Friendship is one of the best things that God has created. It is unparalleled as a building block of society, a universal theme in great literature, and has a huge impact on our mental health and happiness. But many of us are lonely or feel suffocated by the pressures of life and quantity of relationships we have to maintain, and almost all of us could benefit from better friendships. Phil Knox, author of Story Bearer and Head of Mission at Evangelical Alliance, celebrates the best of friendships in The Best of Friends. Punctuated with personal story, poetry, and practical application, Knox examines friendship in the setting of the church and explores how Jesus invested his time both with his closest companions and one-off encounters. Readers will recognise the power of friendship in bringing non believers to church, and Knox explores the importance of becoming friends with people who are different from us. Advising that our church circles are always open and invitational, not closed cliques. Finally, Knox considers intergenerational friendships and the most important friend request of all time: one's relationship with God. Full of practical advice, The Best of Friends shows us how to choose our friends wisely and maintain lasting and meaningful friendships, especially our relationship with God.

What form does the dialogue about the family during the Nazi period take in the families of those persecuted by the Nazi regime and of Nazi perpertrators and accomplices? What impact does the past of the first generation, and their own way of dealing with it, have on the lives of their descendants? What are the structural differences between the dialogue about the Holocaust in families of perpetrators and those of the victims? This text examines these questions on the basis of selected case studies. It presents five families of survivors from Germany and Israel whose experiences of persecution and family histories after the liberation differ greatly. Two case studies of non-Jewish German families whose grandparents' generation are suspected of having perpretrated Nazi crimes illustrate the mechanisms operating in these families - those of passing the guilt on to the victims and creating the myth of being victims themselves - and give a sense of the psychological consequences these mechanisms have for the generations of their children and grandchildren.

This book offers a social movement perspective on family violence, framing the discovery of abuse toward women and men as a natural development flowing out of social movements of the 1960s and 1970s. It combines clinical and statistical methods to yield a sophisticated understanding of the dynamics underlying spousal violence. It examines both men's violence and the violence of their female partners, both psychological as well as physical. The problem of women's violence is one that has remained largely ignored compared to the mountain of research on men's violence toward women. The authors present the first in-depth examination of how, when, and why women instigate violence and why violent couples require a systems-level intervention program rather than simply trying to counter male violence. There is a strong consideration of factors that can work to reduce or eliminate the problem.

This text addresses the Philippines' historical and contemporary reproductive politics, offering a timely insight into the rich reproductive lives of Filipinos. It critically explores stories of sexuality, religiosity, and reproductive livelihoods during the immediate aftermath of the passing of the 'Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act' of 2012 after more than fifteen years of opposition by the Philippine Catholic Church. Commonly called the "RH Law", it aims to provide public access to reproductive and family planning services for Filipino women and men, especially those from poorer communities who often experience unwanted pregnancies, complications from illegal abortions, and exacerbated economic hardship. This book explores the intimate and urban after-effects of globalization, and how they shape the "reproductive dilemmas" of Filipinos in Metropolitan "Metro" Manila. It constructs a balanced portrait of the country's reproductive politics within Metro Manila's rapidly changing terrains, showing how "reproductive dilemmas" are produced within a context that is at once fraught by conservative religious discourse and also rapidly globalizing, and where aspects of intimate lives have become both transnational and fragmented.

This book examines the proliferation of policy making concerning the recognition and protection of same-sex relationships in the countries of North and South America, adding to the knowledge of developments in the United States and Canada, but, mostly notable, exploring more recent developments in Mexico, Central and South America, and the Caribbean. While much work has been done on developments in Europe and upper North America, this book attempts to broaden the understanding of relationship equality policy proliferation around the world and to add new insights regarding the policies of sexuality in different national contexts. The book discusses the several factors that have constrained and facilitated policymaking in this area including legal systems, public opinion, political culture, and, more particularly, the role of religion as a key obstacle in the recognition of rights for same-sex couples. The chapters also explore the role of institutional mechanisms, political parties, NGOs, IGOs, and international norms as significant factors for policy adoption This book explores policy innovation for same-sex couples throughout the Americas and includes same-sex marriage legislation, civil unions, and other new developments for same-sex couples throughout the Americas at both national and sub-national levels. This scholarship is innovative because though much has been written regarding developments in North America, there is very little work dealing with recent developments in the rest of the Americas.

