Winner of the 2009 Feminist & Women's Studies Association (UK & Ireland) Book Award

Many women find mothering a shocking experience in terms of the extremity of feelings it provokes, and the profound changes it seems to prompt in identity, relationship and sense of self. However, although motherhood can catapult us into a state of internal disarray, it can also provide us with a unique chance to make ourselves anew. How then do we understand this radical potential for transformation within maternal experience? In Maternal Encounters, Lisa Baraitser takes up this question through the analysis of a series of maternal anecdotes, charting key destabilizing moments in the life of just one mother, and using these to discuss many questions that have remained resistant to theoretical analysis the possibility for a specific feminine-maternal subjectivity, relationality and reciprocity, ethics and otherness.

Working across contemporary philosophies of feminist ethics, as well as psychoanalysis and social theory, the maternal subject, in Baraitser s account, becomes an emblematic and enigmatic formation of a subjectivity called into being through a relation to another she comes to name and claim as her child. As she navigates through the peculiarity of maternal experience, Baraitser takes us on a journey in which the mother emerges in the most unlikely, precarious and unstable of places as a subject of alterity, transformation, interruption, heightened sentience, viscosity, encumberment and love.

This book presents a major new theory of maternal subjectivity, and an innovative and accessible way into our understanding of contemporary motherhood. As such, it will be of interest to students of family studies, gender studies, psychoanalysis, critical psychology and feminist philosophy as well as counselling and psychotherapy.

This book provides an ethnography of love-marriages in the late 1990s in Delhi, identifying the ways in which marriage is ever more a pitch of intense political contestation. It bears upon anthropological understandings of marriageability, urban morality, gender, kinship and the study of the individual and the couple in contemporary India.

In our society, the argument for or against same-sex marriage becomes even more heated when the debate turns to bisexual women and men. Bisexuality and Same-Sex Marriage thoughtfully explores this debate from a wide range of interdisciplinary perspectives, presenting respected scholars from fields as diverse as American Studies, Communication, Criminology, Human and Organizational Systems, Law and Social Policy, LGBT Studies, Organizational Behavior, Psychology, Sociology, Women s Studies, and Queer Studies. This clear-viewed volume is organized into three perspectives theoretical, research, and personal that frame the debate from a macro to micro level of analysis.
This book goes beyond the intense acrimony and divisiveness to rationally examine the issue from various viewpoints and through the latest research. This informative text presents and analyzes in depth the current findings and the diverse LGBT and straight perspectives on the issue. This insightful resource discusses in detail personal views, the latest theories, and is extensively referenced.

Bisexuality and Same-Sex Marriage is an essential volume for LGBT studies professionals, psychologists, counselors, educators, students, and interested general public.

This book was published as a special issue of the Journal of Bisexuality."

Around the globe, millions of individuals are entangled in justice systems daily. For individual offenders, contact often begins with the police, frequently leading to court involvement, and for offenders found guilty, to correctional supervision or incarceration. But how do these encounters affect the family? How do police and justice entanglements result in tremendous strains upon families economically and socially? Do they endanger family relationships? To better comprehend how involvement at any level of the justice system affects families, this multidisciplinary edited collection focuses on the justice system and the family. Chapters include topics such as how court processes impact family members and their support networks; how prolonged incarceration impacts children and parenting processes and family coping; how intimate relationships are impacted during and after incarceration including marriage, divorce and partner violence; and, whether system involvement leads to unintended consequences among family members such as heightened fear of crime and victimizations and fears of the police. An enlightening insight into the family dynamics surrounding contact with the justice system, Police, Courts, and Incarceration is interesting reading for researchers and students of family, sociology and criminology.

Families in Asia provides a unique sociological analysis of family trends in Asia. Stella R. Quah uses demographic and survey data, personal interviews and case studies from China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam to provide a wide-ranging comparative analysis of family trends and the role of the state and social policy. Focusing on the most relevant and significant aspects of family and kin, chapters include: Concepts and research trends Family forming Parenthood Grandparenthood Gender roles in families Marriage breakdown The impact of Socio-economic development This new edition has been updated and expanded throughout and includes new material on dowry, singlehood, adoption, the transformation of the senior generation, changes in family courts and the role of the state in family wellbeing. Families in Asia will be the perfect companion for students and scholars alike who are interested in family sociology, public and social policy, and Asian society and culture more broadly.

