Plural Marriage for Our Times : A Reinvented Option?

by Kilbride, Philip L.; Page, Douglas R.

• ISBN13: 9780313384783
• ISBN10: 0313384789
• Edition: 2nd
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2012-08-17
• Publisher: Greenwood Pub Group

Summary

In the first edition of this book, Philip L. Kilbride showed polygamy as the preferred marriage pattern in most parts of the nonwestern world and explained how plural marriage is surfacing in western countries to address economic and spiritual crises. In Plural Marriage for Our Times: A Reinvented Option? Second Edition , the author updates and enhances his thesis in light of contemporary circumstances, new studies, and current legal debates.Among other considerations, the new edition takes a careful look at how plural marriage can be beneficial for children. It extends the discussion of polygamy and religion, especially the Muslim perspective on marriage and family; considers the illegal polygamy of immigrants who have families at home and abroad; and looks at multiple marriage in African American communities, where "crisis polygamy" is a growing phenomenon. While the book does not advocate polygamy, it does suggest that Americans examine it as a viable practice, and if decriminalized, one that can help reduce the divorce rate, better protect women and children, and act as an alternative to the "fractured family" so prevalent in America today.