For undergraduate courses in the sociology of the family. Focuses on studying the family through a sociological lens. Families and Their Social Worlds discusses how the family is viewed on a macro level, by examining policies in place and how those policies impact families. The author encourages students to think about families beyond their own personal experiences, and even beyond family structure in the United States. Her goal is to impart a passion for critical thinking as students see that families exist within social worlds. Important policy considerations are imbedded in each chapter to illustrate what is currently being done, and perhaps even more importantly, what can be done to strengthen families and intimate relationships.

For today's busy student, we've created a new line of highly portable books at affordable prices. Each title in the Books a la Carte Plus program features the exact same content from our traditional textbook in a convenient notebook-ready, loose-leaf version - allowing students to take only what they need to class. As an added bonus, each Books a la Carte Plus edition is accompanied by an access code to all of the resources found in one of our best-selling multimedia products. Best of all? Our Books a la Carte Plus titles cost less than a used textbook "This text applies a sociological imagination to explore both the private, personal side of family life as well the public, institutional nature of "the Family"; and to show that many family concerns are actually social issues that need to be addressed through sound social policies." The author, Karen Seccombe, encourages students to think about families beyond their own personal experiences, and even beyond family structure in the United States. Her goal is to impart a passion for critical thinking as students see that families exist within social worlds. "Families and Their Social Worlds" shows that our conceptions of families are imbedded within our social structure, and that families represent a set of rules, regulations and norms that are situated in a particular culture in a particular historical time. Important policy considerations are imbedded in each chapter to illustrate what is currently being done, and perhaps even more importantly, what "can" be done to strengthen families and intimate relationships.