Shifting the Center : Understanding Contemporary Families

by Ferguson, Susan J.

• ISBN13: 9780072825855
• ISBN10: 0072825855
• Edition: 3rd
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2005-12-14
• Publisher: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages

Summary

This anthology explores the issues and diversity of contemporary families, presenting balanced coverage of racial and ethnic variation and discussing a wide variety of family arrangements and processes. 32 out of the 50 selections included are new to this edition.

Table of Contents

Preface	ix
PART I. INTRODUCTION TO THE STUDY OF FAMILIES	1	(58)
1. The Family in Question: What Is the Family? Is It Universal?
Diana Gittins	7	(11)
Gittins examines how the family has been defined in both the anthropological and the sociological literature.
2. Feminist Rethinking from Racial-Ethnic Families
Maxine Baca Zinn	18	(9)
Baca Zinn argues that the family is socially constructed and influenced by race-ethnicity, social class, and gender.
3. Exiles from Kinship
Kath Weston	27	(15)
Weston challenges traditional definitions of family by examining the meaning of families among gays and lesbians.
4. Marriage and Family in a Multiracial Society
Daniel T. Lichter and Zhenchao Qian	42	(21)
Lichter and Qian provide an overview of current issues and data related to families in the United States.
PART II. HISTORICAL CHANGES AND FAMILY VARIATIONS	59	(74)
5. Historical Perspectives on Family Diversity
Stephanie Coontz	63	(17)
Coontz provides a historical overview of family diversity in Europe and in the United States.
6. Black Families: Beyond Revisionist Scholarship
Shirley A. Hill	80	(19)
Hill examines how family scholarship has conceptualized and problematized African American families in the United States.
7. La Familia: Family Cohesion among Mexican American Families in the Urban Southwest, 1848-1900.
Richard Griswold del Castillo	99	(15)
Griswold del Castillo uses census data to examine historical patterns of family solidarity and kinship networks in Mexican American households.
8. Split Household, Small Producer, and Dual Wage Earner: An Analysis of Chinese American Family Strategies
Evelyn Nakano Glenn	114	(25)
Nakano Glenn examines the cultural and institutional constraints that have influenced how Chinese Americans have structured their families over time.
PART III. COURTSHIP, DATING, AND POWER	133	(44)
9. Choosing Mates — The American Way
Martin King Whyte	139	(10)
Whyte examines the history of courtship and dating in the United States.
10. "She's 16 Years Old and There's Boys Calling over to the House": An Exploratory Study of Sexual Socialization in Latino Families
Marcela Raffaelli and Lenna L. Ontai	149	(14)
Raffaelli and Ontai explore family socialization of adolescent romantic and sexual behavior among Latinas.
11. Dating and Romantic Relationships among Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Youths
Ritch C. Savin-Williams	163	(20)
Savin-Williams examines the dating behavior among lesbian, bisexual, and gay adolescents.
PART IV. MARRIAGE, COHABITATION, AND PARTNERSHIP	177	(88)
12. The Deinstitutionalization of American Marriage
Andrew J. Cherlin	183	(19)
Cherlin examines the weakening of social norms in the institution of marriage.
13. Clashing Dreams: Highly Educated Overseas Brides and Low-Wage U.S. Husbands
Hung Cam Thai	202	(20)
Cam Thai interviews Vietnamese American men, who have marriages arranged for them in Vietnam, and the Vietnamese women they are bethrothed to.
14. Peer Marriage
Pepper Schwartz	222	(10)
Schwartz reports on her research of gender and power dynamics in modern marriages.
15. Families Formed Outside of Marriage
Judith A. Seltzer	232	(19)
Seltzer reviews recent research on cohabitation.
16. From This Day Forward: Commitment, Marriage, and Family in Lesbian and Gay Relationships
Gretchen A. Stiers	251	(20)
Stiers interviews 90 lesbian and gay couples to discover the meanings of commitment ceremonies and marriages.
PART V. PARENTS AND CHILDREN	265	(102)
17. Historical Perspectives on Parent-Child Interactions
Maris A. Vinovskis	271	(16)
Vinovskis summarizes the major changes in parent-child relationships during the past 400 years.
18. Single-Parent Families
Stephen D. Sugarman	287	(12)
Sugarman provides an overview of the diversity of and policies about single-parent families.
19. (How) Does the Sexual Orientation of Parents Matter?
Judith Stacey and Timothy J. Biblarz	299	(24)
Stacey and Biblarz examine the cases for and against lesbian and gay parenthood.
20. How Families Still Matter: A Longitudinal Study of Youth in Two Generations
Vern L. Bengtson, Timothy J. Biblarz, and Robert E.L. Roberts	323	(13)
Bengtson et al. examine how family influences on children have changed over three decades.
21. Invisible Inequality: Social Class and Childrearing in Black Families and White Families
Annette Lareau	336	(31)
Lareau's research examines social class differences in parenting and childrearing in African American and white families.
PART VI. MOTHERHOOD AND FATHERHOOD	367	(100)
MOTHERHOOD	367	(49)
22. Shifting the Center: Race, Class, and Feminist Theorizing about Motherhood
Patricia Hill Collins	371	(18)