This book presents a wide variety of insights into the effects of smoking on both smokers and non-smokers. Based on extensive questionnaire surveys from across the USA, this research explores the complex dynamics of intimate relationships and how they are affected by smoking, especially with regard to honest communication. The volume delves into the battles which take place behind closed doors as both smokers and non-smokers invoke personal rights and argue their positions. Finally, the authors explore how health policy and public policy can better serve both smokers and non-smokers, and what the future may hold for the regulation of tobacco use.

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"Readers unfamiliar with the burgeoning literature on the neglected importance of fatherhood will find this study a helpful beginning point."
--"CHOICE"

"A more nuanced and embedded analysis of men's experiences of procreation than we have ever had. One can no longer speak of fatherhood as separate from the decisions about contraception, pregnancy, and reproduction."
--Michael Kimmel, State University of New York, Stony Brook.

Over the past 15 years much pioneering work has been done on the social demography of young men's sexual activities, contraceptive use, and fertility experiences. But how do men develop and manage their identities in these areas?

In Sex, Men, and Babies, William Marsiglio and Sally Hutchinson provide a compelling and insightful portrait of young men who are capable of anticipating, creating, and fathering human life. Based on in-depth interviews with a diverse sample of 70 single men aged 16-30, this is the most comprehensive, qualitative study of its kind. Through intimate stories and self-reflections, these men talk about sex, romance, relationships, birth control, pregnancies, miscarriages, abortions, visions of fathering, and other issues related to men's self-awareness, and the many ways they construct, explain, and change their identities as potential fathers. The interviews also provide valuable insights about how young men experience responsiblities associated with sex and the full range of procreative events.

Accessibly written for a wide audience and raising a host of issues relevant to debates about unplanned pregnancy, childbearing among teens and young adults, and women's andchildren's well-being, Sex, Men, and Babies is the fullest account available today on how young men conceptualize themselves as procreative beings. Lessons from this study can inform interventions designed to encourage young men to be more aware of their abilities and responsiblities in making babies.

In an age of migration and mobility many aspects of contemporary family life - from biological reproduction to marriage, from child-rearing to care of the elderly - take place against a backdrop of intensified movement across a range of spatial scales from the global to the local. This insightful book analyzes the opportunities and challenges this poses for families and for academic, empirical and policy understandings of 'the family' on a global level, including case studies from Europe, India, the Philippines, South Korea, the United States and Australia. With chapters on international reproductive tourism, transnational parenting, 'mail-order brides' and 'sunset migration', it examines the implications of migration and mobility for families at different stages of the life course. Moreover, it brings together leading international scholars to connect a fragmented field of research, and in so doing enables an interdisciplinary exchange, generating new insights for theory, policy and empirical analysis.

No other reference provides such a comprehensive and timely overview of theory and research on family relationships, the contexts of family life, and major turning points in late-life families. It includes many suggestions for theoretical and practical applications for future research on a score of important topics. This multidisciplinary survey is an invaluable library reference and teaching resource intended for upper-level undergraduate and graduate students, teachers, and practitioners -- for gerontologists, family scholars, psychologists, sociologists, historians, social workers, health-care providers, and policy makers.

When Verschuur-Basse, a French sociologist specializing in the family, was invited by the Academy of Social Sciences to Beijing in 1985, she interviewed women from three generations and a variety of professions about their lives as women, wives, mothers, and daughters-in-law. Over a five-year period she conducted in-depth, non-directed interviews with educated women who were able to analyze and interpret their lives in the context of important formative factors such as the Cultural Revolution, the one-child policy, and other social reforms. The difference between urban and rural expectations from women is particularly apparent in the life stories of the 13 women included in this book. The women voice common concerns as wives and mothers who work outside the home and comment on the prevalence of abortion and preference for male children, the increase in divorce rates, and the place of women as decision-makers in the family. Originally published in French as "Paroles de Femmes Chinoises: La Famille Autrement" (Harmattan, 1993), the study received critical acclaim from academy and media as a revealing portrayal of social reality in China.

