Handbook of Marriage and the Family

1. Front Matter

   Pages i-xvii

   PDF

2. Introduction

   1. Introduction

      • Gary W. Peterson, Suzanne K. Steinmetz

      Pages 1-10

3. Family Diversity

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 11-12

      PDF

   2. Historical Analysis of the Family

      • Sheila McIsaac Cooper

      Pages 13-37

   3. Demography and Families

      • Jay D. Teachman, Karen A. Polonko, John Scanzoni

      Pages 39-76

   4. Cross-Cultural and U.S. Kinship

      • Bert N. Adams

      Pages 77-91

   5. Comparative Perspectives

      • Gary R. Lee

      Pages 93-110

   6. Ethnic Variation in the Family

      • Robert Aponte, Bruce A. Beal, Michelle E. Jiles

      Pages 111-141

   7. The Future of Families

      • Barbara H. Settles

      Pages 143-175

4. The Family

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 177-178

      PDF

   2. Classical Social Theory and Family Studies

      • Brian S. Vargus

      Pages 179-204

   3. Postmodernism and Family Theory

      • William J. Doherty

      Pages 205-217

   4. Methodological Pluralism and Qualitative Family Research

      • Jane F. Gilgun

      Pages 219-261

   5. Quantitative Methodology for Studying Families

      • Alan C. Acock

      Pages 263-289

   6. Measurement in Family Studies

      • Walter R. Schumm, Karla K. Hemesath

      Pages 291-305

5. Changing Family Patterns and Roles

   1. Front Matter

      Pages 307-308

      PDF

   2. Contemporary Family Patterns and Relationships

      • John DeFrain, David H. Olson

      Pages 309-326

   3. Socializing Children and Parents in Families

      • Gary W. Peterson, Della Hann

      Pages 327-370

   4. Adolescence in Contemporary Families

      • Suzanne K. Steinmetz

      Pages 371-423

   5. Family Relations in Adulthood

      • Judith Treas, Leora Lawton

      Pages 425-438

To know where we are going as scholars, educators, and practitioners in the field of marriage and family life, we first need to know where we have been. A perusal of early texts on marriage and family life provides some thought-provoking insights into the accuracy of the saying "what goes around, comes around. " It is interesting to note who has been considered to be in a position to provide information on marriage and family life. Included in the eclectic collection of texts we reviewed were ministers whose focus was on spirituality, doctors who emphasized medical aspects of child and adult health, and public health profes­ sionals and home economists concerned with fighting disease, who emphasized cleanliness, order, fighting germs, and eliminating rodents and insects. There are also philosophers who drew from ancient texts when discussing family life and a count who assembled a group of German intellectual elites to address various topics. An insightful essay of this type is by Marta Karlweis (1926), in which she notes: There is no other fetish that society holds to so firmly as the conception "woman," with all its usual associations of infantilism and dependence . . . . The child requires protection, is a minor and consequently a serf, but above all it possesses no spiritual existence. Neither doctorates or other distinctions nor the right to vote have as yet been able to dispel this sweet idea of the childishness of woman. which man cherishes. (p.

• Familie
• Gender
• Institution
• environment
• genetics
• nature
• religion
• social theory

• Union Institute, Cincinnati, USA

  Marvin B. Sussman

• Department of Sociology, Indiana University — Purdue University at Indianapolis, Indianapolis, USA

  Suzanne K. Steinmetz

• Department of Sociology, Arizona State University, Tempe, USA

  Gary W. Peterson

Policies and ethics