Over the past 40 years, considerable progress has been made in lowering rates of domestic violence in our communities. This progress has been uneven, however, due to continuing misconceptions about the causes and dynamics of domestic violence, which include an exaggerated focus on males as perpetrators and females as victims, as well as a heavy-handed law enforcement response that compromises the rights of criminal defendants without necessarily reducing violence. Gender and Domestic Violence presents empirical research findings and reform recommendations for prosecutors, criminal defense attorneys, policy makers and intervention providers with the aim of rectifying shortcomings in legal and law enforcement responses to domestic violence. The volume's editors and chapter authors confront the notion that certain beliefs shared among victim advocates, legal actors, and other stakeholders - principally that domestic violence is bound by gender, and is primarily a crime against women - have led to the use of ineffective and potentially harmful one-size-fits-all intervention policies that can jeopardize defendant due process and victim safety. Domestic violence experts, legal scholars, and practicing attorneys present how gendered aspects of domestic violence affect legal decision-making and practice and provide strategies for becoming more inclusive in the adjudicative process, intervention/prevention, and practice. Gender and Domestic Violence: Contemporary Legal Practice and Intervention Reforms provides the foundation from which we can begin to move beyond the gender paradigm by recognizing disparities and applying tools that improve research, policing, and practice, allowing us to progress toward eradicating domestic violence, and to move closer to equality.

Families in Asia provides a unique sociological analysis of family trends in Asia. Stella R. Quah uses demographic and survey data, personal interviews and case studies from China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam to provide a wide-ranging comparative analysis of family trends and the role of the state and social policy. Focusing on the most relevant and significant aspects of family and kin, chapters include: Concepts and research trends Family forming Parenthood Grandparenthood Gender roles in families Marriage breakdown The impact of Socio-economic development This new edition has been updated and expanded throughout and includes new material on dowry, singlehood, adoption, the transformation of the senior generation, changes in family courts and the role of the state in family wellbeing. Families in Asia will be the perfect companion for students and scholars alike who are interested in family sociology, public and social policy, and Asian society and culture more broadly.

Focusing on moral, social and legal responsibilities as opposed to rights or obligations, this volume explores the concept of responsibility in family life, law and practice. Divided into four parts, the study considers the nature of family responsibility; constructions of children's responsibilities; shifting conceptions of family responsibilities; and family, responsibility and the law. The collection brings together leading experts from the disciplines of sociology, socio-legal studies and law to discuss responsibilities prior to birth, responsibilities for children, as well as responsibilities of children and of the state towards family members. The volume informs and challenges the developing conceptualization of responsibilities which arise in interdependent, intimate and caring relationships and their legal regulation. It will be of great interest to researchers and practitioners working in this complex field.

First published in 1999, the primary focus of this book is what goes on inside the 'black box' of households, beginning with decision-making but branching out to develop a comprehensive view of the domestic domain. It brings together theoretical frameworks relevant to the study of family households from several root disciplines, each framework highlighting a different approach. Each approach is applied to important problems concerning the functioning of family households. The book focuses on households and their members as active agents who manage both material and immaterial resources. The private sector, to which family households belong, is not viewed as just responding to impulses from the formal economy and to public policies, but as a dynamic system in its own right. In the view of Paul Pennartz and Anke Niehof, households not only accommodate to social change but also mediate and generate social change. In the book key studies are presented which exemplify approaches and issues. The key studies cover a wide range of societies in Europe, North and Latin America, Asia and Africa, thus also exemplifying the comparative perspective, which is another important feature of the book. Pennartz and Niehof examine issues including the organisational approach and resource allocation, the power approach and the division of household production tasks and the opportunity structure approach and the housing market.

Around one in five prisoners report the previous or current incarceration of a parent. Many such prisoners attest to the long-term negative effects of parental incarceration on one's own sense of self and on the range and quality of opportunities for building a conventional life. And yet, the problem of intergenerational incarceration has received only passing attention from academics, and virtually little if any consideration from policy makers and correctional officials. This book - the first of its kind - offers an in-depth examination of the causes, experiences and consequences of intergenerational incarceration. It draws extensively from surveys and interviews with second-, third-, fourth- and fifth-generation prisoners to explicate the personal, familial and socio-economic contexts typically associated with incarceration across generations. The book examines 1) the emergence of the prison as a dominant if not life-defining institution for some families, 2) the link between intergenerational trauma, crime and intergenerational incarceration, 3) the role of police, courts, and corrections in amplifying or ameliorating such problems, and 4) the possible means for preventing intergenerational incarceration. This is undeniably a book that bears witness to many tragic and traumatic stories. But it is also a work premised on the idea that knowing these stories - knowing that they often resist alignment with pre-conceived ideas about who prisoners are or who they might become - is part and parcel of advancing critical debate and, more importantly, of creating real change. Written in a clear and direct style, this book will appeal to students and scholars in criminology, sociology, cultural studies, social theory and those interested in learning about more about families in prison.