Drawing on an extensive survey of real people and over 40 years of research, this revealing volume proposes that a nonmonogamous lifestyle may be healthier for marriages than a monogamous one. Based on an exhaustive survey into the lives of real people, Swinging in America: Love, Sex, and Marriage in the 21st Century concludes that nonmonogamous relationships such as swinging and polyamory offer a new blueprint for combining sex and love-one that may prove more in line with the way people actually live their lives in our society. Swinging in America begins with what we know about swingers and the swinging lifestyle, based on personal narratives and over 40 years of sociological research comparing swinging and non-swinging couples on factors such as personal happiness, marital satisfaction, psychological stability, and personal values. The second half of the book explores the historical rise and contemporary decline of monocentrism-the sexually monogamous marriage as the organizing principle underlying our culture-and the implications of this decline for new nonmonogamous relationships and marriages. Includes data from a national survey, conducted by the authors, of 1100 swingers in the United States Offers first-person accounts from people in the swinging lifestyle Provides extensive bibliographies after each chapter documenting sources of information discussed in the text Lists a comprehensive index of terms and topics

This book explores international biomedical research and development on the early diagnosis of Alzheimer's disease. It offers timely, multidisciplinary reflections on the social and ethical issues raised by promises of early diagnostics and asks under which conditions emerging diagnostic technologies can be considered a responsible innovation. The initial chapters in this edited volume provide an overview and a critical discussion of recent developments in biomedical research on Alzheimer's disease. Subsequent contributions explore the values at stake in current practices of dealing with Alzheimer's disease and dementia, both within and outside the biomedical domain. Novel diagnostic technologies for Alzheimer's disease emerge in a complex and shifting field, full of controversies. Innovating with care requires a precise mapping of how concepts, values and responsibilities are filled in through the confrontation of practices. In doing so, the volume offers a practice-based approach of responsible innovation that is also applicable to other fields of innovation.

Recent literature has identified modern "parenting" as an expert-led practice-one which begins with pre-pregnancy decisions, entails distinct types of intimate relationships, places intense burdens on mothers and increasingly on fathers too. Exploring within diverse historical and global contexts how men and women make-and break-relations between generations when becoming parents, this volume brings together innovative qualitative research by anthropologists, historians, and sociologists. The chapters focus tightly on inter-generational transmission and demonstrate its importance for understanding how people become parents and rear children.

No matter how old we are, or how far from home, our family remains with us - we share their looks and gestures, social values and concept of "home". Yet we often fail to connect with family members, and in remarkable ways our early experiences with family are repeated with marriage partners and children. In this revelatory book, esteemed family therapist Monica McGoldrick explores why families behave as they do, using genograms (family trees) to illustrate family patterns. Mapped out over a three-generation span, repeated estrangements, alliances, even divorces and suicides prove more than coincidental. McGoldrick uses the genograms of famous families - including the Kennedys, Hepburns, Beethovens, Brontes, and the family of the Marx Brothers - to discuss the influence of birth order and sibling rivalry, family myths and secrets, cultural differences, couple relationships, and the pivotal role of loss. Relevant questions we can ask ourselves appear at the end of each chapter, helping the reader to become researcher, uncovering information previously withheld, misunderstood, or overlooked. There is a saying, "Those who cannot remember the past are recommended to repeat it". The message here is positive: once we reconnect with the past, McGoldrick tells us, we can choose our futures.

