals with disabilities are often "desexualized" in our society, yet they have the same need for intimacy, self-worth, and social belonging as people without disabilities. Sexuality and Disabilities addresses persons with physical, sensory, intellectual, and cognitive disabilities and their concerns in the areas of intimacy, family issues, sexuality, and sexual functioning. It offers suggestions for professionals who work with persons with these disabilities to help them work more competently with disabled persons in the sexuality arena. These concrete ideas are excellent for staff training and education and for enhancing professional development for those working with persons with physical disabilities.The contributing authors create an awareness that all people need individualized consideration and that the special needs of all individuals are important, especially for those who may have previously been left to discover things on their own--usually unsuccessfully. Sexuality and Disabilities focuses on a wide range of disabilities, including physical, developmental, and learning disabilities, mental retardation, and conditions that may have an impact on people later in life such as strokes, heart disease, or other chronic illness. Chapters discuss education and support issues for both practitioners and clients. Some of the topics examined include: components of a staff training program on sexuality and disability specific recommendations for sexuality education and counseling with people with spinal cord injuries and other acquired severe neurological disabilities a program model serving parents with mental retardation and their children specific ways educational programming, social work intervention, and policy efforts can address the special learning needs of people with cognitive impairments sources of support and stress for families caring for developmentally disabled children an analysis of special vulnerabilities and challenges relating to sexual victimization that confront people with disabilitiesAn extremely helpful tool for human service practitioners, Sexuality and Disabilities is also a valuable resource for graduate and undergraduate students who have an interest in working with people with physical, cognitive, or mental disabilities and helping them explore this basic facet of their lives.

Black families in America face special and grave problems. Widespread unemployment, single parent circumstances, adolescent pregnancies, substance abuse, and violence are only some of the problems posing challenges. The authors, convinced that the conventional perspective used in the past to analyze black families is deficient, propose a holistic approach. That perspective takes into account the totality of black family life rather than measuring isolated factors. Using black families as the central unit of analysis, the authors identify fundamental issues requiring concentrated attention and policy changes. Both factors external to the black family and consideration internal to it are studied. The former include economic factors---racism, demographics, and governmental policies. The latter involve such aspects as black family structure, changes in the community, and widespread changes in values at the individual level. The authors provide practical recommendations for improving the conditions of black families through policy changes and revised priorities.

Couples Therapy, Multiple Perspectives is a springboard from which therapists may begin to answer such questions as What are the ingredients essential to good relationships? What are the ingredients essential to activity within the psychotherapeutic relationship? How can what therapists know regarding psychotherapy be combined to create a whole greater than the sum of its parts? Barbara Jo Brothers aids therapists in answering these and other questions about the basic ingredients, the common denominators, and the universal threads of work with couples from exploring the theories and methods of successful therapists.As there are many ways of looking at couples therapy, this volume encourages therapists to work cooperatively, not competitively, in developing clients'possibilities. Couples Therapy, Multiple Perspectives is intended to assist therapists working with couples achieve a broader view of their work and a richer range of choices in helping their clients. Every article, especially the two by master therapists Florence Kaslow and Maurizio Andolfi, moves readers toward a tapestry of therapeutic possibilities.Features of Couples Therapy, Multiple Perspectives include an in-depth look at the ingredients of a successful marriage, or, what makes marriages work for the long-term by Florence Kaslow; an article by Maurizio Andolfi, translated by Vincenzo DiNicola, which brings together an excellent integration of theories, including those of Bowen, Framo, and Whitaker. Andolfi describes a transgenerational approach to work with couples in crisis, with a case example of the value of doing family-of-origin work in the initial phase of therapy. In an interview segment with Virginia Satir (with Sheldon Starr, PhD, in 1985), she explores how all good therapy has essentially the same ingredients. Readers will find Satir's ideas timeless and thought provoking; indeed they may re-evaluate their own position and theories on therapy with couples.

