All Our Families: New Policies for a New Century - Softcover

9780195108323: All Our Families: New Policies for a New Century

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0195108329 ISBN 13: 9780195108323

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1998

Many people think that American families are disintegrating. These critics often compare today's families with an imagined typical family of the past -- stable, middle class, working father, stay-at-home mother, and two or three children. But most American families are not, and never were, like that. Moreover, these critics are often unaware that divorce rates and welfare rolls are down, or that teen pregnancy rates are lower than they were in the 1950s. What are today's families really like? What should society expect of them? What should society do for them?
All Our Families, a project of the Berkeley Forum on the Family, takes a hard look at contemporary families. Chapters include those on divorcing families, single-parent families, step-families, dual-income families, adolescent-parent families, and gay and lesbian families. Distinguished by their exceptional reputations as family scholars, the Forums interdisciplinary team of authors examines challenges to existing public policies brought on by problems such as custody disputes, family poverty, parental kidnapping, abuse and neglect, and the special psychological conditions faced by today's couples with newborns. The contending claims of biological and psychological parents are exposed and confronted.
Essential for courses in sociology, psychology, social work, public policy, and law, All Our Families proposes new policies for strengthening the families of America as we move into the 21st century.

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About the Author:

Mary Ann Mason is an Associate Professor of Law and Social Welfare at the University of California, Berkeley.
Arlene Skolnick is a Research Psychologist at the Institute for Human Development at the University of California, Berkeley.
Stephen Sugarman is Anges Roddy Robb Professor of Law at the University of California, Berkeley.

Review:

"Excellent collection of well-written, informative essays on a wide range of social problems facing families today. The chapter on single-parent families provides a balanced view of mothers and fathers from a wide range of ethnic and class backgrounds, demystifying the myth of 'the welfare
mother' and enlightening readers to serious struggles."--Livia Pohlman, Georgia Southern University

"One of the more useful books on the state of families in America. Well-balanced analysis....I plan to use it in teaching family therapy, so students will understand all family forms and perhaps feel empowered to help change."--Elizabeth A. Throop, Silver Lake College

"I'm looking forward to using this book in my sociology of marriage and family class. I like the way it's arranged, the subjects covered, and its viewpoint."--Christina Hutchinson, Southwestern Oregon Community College

"This book tackles one of the most emotional problems facing society today--the role of the family."--Robert Langran, Villanova University

"Great addition to the public discussion of family and policy. Finally, a book with space allocations to match the interests and issues students care about."--Janet Huber Lowry, Austin College

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