Teenagers have sex. While almost all parents understand that many teenagers are sexually active, there is a paradox in many parents' thinking: they insist their own teen children are not sexual, but characterize their children's peers as sexually-driven and hypersexual. Rather than accuse parents of being in denial, Sinikka Elliott teases out the complex dynamics behind this thinking, demonstrating that it is rooted in fears and anxieties about being a good parent, the risks of teen sexual activity, and teenagers' future economic and social status. Parents--like most Americans--equate teen sexuality with heartache, disease, pregnancy, promiscuity, and deviance and want their teen children to be protected from these things. Going beyond the hype and controversy, Elliott examines how a diverse group of American parents of teenagers understand teen sexuality, showing that, in contrast to the idea that parents are polarized in their beliefs, parents are confused, anxious, and ambivalent about teen sexual activity and how best to guide their own children's sexuality. Framed with an eye to the debates about teenage abstinence and sex education in school, Elliott also links parents' understandings to the contradictory messages and broad moral panic around child and teen sexuality. Ultimately, Elliott considers the social and cultural conditions that might make it easier for parents to talk with their teens about sex, calling for new ways of thinking and talking about teen sexuality that promote social justice and empower parents to embrace their children as fully sexual subjects.

Childhood disabilities, particularly cognitive disabilities, are on the rise yet social programs and services to help US families respond to disabilities are not. Many families turn to grandparents for assistance juggling work, family responsibilities, and specialized therapies. This book is based on in-depth interviews with grandparents who are providing at least some care to grandchildren with disabilities. The analyses will help to better understand (1) under what conditions grandparents provide care and support, (2) what types and intensities of care and support grandparents provide, and (3) the impact of that care and support on grandparents' social, emotional, physical, and financial wellbeing. In this fascinating and provocative book, Madonna Harrington Meyer and Ynesse Abdul-Malak take readers on a deep dive into the complex lives of grandparents who care for their disabled grandchildren. In Grandparenting Children with Disabilities, their interviews reveal the joy, meaning, and purpose grandparents find in caregiving, the challenges and frustrations they encounter, and the many ways they compromise their own health and well-being for the sake of their grandchildren. Drawing from theories of cumulative inequality and from their deep knowledge of the US policy context, the authors lay bare the systemic failures that leave families of children with disabilities without adequate support and that place the most vulnerable among them at grave physical, emotional, and financial risk... Jane McLeod, Provost Professor, Indiana University Grandparents in the U.S. already take on far more parenting responsibilities as compared to their peers in other countries. Grandparenting Children with Disabilities demonstrates that the intensity of these responsibilities is compounded for those whose grandchildren have disabilities given limited policy supports and a society still largely unaccommodating to those with disabilities. This book beautifully navigates the tension between the love these grandparents have for their grandchildren and the challenges they face caring for them. Pamela Herd, Professor, Georgetown University Grandparenting Children with Disabilities offers important insights about the lived experience of older adults who care for and care about their grandchildren...The authors skillfully integrate the stories they tell with consideration of macro social structural influences and life course perspectives... I recommend it highly! Eva Kahana, Distinguished University Professor, Case Western Reserve

Through a comprehensive selection of classic and contemporary interdisciplinary readings, Perspectives on the Caribbean: A Reader in Culture, History and Representation presents a variety of viewpoints to further our understanding of life and culture in the Caribbean: * Highlights the major concepts and debates in the anthropology and history of the Caribbean, including its unique Anglo, French, and Hispanic communities* Provides multidisciplinary perspectives on Caribbean society that show the connections between its vibrant cultural forms, political economy, and tumultuous history* Features section introductions that put readings in context, with lists of additional suggested readings for further study* Offers an overview of the strong traditions of art, literature, music, dance, and architecture in the Caribbean* Outlines the key research in Caribbean studies from history, anthropology, sociology, linguistics, and folklore, examining classic ethnographies as well as new scholarship