Sibling relationships are full of intrigue, yet tend to be overlooked in sociological thinking. This book draws upon innovative qualitative data sources to explore the significance of siblings throughout the life course, demonstrating why sociologists ought to pay attention to siblingship. Focussing on four themes central to the discipline of sociology - self, relationality, imagination and time - the book shows why siblings matter. Grounded in theories of relatedness but spanning theoretical work on generation, life course, emotion, sensory worlds, normativity and identity, Siblings and sociology explores the importance of siblings in everyday life and how they inform wider social processes: the relational construction of identity, the inculcation of capital, experiences of institutions like schools and the meanings of relatedness. Siblings tap into profound questions about who we are and who we can become. This book shows how the intrigue of siblingship renders them an important lens through which to think in new ways about familiar sociological ideas. Siblings and sociology demonstrates why siblings are a fascinating subject for sociologists: a relationship that can influence all aspects of life, as well as an object of scrutiny capable of firing the sociological imagination and directing the analytical gaze. -- .

Intimate partner violence is a complex, ugly, fear-inducing reality for large numbers of women around the world. When violence exists in a relationship, safety is compromised, shame abounds, and peace evaporates. Violence is learned behavior and it flourishes most when it is ignored, minimized, or misunderstood. When it strikes the homes of deeply religious women, they are: more vulnerable; more likely to believe that their abusive partners can, and will, change; less likely to leave a violent home, temporarily or forever; often reluctant to seek outside sources of assistance; and frequently disappointed by the response of the religious leader to their call for help. These women often believe they are called by God to endure the suffering, to forgive (and to keep on forgiving) their abuser, and to fulfill their marital vows until death do us part. Concurrently, many batterers employ explicitly religious language to justify the violence towards their partners, and sometime they manipulate spiritual leaders who try to offer them help. Religion and Intimate Partner Violence seeks to navigate the relatively unchartered waters of intimate partner violence in families of deep faith. The program of research on which it is based spans over twenty-five years, and includes a wide variety of specific studies involving religious leaders, congregations, battered women, men in batterer intervention programs, and the army of workers who assist families impacted by abuse, including criminal justice workers, therapeutic staff, advocacy workers, and religious leaders. The authors provide a rich and colorful portrayal of the intersection of intimate partner violence and religious beliefs and practices that inform and interweave throughout daily life. Such a focus on lived religion enables readers to isolate, examine, and evaluate ways in which religion both augments and thwarts the journey towards justice, accountability, healing and wholeness for women and men caught in the web of intimate partner violence.

Many books deal with divorce and its aftermath -- some deal with the impact of divorce on children and families, others with the legal or sociological aspects of divorce, and a few focus on divorced mothers and fathers. Most of these books are characterized by their practical orientation toward the issues and problems posed by divorce. None of these, however, have attempted to offer an integrated view of the massive amount of theoretical and research literature on divorced adults and their children. In addition, none present a comprehensive view of divorce as a psychological process within its larger social context.
Filling that void, this book:
* offers a comprehensive view of divorce as a social, interpersonal and psychological phenomenon,
* reviews the theory and research on divorce focusing on the major protagonists of the divorce drama: the mother, the father and the children, and
* introduces a social-psychological theory of divorce process.

This informative book clarifies the complex picture of how the experience of divorce in one generation may influence the next generation s approach to and preparedness for marriage. It identifies research and clinical issues regarding the effects of the parental divorce experience on young adults'patterns of dating, attachment, and mate selection. Divorce and the Next Generation focuses primarily on young adults and the patterns and attitudes regarding intimacy and attachment that they will carry into their own adult marriages.The book contains research studies which compare differing variables of developmental achievement, personal adjustment, and attitudes of children from divorced and nondivorced families. The implications of these findings for understanding the intergenerational effect from divorce in one generation to marriage in the next are crucial as they guide professionals in their work with young adults and divorcing families in clinical and educational settings. This enlightening volume provides a foundation and a stimulus for more research into these dynamics. Divorce and the Next Generation addresses topics such as: the effects of childhood family structure and perceptions of parental marital happiness on marital and parenting aspirations differences in intimate relationships between college students from divorced and intact families a literature review of short- and long-term effects of parental divorce on children the effects of conflict and family structure on attitudes toward marriage and divorce differences in marriage role expectations between college students of divorced and intact families effects of parental divorce on children in Erikson s identity stage indirect effects of parental divorce on self-concept via changes in family environment correlates of self-esteem among college-age offspring from divorced familiesDivorce and the Next Generation is full of useful information for beginning and advanced family therapists, marital counselors, family and psychological researchers, and other professionals interested in the effects divorce has on the families involved.