Collins argues that family scholars need to place the voices and experiences of women of color at the center of feminist research on motherhood.
23. Teenage Mothering on the Navajo Reservation: An Examination of Intergenerational Perceptions and Beliefs
Rochelle L. Dalla and Wendy C. Gamble	389	(15)
Dalla and Gamble investigate the attitudes and relationships toward teen parenting among two generations of Navajo and other individuals in the Navajo community.
24. Mothering from a Distance: Emotions, Gender, and Intergenerational Relations in Filipino Transnational Families
Rhacel Salazar Parreñas	404	(12)
Salazar Parreñas investigates the effects of transnational work on Filipina mothers and their families.
FATHERHOOD
25. Fathering: Paradoxes, Contradictions, and Dilemmas
Scott Coltrane	416	(15)
Coltrane reviews various fathering practices and the current research on father involvement.
26. What It Means to Be Daddy: Fatherhood for Black Men Living Away from Their Children
Jennifer Hamer	431	(16)
Hamer examines the meaning of fatherhood among low-income African American men.
27. Overlooked Aspects of Stepfathering
William Marsiglio	447	(20)
Marsiglio interviews stepfathers to discover the less obvious ways stepfathers influence their stepchildren's lives.
PART VII. AGING AND MULTIGENERATIONAL RELATIONSHIPS	467	(50)
28. Grandparenting
Lynne M. Casper and Suzanne M. Bianchi	473	(14)
Casper and Bianchi provide a detailed review of grandparenting and multigenerational relationships in the United States.
29. The Strengths of Apache Grandmothers: Observations on Commitment, Culture, and Caretaking
Kathleen S. Bahr	487	(17)
Bahr compares grandparenting in the Apache and Anglo American cultures.
30. My Mother's Hip: Lessons from the World of Eldercare
Luisa Margolies	504	(19)
Margolies examines the elderly parent carework done by children, primarily daughters.
PART VIII. DIVORCE, REMARRIAGE, AND BLENDED FAMILIES	517	(90)
31. No Easy Answers: Why the Popular View of Divorce Is Wrong
Constance Ahrons	523	(11)
Ahrons challenges seven popular misconceptions about divorce in the United States.
32. The Social Self as Gendered: A Masculinist Discourse of Divorce
Terry Arendell	534	(17)
Arendell reports her findings on divorce and how it affects men and their gender identities.
33. Divorced Parents and the Jewish Community
Nathalie Friedman	551	(16)
Friedman examines how divorce impacts ties to the Jewish community.
34. Life-Span Adjustment of Children to Their Parents' Divorce
Paul R. Amato	567	(21)
Amato reviews all of the research related to the effects of divorce on children.
35. The Modern American Stepfamily: Problems and Possibilities
Mary Ann Mason	588	(23)
Mason provides an overview of stepfamilies in law and public policy.
PART IX. FAMILIES AND VIOLENCE	607	(60)
36. Gender, Diversity, and Violence: Extending the Feminist Framework
Kersti A. Yllö	611	(12)
Yllä examines family violence through a feminist lens.
37. Lifting the Veil of Secrecy: Domestic Violence against South Asian Women in the United States
Satya P. Krishnan, Malahat Baig-Amin, Louisa Gilbert, Nabila El-Bassel, and Anne Waters	623	(12)
Krishnan et al. utilize focus groups to gain a better understanding of how South Asian women perceive and experience domestic violence.
38. Toward a Better Understanding of Lesbian Battering
Claire M. Renzetti	635	(12)
Renzetti provides an overview of lesbian battering and suggestions for changes in services for survivors of abuse.
39. Abuse of Elders
Ola Barnett, Cindy L. Miller-Perrin, and Robin D. Perrin	647	(26)
Barnett et al. examine the definitions, prevalence, and patterns of elder abuse.
PART X. FAMILIES, WORK, AND CAREWORK	667	(68)
40. The Work-Home Crunch
Kathleen Gerson and Jerry A. Jacobs	673	(10)
Gerson and Jacobs compare individual work time to total family work time to determine why Americans feel overworked.
41. The Emotional Geography of Work and Family Life
Arlie Russell Hochschild	683	(15)
Hochschild studies a Fortune 500 company to see how people are balancing their work and family lives.
42. The Mommy Tax
Ann Crittenden	698	(11)
Crittenden examines the income discrimination faced by working mothers.
43. No Place Like Home: The Division of Domestic Labor in Lesbigay Families
Christopher Carrington	709	(17)
Carrington interviews gay, lesbian, and bisexual families to discover how kin work is delineated.
44. Caring for Our Young: Child Care in Europe and the United States
Dan Clawson and Naomi Gerstel	726	(13)
Clawson and Gerstel compare child care availability and quality in Europe and the United States.
PART XI. FAMILIES AND POVERTY	735
45. As American as Apple Pie: Poverty and Welfare
Mark R. Rank	739	(7)
Rank investigates why most Americans will experience poverty at some point in their lives.
46. Flat Broke with Children: The Ground-Level Results of Welfare Reform
Sharon Hays	746	(8)
Hays examines the quagmire of welfare reform and the effects it has on poor families.
47. Poor Mothers and the Care of Teenage Children
Demie Kurz	754	(16)
Kurz interviews poor women to discover what parenting challenges they face in raising teenage children.
48. Is There Hope for America's Low-Income Children?
Lee Rainwater and Timothy M. Smeeding	770
Rainwater and Smeeding propose several policies to reduce child poverty in the United States.