Explores, from a historical comparative perspective, the globalization of dominant myths of 'modern' family and society, and their effects on families in Egypt, Iran, and Tunisia uniquely contributing to sociological debates about globalization.

Learn what trends and factors are influencing families globally How are families the same or different around the world? Families in a Global Context puts the similarities and differences into perspective, presenting an in-depth comparative analysis of family life in 17 countries around the world. Contributors discuss different countries' family life by using a standard framework to review major influences and patterns. The framework allows readers to do comparative reflection across several countries on a variety of daily living elements, including social and economic forces such as urbanization and modernization, changes in gender/courtship/spousal patterns, and war. This book provides an informative illustration of current as well as future trends of family life worldwide. Each chapter in Families in a Global Context describes customary types of family patterns within each country's social organization and culture. Important social, economic, political, and other trends are explored in detail, and major ethnic, religious, or other subcultures are noted emphasizing marriage and family patterns that differ from the more typical ones. The book is extensively referenced and includes tables to clearly present data. Countries explored in Families in a Global Context include: European countries of Wales, Sweden, Germany, Romania, and Italy African countries of Sierra Leone, South Africa, and Kenya Middle Eastern countries of Turkey and Iran Asian and Oceanian countries of India, China, the Philippines, and Australia Latin American countries of Brazil, Mexico, and Cuba Topics discussed for each country in Families in a Global Context include: demographics mate selection patterns with an emphasis on the dynamics of couple formation marital roles the place and role of children and parenting in families socialization for gender roles differences in education, employment, and other opportunities major stressors affecting families, coping, and adaptation aging and life expectancy issues and much more! Families in a Global Context is an insightful resource for researchers, educators, and advanced undergraduate and graduate students investigating comparative family topics of family life around the world and in cultural context.

Learn what trends and factors are influencing families globally How are families the same or different around the world? Families in a Global Context puts the similarities and differences into perspective, presenting an in-depth comparative analysis of family life in 17 countries around the world. Contributors discuss different countries' family life by using a standard framework to review major influences and patterns. The framework allows readers to do comparative reflection across several countries on a variety of daily living elements, including social and economic forces such as urbanization and modernization, changes in gender/courtship/spousal patterns, and war. This book provides an informative illustration of current as well as future trends of family life worldwide. Each chapter in Families in a Global Context describes customary types of family patterns within each country's social organization and culture. Important social, economic, political, and other trends are explored in detail, and major ethnic, religious, or other subcultures are noted emphasizing marriage and family patterns that differ from the more typical ones. The book is extensively referenced and includes tables to clearly present data. Countries explored in Families in a Global Context include: European countries of Wales, Sweden, Germany, Romania, and Italy African countries of Sierra Leone, South Africa, and Kenya Middle Eastern countries of Turkey and Iran Asian and Oceanian countries of India, China, the Philippines, and Australia Latin American countries of Brazil, Mexico, and Cuba Topics discussed for each country in Families in a Global Context include: demographics mate selection patterns with an emphasis on the dynamics of couple formation marital roles the place and role of children and parenting in families socialization for gender roles differences in education, employment, and other opportunities major stressors affecting families, coping, and adaptation aging and life expectancy issues and much more! Families in a Global Context is an insightful resource for researchers, educators, and advanced undergraduate and graduate students investigating comparative family topics of family life around the world and in cultural context.

Why it is that success, deprivation or disadvantage are so often passed down intergenerationally? What part does education play? The educational achievement of parents is often reflected in that of their children and there are many underlying causes for such a relationship. Education and the Family argues that government policy has an important role to play in addressing this inequality even though many of the causes lie within the home. Although each child should be supported to achieve his or her objectives, differences in the willingness or capabilities of families to take advantage of educational opportunities exacerbate social class differences and limit actual equality of opportunity for many. Understanding the causes of this transmission is key to tackling both social class inequality and to expanding the skill base of the economy. By providing an overview of academic and policy thinking in relation to the role of the family, this book explores the educational success of children. It focuses on the education of the parents but also considers how the family - compared to wider, external influences such as schools - is a driver of differences in educational outcomes. It concludes with a consideration of what policy-makers are attempting to do about this key issue and why, and how this will impact on schools and teachers. This book will interest researchers and academics in education and social policy, as well as teachers and other education and social policy practitioners.

This important work examines in detail and depth how, as a consequence of changing technologies, diet, patterns of reproduction, and work, relations between children and parents have altered.