Due to a greater involvement of American fathers in the direct care of their children in recent years, interest in the impact and nature of the father's role in nurturing children has increased. While studies about fathers in the industrialized, literate West have proliferated, little is known about the role of fathers in the preliterate, non-Western world. This collection examines the diversity of paternal roles found in human cultures among various types of societies that are very peaceful and those that actively engage in warfare as a mode of existence. "Father-Child Relations" recognizes the importance of understanding both biological and cultural aspects of the father's role. Many of the contributors utilize evolutionary or biosocial models, including those of developmental psychology, to examine the father's role, while others rely upon the symbolic analysis of cultural and social anthropology. One chapter is devoted to male-infant relationships in nonhuman primates, a further largely ignored comparative perspective. The anthropologists who have contributed to this collection are field workers who have lived intimately over significant periods of time with the people about whom they are writing. These research reports from the field have been edited to make them wholly accessible to the non-specialist. The contributors of this volume recognize that biology and ideology are intertwined; both together influence the father's behavior and the effects of his behavior.

This book examines military families' well-being and health outcomes by providing a critical theoretical perspective on their position and the risks and challenges affecting them. Authors explore the tension between demands made by two greedy institutions-the military and the family-and how the well-being of families is negotiated between the two. Uniquely, the book employs an integrative approach to observing and analyzing military-specific risk and protective factors for health outcomes of military families on various social-ecological levels, including relationship satisfaction and dissatisfaction, intimate partnership violence, parent-child relationships, child well-being, psychoactive substance abuse, depression, and PTSD. Throughout the chapters, the authors analyze research findings that reveal new health outcomes and present an empirically-tested model of military-specific risk and protective factors.

This edited volume discusses and analyses the impact of neoliberal policies and ideologies on public and private care practices in Nordic, Central, and East European welfare states. Through new conceptualizations of care practices, chapters take the reader directly into the homes, workplaces, and everyday life of urban and rural residents throughout Europe. The book argues that common neoliberal responses to care crises are not about revaluing care but rather a normalization of precarious work as expressed in moving care from public institutions to families within private homes. Featuring contributions from eight countries, chapters contribute to research on gender, care, migration, and welfare policies by discussing how recent developments in global capitalism and neoliberal policies influence welfare policies and care arrangements in post-egalitarian and post-socialist societies in Europe.

At the end of the twentieth century, many people believe that U.S. public schools are in decline. In Holy Sparks, Philip Wexler likens our schools to the broken vessels of the Old Testament, but sees in their broken shards the holy sparks of divine inspiration. Drawing broadly on cultural criticism, social theory and religious tradition, Wexler discerns a spiritual reawakening that pervades all of late-twentieth-century culture. He insists that only by paying attention to the holy sparks that still exist in our children and in our schools will we ever be able to revive our educational system, and by extension, our future. Holy Sparks is a masterly cultural analysis that transcends the boundaries of the book to become a prayer for the next generation.

This book, based on economics and game theory, analyzes the changes that Japan is now facing as a reflection of changes in Japanese families and society. The author presents a simple framework for the structural relationship among markets, communities including families, and the state; and uses it to explain the changes that have occurred in Japanese society. Social changes have created a series of social problems such as population ageing, poverty, and regional disparities, which require changes in public policies. The book provides readers with rich information about the Japanese social security system, social policies and regional policies by explaining why they are developed, how they are designed, and what challenges they face. Readers will find that the transformation of Japanese society is not really a special case but a fairly common one that many developed countries have experienced and many developing countries are going to experience. The book will be useful not only to those who are interested in Japanese society and public policies but also to anyone who is interested in the transformations of families, communities, and roles of the state in a modern market economy.

