Understanding the Family (Published in association with The Open University) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0761953078 ISBN 13: 9780761953074

Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd, 1999

Synopsis

This revised and updated introductory textbook presents an accessible, interdisciplinary account of how 'the family' is constituted in the 'public' and 'private' spheres. Drawing on a wide range of theoretical perspectives from sociology, social policy, psychology and psychoanalysis, this book critically examines assumptions about 'the family' that are embedded in social policy, law and political discourse. The textbook outlines the tensions that exist between such assumptions and the lived realities and everyday experiences of family life. Understanding the Family shows how dominant understandings of the family have failed to recognize a marked diversity of family forms in contemporary society, and also ignored the complex and myriad ways in which family life is experienced. This textbook provides an integrated and accessible set of teaching materials, which will encourage students to develop a clear and critical understanding of the family in contemporary society. Students and academics in sociology, psychology and social policy.

About this title

About the Author

John Muncie is Emeritus Professor of Criminology at the Open University, UK. He is the author of Youth and Crime (4th edition, Sage, 2014), and he has published widely on issues in comparative youth justice and children’s rights, including the co-edited companion volumes Youth Crime and Justice and Comparative Youth Justice (Sage, 2006). He has produced numerous Open University texts and readers, including Crime: Local and Global (Willan, 2010), Criminal Justice: Local and Global (Willan, 2010), The Problem of Crime (2nd edition, Sage, 2001), Crime Prevention and Community Safety (Sage, 2001) and Imprisonment: European Perspectives (Harvester, 1991). He has also contributed nine volumes to the The Sage Library of Criminology (Sage, 2007–2009). He is co-editor of the Sage journal Youth Justice: An International Journal.

Margaret Wetherell is Professor of Social Psychology at the Open University, UK and Director of the Economic and Social Research Council Programme on Identities and Social Action.

Review

REVIEWS OF THE FIRST EDITION

`Provide[s] a good overview of current family theory and research.... well written and worth having′ - British Journal of Medical Psychology

`Altogether an excellent collection for students of social policy, social care or social work, covering as it does both subjective and objective features of family life and the logics of inequality within which they are embedded′ - Child and Family Social Work

`The book provides an overview of major belief systems about the family, which are intelligently summarized, often with the use of thoughtfully selected excerpts from major source material. The final endnote, by Roger Sapsford, is particularly insightful as he identifies the problems that arise from trying to confine the family within the private sphere and neatly separating the private from the public aspects of family. Overall, this book is a constructive and comprehensive guide to understanding the family′ - Population and Development Review

Edition details

• Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd
• Publication date: 1999
• ISBN 10: 0761953078
• ISBN 13: 9780761953074
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 336
• Editor: Muncie John, Wetherell Margaret, Langan Mary, Dallos Rudi, Cochrane Allan Douglas