The editors and contributors hold that biosocial science is particularly relevant to research on human family systems and parenting behavior. The family is the universal social institution in which the care of children is based and the turf where cultural tradition, beliefs, and values are transmitted to the young as they fulfill their biological potential for growth, development and reproduction. The biosocial perspective takes into account the biological substratum and the social environment as critical co-determinants of behavior and pinpoints areas in which contemporary human parental behavior exhibits continuities with and departures from, patterns evident throughout history.

This work crosses disciplinary lines without ignoring their relevance to the broader themes of the book. School age pregnancy and parenthood is a powerful anchor for the dissection of large scale issues. The contributors deal in turn with ethnic and historical experience, examine normative and ethical issues, and cast new light on methodological concerns. What the editors call culturally-defined responses to basic needs helps explain both dramatic improvements in this area, and how they expand the challenge of teen reproduction. Contributors emphasize new demands for training and education to research this growing phenomenon. The book contributes to humane concerns as well as the scientific imagination.

"Jane B. Lancaster" is professor of anthropology at the University of New Mexico. She serves as editor of a major journal in the field, "Human Nature: An Interdisciplinary Biosocial Perspective." She also edited two related volumes: "Child Abuse and Neglect" (1987), "Parenting across Life Span" (1987).

"Beatrix A. Hamburg" is at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, in the field of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. She is recipient of the Gallagher Award for Outstanding Achievement in Adolescent Medicine, and the Distinguished Service Award from the Alcohol, Drug Abuse and Mental Health Administration, and edits "Behavioral and Psychosocial Issues in Diabetes."

Fatherhood is gaining ever more public and political attention, stimulated by the increasing prominence of fathers' rights groups and the introduction of social policies, such as paternity leave. Intimate Fatherhood explores discourses of contemporary fatherhood, men's parenting behaviour and debates about fathers' rights and responsibilities. The book addresses the extent to which fatherhood has changed by examining key dichotomies - culture versus conduct, involved versus uninvolved and public versus private. The book also looks at longstanding conundrums such as the apparent discrepancy between fathers' acceptance of long hours spent in paid work combined with a preference for involved fathering. Dermott maintains that our current view of good fatherhood is related to new ideas of intimacy. She argues that in order to understand contemporary fatherhood, we must recognise the centrality of the emotional father-child relationship, that the importance of breadwinning has been overstated and that flexible involvement is viewed as more important than the amount of time spent in childcare. Drawing on original qualitative interviews and large-scale quantitative research, Intimate Fatherhood presents a sociological analysis of contemporary fatherhood in Britain by exploring our ideas of good fatherhood in relation to time use, finance, emotion, motherhood and policy debates. This book will interest students, academics and researchers in sociology, gender studies and social policy.

An international textbook designed as a quick introduction for students from around the world studying sociology of family, this text provides comprehensive coverage of the major topics in the sociology of family life.

Written in an easy access style it opens with a chapter on defining family and family structures. It then moves on to discuss over a dozen major topics; from interaction and meaning in families to sexuality. David Cheal provides coverage of these topics by drawing on a variety of international material. Most of the studies focus on contemporary family life but Cheal also presents information on historical changes which have shaped family life as it is known today.

This book an incredibly valuable teaching tool as it presents diversity in family patterns through thinking about family life from a global perspective.

An international textbook designed as a quick introduction for students from around the world studying sociology of family, this text provides comprehensive coverage of the major topics in the sociology of family life.

Written in an easy access style it opens with a chapter on defining family and family structures. It then moves on to discuss over a dozen major topics; from interaction and meaning in families to sexuality. David Cheal provides coverage of these topics by drawing on a variety of international material. Most of the studies focus on contemporary family life but Cheal also presents information on historical changes which have shaped family life as it is known today.

This book an incredibly valuable teaching tool as it presents diversity in family patterns through thinking about family life from a global perspective.

Fatherhood is gaining ever more public and political attention, stimulated by the increasing prominence of fathers' rights groups and the introduction of social policies, such as paternity leave. Intimate Fatherhood explores discourses of contemporary fatherhood, men's parenting behaviour and debates about fathers' rights and responsibilities.

The book addresses the extent to which fatherhood has changed by examining key dichotomies - culture versus conduct, involved versus uninvolved and public versus private. The book also looks at longstanding conundrums such as the apparent discrepancy between fathers' acceptance of long hours spent in paid work combined with a preference for involved fathering. Dermott maintains that our current view of good fatherhood is related to new ideas of intimacy. She argues that in order to understand contemporary fatherhood, we must recognise the centrality of the emotional father-child relationship, that the importance of breadwinning has been overstated and that flexible involvement is viewed as more important than the amount of time spent in childcare.