Presents research-backed methods for parenting children born between 1982 and 2000. They have strong values - faith, family, tolerance, intelligence and altruism among them. But, contrary to what one might guess, these people are not our sage elders. This is the Millennial Generation. Born between 1982 and 2000, the oldest among them today are entering their 20s or in their teen years. They aim to rebel against society by cleaning it up, returning to old-fashioned values and relationships. Author Verhaagen describes why, nonetheless, parents are feeling more anxious and frazzled than ever before, even as they raise what some are predicting to be the next hero generation. Verhaagen explains how research shows adults can help keep these young people on a positive path, stoke their ideals, and help them be resilient when the inevitable mistakes and obstacles arise. The Baby Boomers and older Gen Xers are parenting this new crew, aiming to ground them and instil great hope for the future. But Millennials face challenges greater than any generation faced before them. Many spend all or part of their childhood without a father in the home. increasingly young ages. They are subject to violent images that are more common than ever before in movies, television, and games. So parents still need to provide guidance. Verhaagen aims to help parents with research and advice, including how to teach determination, problem-solving, emotional strength and resilience. His text includes vignettes and the personal experience of a psychotherapist and father. Little has been written previously giving advice for parents raising this generation. This book offers up-to-date research on parenting, in practical and accessible terms.

From nineteenth-century romantic friendships to childhood best friends and idealistic versions of feminist sisterhood, female friendship has been seen as an essential, sustaining influence on women's lives. Women are thought to have a special aptitude for making and keeping friends.

But notions of friendship are not constant-and neither are women's experiences of this fundamental form of connection. In Another Self, Linda W. Rosenzweig sheds light on the changing nature of white middle-class American women's relationships during the coming of age of modern America.

As the middle-class domesticity of the nineteenth century waned, a new emotional culture arose in the twentieth century and the intensely affectionate bonds between women of earlier decades were supplanted by new priorities: autonomy, careers, participation in an expanding consumer culture, and the expectation of fulfillment and companionship in marriage. An increased emphasis on heterosexual interactions and a growing stigmatization of close same-sex relationships fostered new friendship styles and patterns.

Drawing on a wide range of primary sources including diaries, journals, correspondence, and popular periodicals, Rosenzweig uncovers the complex and intricate links between social and cultural developments and women's personal experiences of friendship.

The past thirty years have seen an explosion of interest in Greek and Roman social history, particularly studies of women and the family. Until recently these studies did not focus especially on children and childhood, but considered children in the larger context of family continuity and inter-family relationships, or legal issues like legitimacy, adoption and inheritance. Recent publications have examined a variety of aspects related to childhood in ancient Greece and Rome, but until now nothing has attempted to comprehensively survey the state of ancient childhood studies. This handbook does just that, showcasing the work of both established and rising scholars and demonstrating the variety of approaches to the study of childhood in the classical world. In thirty chapters, with a detailed introduction and envoi, The Oxford Handbook of Childhood and Education in the Classical World presents current research in a wide range of topics on ancient childhood, including sub-disciplines of Classics that rarely appear in collections on the family or childhood such as archaeology and ancient medicine. Contributors include some of the foremost experts in the fieldas well as younger, up-and-coming scholars. Unlike most edited volumes on childhood or the family in antiquity, this collection also gives attention to the late antique period and whether (or how) conceptions of childhood and the life of children changed with Christianity. The chronological spread runs from archaic Greece to the later Roman Empire (fifth century C.E.). Geographical areas covered include not only classical Greece and Roman Italy, but also the eastern Mediterranean. The Oxford Handbook of Childhood and Education in the Classical World engages with perennially valuable questions about family and education in the ancient world while providing a much-needed touchstone for research in the field.

This comprehensive resource offers a detailed framework for fostering resilience in families caring for their older members. Its aim is to improve the quality of life for both the caregivers themselves as much as for those they support. Robust interventions are presented to guide family members through chronic and acute challenges in areas such as emotional health, physical comfort, financial aspects of care, dealing with health systems, and adjusting to transition. Examples, models, interviews, and an extended case study identify core concerns of caregiving families and avenues for nurturing positive adaptation. Throughout, contributors provide practical applications for therapists and other service providers in diverse disciplines, and for advancing family resilience as a field. Included in the coverage: Therapeutic interventions for caregiving families. Facilitating older adults' resilience through meeting nutritional needs. Improving ergonomics for the safety, comfort, and health of caregivers. Hope as a coping resource for caregiver resilience and well-being. Perspectives on navigating care transitions with individuals with dementia. Planning for and managing costs related to caregiving. Family Caregiving offers a new depth of knowledge and real-world utility to social workers, mental health professionals and practitioners, educators and researchers in the field of family resilience, as well as scholars in the intersecting disciplines of family studies, human development, psychology, sociology, social work, education, law, and medicine.