Research on the topic of parent beliefs, or parent cognition, has increased tremendously since the original publication of this volume in 1985. For this revised second edition, the editors sought to reflect some of the new directions that research on parent cognition has taken. By offering a greater variety of topics, it gives evidence of the intellectual concerns that now engage researchers in the field and testifies to the expanding scope of their interests. Although a unique collection because it reflects the diversity that exists among major researchers in the field, it evinces a common theme -- that the ideas parents have regarding their children and themselves as parents have an impact on their actions. This emphasis on parents' ideas shifts the focus on sources of family influence to ideas or beliefs as determinants of family interactions. The implication of this way of thinking for practitioners is that it suggests the shift to ideas and thoughts from behavior and attitudes.

This current study has emerged from two decades of the author's investigations in related areas: alcoholism and domestic relations. Its canvas is broadly comparative, drawing on interviews and data gathered in the United States and Finland. The domestic drama of "The Other Half "is played out both in the private scene of the home and the more public scene of the workplace, and against these two differing national backgrounds. Despite the many expected and perceived cultural differences between the countries, the effects of alcoholism on the family are shown to be the same.

Dr. Wiseman's study offers theoretical insights gleaned from its perspective on alcoholism as an interactive phenomenon, to which the concepts of G.H. Mead and Blumer can be applied to illuminate the carefully presented data and go beyond them. New terrain in studies of alcoholism is thereby explored, including such themes as the social construction by the subjects of their husbands' drinking, their marriage and their self-images; the strategy of coping mechanisms; and the effects of the crisis of alcoholism on gender, sex roles, and power differentials.

"The Other Half "complements Dr. Wiseman's prize-winning work on the treatment of Skid Row alcoholics, "Stations of the Lost, "while involving issues of greater complexity on both the methodological and theoretical plane.

Motherhood after Incarceration: Community Reintegration for Mothers in the Criminal Legal System explores the relationships of women with their children immediately after periods of incarceration. The analysis draws on in-depth interviews with 39 women who are mothers and who had recently been released in the Portland, Oregon, metropolitan area. Using data collected from these interviews, the authors address three interrelated questions: (1) How does incarceration affect mother/child bonds? (2) What obstacles interfere with successful reintegration of these mothers into the community? (3) Do mothers who regain immediate custody of their children after incarceration reintegrate better than those with delayed (or no) resumption of child custody? Implications of these findings for policy are explored. The research results demonstrate the struggles justice-involved mothers experience over time as they seek to reintegrate into the community and resolve their relationships with their children, while also struggling with employment, housing, family relationships, and avoiding situations that might ultimately lead to recidivism. The authors suggest that policies for reducing recidivism among reentering women should provide more resources for housing, childcare, mental health, and job training and coaching. Further, there are often behavioral and emotional repercussions associated with the lengthy separation of mother and child, which highlights the need for parenting support for these mothers and their children, including social and emotional counseling, and resources directed toward the maintenance of family ties. This book's detailed look at motherhood after incarceration, both for mothers with custody and without, will appeal to academics, policy makers, community advocates and activists, and undergraduate and graduate students in social science courses on correctional policy, gender and crime, and social work.

Marriage and Family Therapy: A Sociocognitive Approach is a comprehensive and clearly written introduction to sociocognitive therapy. It is rich with transcripts and case examples, culled from the authors'more than thirty-five years of practice, providing you with valuable background information on helping difficult-to-reach and hard-to-help populations. In practical language, this volume takes you step-by-step through methods of assessment and change that are useful in traditional and nontraditional families and couples. With clear language and taxonomy for family troubles and their resolution, Marriage and Family Therapy provides conceptual handles to guide you in learning intervention strategies, enabling you to work effectively with, most notably, lower working-class and poor inner-city, African-American families. A highlight of the book is the detailed look at terminal and instrumental interaction hypotheses and how they can be applied in actual therapy situations. With Marriage and Family Therapy as a guide, you will develop multiple skills and methods that equip you to better handle the challenging task of helping troubled families and couples.The first two chapters present the theoretical framework of the sociocognitive approach. In the third chapter, the assessment and change concepts central to Dr. Hurvitz's approach are introduced. The last four chapters show how these humanist principles are applied through the phases of opening, change-producing, and termination in therapy, creating an invaluable book for marriage and family therapists, social workers, psychologists, and educators.