Drawing on original qualitative interviews and large-scale quantitative research, Intimate Fatherhood presents a sociological analysis of contemporary fatherhood in Britain by exploring our ideas of good fatherhood in relation to time use, finance, emotion, motherhood and policy debates. This book will interest students, academics and researchers in sociology, gender studies and social policy.

Adoption is an extremely complex and emotionally demanding process for all those involved. This book explores the emotional experience of adoption from a psychoanalytic perspective, and demonstrates how psychoanalytic understanding and treatment can contribute to thinking about and working with adopted children and their families. Drawing on psychoanalytic, attachment and child development theory, and detailed in-depth clinical case discussion, The Emotional Experience of Adoption explores issues such as: the emotional experience of children placed for adoption, and how this both shapes and is shaped by unconscious processes in the child's inner world how psychoanalytic child psychotherapy can help as a distinctive source of understanding and as a treatment for children who are either in the process of being adopted or already adopted how such understanding can inform planning and decision making amongst professionals and carers. The Emotional Experience of Adoption explains and accounts for the emotional and psychological complexities involved for child, parents and professionals in adoption. It will be of interest and relevance to anyone involved at a personal level in the adoption process or professionals working in the fields of adoption, social work, child mental health, foster care and family support.

Adoption is an extremely complex and emotionally demanding process for all those involved. This book explores the emotional experience of adoption from a psychoanalytic perspective, and demonstrates how psychoanalytic understanding and treatment can contribute to thinking about and working with adopted children and their families.Drawing on psychoanalytic, attachment and child development theory, and detailed in-depth clinical case discussion, The Emotional Experience of Adoption explores issues such as: the emotional experience of children placed for adoption, and how this both shapes and is shaped by unconscious processes in the child's inner world; how psychoanalytic child psychotherapy can help as a distinctive source of understanding and as a treatment for children who are either in the process of being adopted or already adopted; and, how such understanding can inform planning and decision making amongst professionals and careers.The Emotional Experience of Adoption explains and accounts for the emotional and psychological complexities involved for child, parents and professionals in adoption. It will be of interest and relevance to anyone involved at a personal level in the adoption process or professionals working in the fields of adoption, social work, child mental health, foster care and family support.

Does the way we think about our minds matter? Our judgements about what counts as thought are so intimate that we may not even realize that we make them. But we do - and the way we make them has consequences for our sense of the real. The Mind and Spirit project (presented in this volume) finds that the way people think about thinking, shapes the way they experience (what they take to be) gods and spirits Authors are a team of anthropologists and psychologists who worked together for two years across sites in the United States, Ghana, Thailand, China, and Vanuatu Argues that there are cultural differences in the way social worlds represent 'the mind' - we call these local theories of mind - and that these differences affect whether and how people, for instance, hear the voices of the dead or feel the presence of God Discusses how the ways people think about thought and interiority can alter human sensory experience itself

The newly issued Indian Census Report for 1931 contains many disquieting revelations, but none more so than the huge increase in child marriage and the continuing enormous mortality of women due to premature maternity, bad midwifery, purdah and kindred social evils. The first part of this book exposes the futility of the steps hitherto taken to cope with child marriage. The second part discusses remedies. Wider voting rights and a larger share in administration are claimed for women, and women themselves are urged to take up the Government's challenge, "Educate public opinion," by organising an extensive campaign of propaganda and resistance to those who break the law prohibiting child marriage. The book has a direct bearing on the problem of India's future Constitution and contains new material concerning other problems besides that of child marriage.

"A fast-paced debut... A candid, modern take on polyamory for fans of memoirs and graphic novels, and anyone interested in stories of dating, love, and romance." --Library JournalAfter trying for years to emulate her boomer parents' forty-year and still-going-strong marriage, Sophie realized that maybe the love she was looking for was down a road less traveled. In this bold, graphic memoir, she explores her sexuality, her values, and the versions of love our society accepts and practices. Along the way, she shares what it's like to play on Tinder side-by-side with your boyfriend, encounter--and surmount--many types of jealousy, learn the power of female friendship, and other amazing things that happened when she stopped looking for "the one." In a lot of ways, Many Love is Sophie's love letter to everyone she has ever cared for. Witty, insightful, and complete with illustrations, this debut provides a memorable glimpse into an unconventional life.

This is the second presentation by these editors of a collection of essays dealing with the changing point of view relative to morals, particularly as they affect the marital state. The contributions to this volume include all of those names that have become prominent in the field of psychology and sociology. The one question that arises in the mind of the critic is whether or not it is wise to distribute for general reading to a popular audience such discussions of sex perversion as this volume makes available. The essays are all of interest, although many of the authors are unnecessarily verbose.