View the Table of Contents
Read the Introduction

Read the Gawker Review

Listen to her NPR Interview

The Sociology of "Hooking Up": Author Interview on Inside Higher Ed

Newsweek: Campus Sexperts

Watch Bogle's interview on CBS

Hookup culture creates unfamiliar environment - to parents, at least

Hooking Up: What Educators Need to Know - An op-ed on CHE by the author

"Bogle is a smart interviewer and gets her subjects to reveal intimate and often embarrassing details without being moralizing. This evenhanded, sympathetic book on a topic that has received far too much sensational and shoddy coverage is an important addition to the contemporary literature on youth and sexuality."
--"Publishers Weekly"

"A page turner! This book should be required reading for college students and their parents! Bogle doesn't condemn hooking up, but she does explain it. This knowledge could help a lot of young people make better choices and get insight into their own behavior whether or not they choose to hook up."
--Pepper Schwartz, author of "Everything You Know about Sex and Love is Wrong"

"In her ambitious sociological study, Kathleen Bogle, an assistant professor of sociology and criminal justice at La Salle University, offers valuable insight on the hook-up craze sweeping college campuses and examines the demise of traditional dating, how campus life promotes casual sex, its impact on post-college relationships, and more. Donat let your college freshman leave home without it."
--"Main Line Today"

aHooking Up uses interviews with both women and men to understand why dating has declined in favor of a new script for sexual relationships on college campuses. . . . Boglepresents a balanced analysis that explores the full range of hooking-up experiences.a
--Joel Best, author of "Flavor of the Month: Why Smart People Fall for Fads"

It happens every weekend: In a haze of hormones and alcohol, groups of male and female college students meet at a frat party, a bar, or hanging out in a dorm room, and then hook up for an evening of sex first, questions later. As casually as the sexual encounter begins, so it often ends with no strings attached; after all, it was ajust a hook up.a While a hook up might mean anything from kissing to oral sex to going all the way, the lack of commitment is paramount.

Hooking Up is an intimate look at how and why college students get together, what hooking up means to them, and why it has replaced dating on college campuses. In surprisingly frank interviews, students reveal the circumstances that have led to the rise of the booty call and the death of dinner-and-a-movie. Whether it is an expression of postfeminist independence or a form of youthful rebellion, hooking up has become the only game in town on many campuses.

In Hooking Up, Kathleen A. Bogle argues that college life itself promotes casual relationships among students on campus. The book sheds light on everything from the differences in what young men and women want from a hook up to why freshmen girls are more likely to hook up than their upper-class sisters and the effects this period has on the sexual and romantic relationships of both men and women after college. Importantly, she shows us that the standards for young men and women are not as different as they used to be, as women talk about afriends with benefitsa and aone and donea hook ups.

Breakingthrough many misconceptions about casual sex on college campuses, Hooking Up is the first book to understand the new sexual culture on its own terms, with vivid real-life stories of young men and women as they navigate the newest sexual revolution.

This book considers the changing nature of intimacy in contemporary China, providing a unique case study of romantic subjectivities in young people in the world's fastest growing economy. Since the implementation of reform in 1978, the economic and socio-cultural environment of modern China has experienced a dramatic transformation under the influence of urbanization and globalization, facilitating more individualized identity among Chinese youth. This book bridges the gap between an emergent emphasis on individualisation and the country's traditional norms and values. It focuses on young people's understandings of various forms of relationships such as cohabitation, extramarital relationships and multiple relationships, suggesting a challenge to traditional familial values and an increasingly diversified understanding of the concepts of love and romance. By examining the formation of relationships among 21st century Chinese youth, notably through the lens of popular Chinese TV dating programs, this book considers how dating and relationships mirror China's changing societal structure and examines social and cultural transformations in Chinese society.