Marriage and Family in a Changing Society, 4th Ed

by Henslin, James M.

• ISBN13: 9780029144756
• ISBN10: 0029144752
• Edition: 4th
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 1992-01-20
• Publisher: Free Press

Summary

James Henslin’s fourth edition of this significant book has been thoroughly revised and updated to include twenty new articles focused on the structure and develop of marriage in the modern-day society.

Marriage and Family in a Changing Society aims to follow the development of the marital life cycle from romance and dating, to marriage (and its alternatives), to parenting, and often divorce, remarriage, and widowhood.

These highly readable and deeply relevant readings allow students to see the events unfolding in their own lives from an illuminating sociological perspective.

Author Biography

James M. Henslin is Professor Emeritus of Sociology at Southern Illinois University, Edwardsville. He is the author of many textbooks, including Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach, 7th ed.; Essentials of Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach, 6th ed.; and Social Problems, 7th ed.

Table of Contents

Preface
Laying the Sociological Foundation
Introduction	p. 1
The Sociology of Marriage and Family	p. 4
How society molds our expectations
Issues in Marriage	p. 13
Fundamental changes in marriage and family
What Is a Family Anyway?	p. 23
Revolutionary changes
The War Over the Family	p. 31
Reactions to change: Conservative and liberal
Social and Cultural Diversity
Introduction	p. 41
Worlds of Pain	p. 44
Social class diversity: The middle and working classes
African American Families	p. 51
Racial and cultural diversity: African Americans
Mexican American Families	p. 66
Racial and cultural diversity: Hispanics
Is Living Together Such a Good Idea?	p. 76
Life style diversity: Cohabitation
Same-Sex Relationships	p. 82
Life style diversity: Sexual orientation
The Diverse World of Single Adults	p. 93
Life style diversity: Remaining single
Permanent Postponement	p. 104
Life style diversity: Marriage without children
Love, Romance, and Intimacy
Introduction	p. 115
First Comes Marriage--Then, Maybe, Love	p. 120
Arranged marriages
Love and Property	p. 126
The marriage market: Erotic property
From Strangers to Intimates	p. 135
The process of intimacy
The Three Faces of Love	p. 145
How do I love thee?. . . Let me count the ways
Communicating With One Another
Introduction	p. 155
Love-Centered Marriage	p. 158
Marriage as a process
Marriage and the Construction of Reality	p. 165
The two becoming one: How perspectives merge
Uncovering Secret Contracts	p. 175
How implicit assumptions affect reality
The Deadly Love-Anger Cycle	p. 185
Dealing with anger
The Man-Woman Crisis	p. 193
Sex roles: Searching for common ground
Parenting: Choices and Challenges
Introduction	p. 201
200 Years of Childbirth	p. 205
Historical perspectives on childbirth
Centuries of Childhood	p. 214
Historical perspectives on childhood
High-Tech Breeding	p. 226
Technology and the brave new world
Is There Sex After Baby?	p. 235
Adjusting to the new arrival
Principles for the Healthy Growth and Development of Children	p. 243
Raising healthy children
Equity and Loyalty Among Brothers and Sisters	p. 250
Sibling relationships
The Empty Nest	p. 261
When children leave home
Work and Marriage
Introduction	p. 271
The Good-Provider Role	p. 275
Who provides?: Historical shifts in relationships
Hard Choices	p. 286
Careers, children, and childlessness
The Guilt That Drives Working Mothers Crazy	p. 297
Trying to have it all
Confessions of a Househusband	p. 305
On marriage and housework and relationships
The Myth of Male Helplessness	p. 311
Making Your Dual-Career Marriage Successful	p. 314
Building on strengths
When Nightmares Become Reality
Introduction	p. 321
Date Rape	p. 324
Sexual violence
Battered Wives	p. 333
Why do they stay?
Explaining Family Violence	p. 344
Just plain mean?
Alcoholism in the Family	p. 357
Cumulative crisis
Marital Transitions: Divorce, Remarriage, and Widowhood
Introduction	p. 367
The Family Life Cycle--Its Stages and Dislocations	p. 372
Entries and exits
Why So Much Divorce?	p. 389
Much more than personal preference
How Children React to Divorce	p. 397
When the world crumbles
How Adults React to Divorce	p. 410
Divorce as a process
Effects of Divorce on Mothers and Children	p. 424
The importance of support systems
The Divorce Revolution and the Feminization of Poverty	p. 427
Inequities in divorce
The Stepfamily Cycle	p. 442
Remarriage as a process
Beyond Widowhood	p. 457
Coping with bereavement
Lasting Relationships
Introduction	p. 471
What Makes Today's Marriages Last?	p. 475
Negotiating treacherous waters: Money, work, and sex
Marriages Made to Last	p. 481
Committed to one another
Five Types of Marriage	p. 487
Varieties of relationships
Strong Families	p. 496
Marriage and family as priority
Appendix: Correlation Chart	p. 509
Table of Contents provided by Blackwell. All Rights Reserved.