Kris grew up in the tiny fishing village, Siglufjorour, on Icelands north fjords where her mamma ran a pool hall and raised eight daughter and a very spoiled son. Daily visitors at her house told fortunes and ghost stories for entertainment. The family was forced to flee to the south coast of the island after the herring was depleted and no one could afford to play pool or gather in the family kitchen to tell ghost stories and tell fortunes. Some of the sisters ventured further south, to America, where Kris began her career as a motel maid, then journied up the career ladder across eight states and so many universities.

Clinicians, social service providers, and professionals in associated fields often face issues related to diverse family structures--particularly the one-parent family. Unfortunately, current family-centered literature does not devote a great deal of space to intervention and assessment of these families who now comprise a quarter of all families. In Single-Parent Families, special treatment methods for single-parent families based on such factors as gender of the head of household, ethnicity, age, and sexual orientation are discussed. The authors devote special attention to interventions with mother-headed households--nearly 90 percent of single-parent families are managed by women today--and emphasize the importance of social policies and services that help single parents meet the challenging dual roles of caregiving and wage earning. Clearly written and gender sensitive, Single-Parent Families provides concrete, practical suggestions on how to better empower single parents to obtain the resources they need to attain their aspirations and gain control over their environment. Both professionals and students of social services, counseling, psychology, family studies, and gender studies will find this volume informative, helpful, and above all, useful. ""The book is an excellent addition to literature on family-centered practice. It is written in a clear and concise manner, with helpful topical headings. . . . Highly recommended for students and practitioners in social work, counseling, and other related disciplines." --Choice "Kissman and Allen have created a brief book rich with insight into the complexities of single-parent family life. . . . This book is written by and primarily for practitioners working in a therapeutic setting with single-parent families. However, the perspective presented by this book could well be important and appreciated by family life educators, researchers, and other non-clinical professionals interested in single-parent families." --Family Relations