Family Theories: An Introduction

The first single-volume text to present family theory in a clear and approachable manner, Family Theories enables advanced undergraduate students as well as beginning graduate students to gain a thorough understanding of family theory. Authors David M. Klein and James M. White incorporate a broad scope of work into the volume from two different perspectives--sociology and family studies--and survey six major theoretical frameworks developed by key social scientists to explain variations in family life. Klein and White begin by discussing the purpose of theory and trace the history of theoretical explanations of the family. From this foundation, they present the exchange, symbolic-interaction, family developmental, systems, conflict, and ecological theoretical frameworks. Each theory is systematically explored through its historical perspective, basic assumptions, core concepts, variations, empirical applications, and implications for intervention. Concluding with a typology for analyzing and comparing the six theories, the authors provide directions for future theory development. Aimed at advanced undergraduate and beginning graduate students, Family Theories will actively engage students in learning how to theorize.

NOTE: The following 6 quotes are from the same person, "There are a large number of family theory books that construct, revise, expand, critically evaluate, and apply the theories, but there are few designed to help students learn the theories. This book helps meet this need."

--Wesley R. Burr, Brigham Young University

"This is the best book available to help beginning and intermediate students learn family theories." --Wesley R. Burr, Brigham Young University

"The book covers a wide range of family theories in a readable manner."

--Wesley R. Burr, Brigham Young University

"What Crain′s book on developmental theories does for the developmental part of the family field this book does for the familial part of the field."

--Wesley R. Burr, Brigham Young University

"This book is a must for students who are trying to learn the most widely used theories in the family field."

--Wesley R. Burr, Brigham Young University

"For those trying to learn family theories, this book is the best one available."

--Wesley R. Burr, Brigham Young University

"The authors of Family Theories--two foremost family theorists writing today--have filled a major gap in the literature for a thorough introduction to the major conceptual frameworks that are currently used to study the family. This is a major contribution because David M. Klein and James M. White have accomplished the difficult task of writing a theory book that is at the same time ideal for undergraduate courses and very useful to academics and graduate students. . . . This is a long-awaited resource for those of us who have struggled to teach undergraduate courses with assigned collections of theoretical readings that are often beyond the grasp of many undergraduates. With the publication of this book, we finally have a solid, readable textbook for these courses and one having wide appeal to family sociologists, family scientists, family studies professionals, and family life interventionists."

--Gary W. Peterson, Arizona State University, Tempe

David M. Klein is Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Notre Dame. His current research is on relationship formation, assessment, and dissolution. He co-edited the Sourcebook of Family Theory and Research, and has served as Chair and Archivist of the Theory Construction and Research Methodology Workshop. He also has been Treasurer of the National Council on Family Relations, and Chair of its Research and Theory Section.  He is also an Honorary Fellow of the National Council on Family Relations.

James M. White is a Professor in the School of Social Work and Family Studies at the University of British Columbia and resides with his wife and three daughters in Vancouver, Canada. His research interests include family development as well as marital interaction and communication. He is the author of Dynamics of Family Development (published in the U.S. in 1991 and translated into Japanese in 1994), as well as numerous articles that have appeared in the Journal of Family Issues, Journal of Social & Personal Relationships, Journal of Marriage and Family, and elsewhere. His authored and co-authored book chapters include a chapter with R. H. Rodgers on family development in the Sourcebook of Family Theories & Methods (1993). He has served as referee for numerous journals in family relations and public health and is an Associate Editor for the Canadian Journal of Public Health, Journal of Comparative Family Studies, and The International Encyclopedia of Family Relationships. He is a past-president of the Northwest Council on Family Relations, whose membership includes academics, practitioners, and therapists from the states and provinces of the Pacific Northwest.  He is also an Honorary Fellow of the National Council on Family Relations.