Drawing upon findings from many disciplines including sociology, communication, family studies, human development, psychology and anthropology-this book provides the first composite study of the whole family and of the complex interplay between self and collectivity in family life. It departs sharply from the traditional two-person, cause-effect models used in conventional studies, and attempts to delineate a social psychology of the family. This book undertakes to define and understand the nature of families, to point out ways of discerning different family characters, and to comprehend the processes by which these characters are established and maintained; by so doing, it introduces a new dimension into the study of family behavior and provides a framework within which meaningful investigations and practical applications can be pursued. This long-awaited fourth edition continues the goal of preceding editions: to understand families in terms of the kinds of interaction through which family life is constructed. Contributors drawn from a wide variety of disciplines sociology; communication; family studies; human development; psychology; anthropology; and social work - provide a range of authoritative and up-to-date sources on the family and interpersonal relations, including newly emergent forms of family organization. In providing a new framework for fruitful investigation and practical application, this volume contains the best available interdisciplinary work on the social psychology of the family.

24. Stages in the Infant's Separation From the Mother -- 25. Dual Parenting and the Duel of Intimacy -- 26. Centripetal and Centrifugal Forces in the Adolescent Separation Drama -- 27. Central Issues in the Construction of Sibling Relationships -- 28. Building Gay Families -- Part VIII: Stress, Crisis, and Separateness/Connectedness -- 29. Coping with Family Transitions: Winners, Losers, and Survivors -- 30. The Downwardly Mobile Family -- 31. Sex Codes and Family Life among Northton's Youth -- 32. A Different Kind of Parenting * -- Epilogue -- 33. Backward toward the Postmodern Family Reflections on Gender, Kinship, and Class in the Silicon Valley -- Index

This long-awaited fourth edition has the same goal as the preceding editions: to understand families in terms of the kinds of interaction through which family life is constructed. The changes in the family as an institution have influenced these processes, just as they have influenced the ways we understand and write about them. But even in these "postmodern" circumstances, an underlying premise of the volume is that two partners establish a family because they have selected each other as distinctively meaningful to one another. They will affirm, modify, elaborate, or retreat from various aspects of the relationship through interaction over time and in changing circumstances. This volume contains the best available interdisciplinary work on the social psychology of the family. More than half of the selections are new to this edition, which incorporates a variety of theoretical and research perspectives that provide the reader with a range of authoritative and up-to-date sources on the family and interpersonal relations. The newer forms of family organization that have emerged in the more recent literature - specifically, single-parent families, stepfamilies, and families of gay and lesbian domestic partners - are included. Authors have been drawn from a variety of disciplines, including sociology, communication, family studies, human development, psychology, anthropology, and social work.

This long-awaited fourth edition has the same goal as the preceding editions: to understand families in terms of the kinds of interaction through which family life is constructed. The changes in the family as an institution have influenced these processes, just as they have influenced the ways we understand and write about them. But even in these "postmodern" circumstances, an underlying premise of the volume is that two partners establish a family because they have selected each other as distinctively meaningful to one another. They will affirm, modify, elaborate, or retreat from various aspects of the relationship through interaction over time and in changing circumstances. This volume contains the best available interdisciplinary work on the social psychology of the family. More than half of the selections are new to this edition, which incorporates a variety of theoretical and research perspectives that provide the reader with a range of authoritative and up-to-date sources on the family and interpersonal relations. The newer forms of family organization that have emerged in the more recent literature - specifically, single-parent families, stepfamilies, and families of gay and lesbian domestic partners - are included. Authors have been drawn from a variety of disciplines, including sociology, communication, family studies, human development, psychology, anthropology, and social work.

How does a family function? How does a family make a distinctive life of its own while living according to the values of society? In what ways is a family a unit when all its members have personalities of their own? How can we understand diversity among families?Robert D. Hess and Gerald Handel sensitively explore the dynamics of family life in five narrative case studies. The Clarks, Lansons, Littletons, Newbolds, and Steeles are all "typical" families with representative social, cultural, and psychological problems. By simultaneously studying each family as a small group and as a set of individual personalities, the authors have captured the interplay between personality and family as each group works out its own special way of coping with its problems. Further, they have formulated several principles of family functioning that help focus comparison.Family Worlds was the first, and is still one of the few studies, to interview each member of the family, giving equal weight to children as well as to adults, so each family member's perspective is factored into Hess and Handel's family portraits. A new introduction to the Transaction edition illuminates just how significant this ground-breaking study still is today and highlights the new implications it has for today's families as well as emerging approaches.

This book is the product of a multi-year initiative, sponsored by the Division of Family Psychology (43) of the American Psychological Association, the Family Institute at Northwestern University, Oxford University Press, and Northwestern University, to bring together the leading researchers in family psychology in five major areas of great social and health relevance -- good marriage, depression, divorce and remarriage, partner violence, and families and physical health. The book embodies a series of five systematically and developmentally informed mini-books or manuals, critically examining the existing research in each area and illuminating new directions for future research. The chapters in each area cover a wide range of distinct issues and diverse populations. Through a pre-publication face-to-face two-day conference, the editors invited each of the authors in each specific domain to collaborate and coordinate their chapters, creating a synergy for the development of new knowledge. Additionally, the editors encouraged the authors to step outside of their own specific research program to reflect on the unique challenges and opportunities in their research domain. The resulting book provides the next generation of theorists, researchers, and therapists with an in-depth and fresh look at what has been done and what remains to be done in each area. If you are a social scientist working in these or related areas, the book will sharpen and stimulate your research. If you are a young researcher or are contemplating entering the field of family psychology, the book lays out pathways and strategies for entering and unraveling the mysteries in each area. Lastly, if you are someone who wants to understand the state of art of research in these very relevant domains, this book takes you to the top of mountain with very best guides and provides a vista that compels and illuminates.