Handbook of Contemporary Families : Considering the Past, Contemplating the Future

• Examines a diverse array of families and relationships in which people live, including chapters on alternative lifestyles, gay and lesbian relationships, economically distressed families, religion and families, racial and ethnic diversity, a feminist vision for families, older families, and the effect of computers and other technology on family relationships 
• Includes both a historical review and future speculation on the subjects covered in each chapter 
• Interdisciplinary contributors representing a variety of fields such as history, family studies, sociology, law, therapy, social work, psychology, nursing, and human development

Marilyn Coleman, EdD, is a curators’ distinguished professor emerita of Human Development and Family Science at the University of Missouri (United States). She is also an affiliate faculty member with women’s and gender studies at the University of Missouri and a fellow in the MU Center for Excellence on Aging and the MU Center for Family Policy and Research. She is a fellow in the National Council on Family Relations. She has conducted research on stepfamilies for more than 35 years. Her recent work with Lawrence H. Ganong has focused on (a) intergenerational family responsibilities following divorce and remarriage and (b) the development, maintenance, and dissolution of steprelationships over time. He and Ganong have co-authored over 220 articles and book chapters as well as nine books. She was the second female editor of the leading family journal in the world, Journal of Marriage and Family, from 1992 to 1996, and has been either an associate editor or on the Editorial Board of six additional journals.

Lawrence Ganong, Ph.D., is Emeritus Professor of Human Development and Family Science and Nursing at the University of Missouri-Columbia. He has co-authored over 310 journal articles and chapters and 10 books and has received 12 grants from public and private institutions. Ganong’s research program has focused on how post-divorce families, particularly stepfamilies, develop and maintain satisfying and effective relationships. Ganong is a Fellow in the National Council on Family Relations and the Gerontological Society of America. He has served on the Board of Directors of the National Council on Family Relations, the Council on Contemporary Families, and The Stepfamily Association of America.