Sexual Bargaining: Power Politics in the American Marriage

Is the institution of marriage in America breaking down? Is marriage as we have known it largely irrelevant? Are the forms of marriage changing? Are the changes in women's roles in society related to the breakdown, irrelevance, and formal alteration of marriage?

In this updated edition of his fundamental study of modern marriage, John Scanzoni challenges the widespread assumption that marriage is a dying institution. By analyzing the "reward seeking" which generates conflicts between males and females, he shows that marriage indeed has a future but that its form will continue to change as sex-role equality emerges both within and outside of marriage.

John Scanzoni is professor of sociology and child development and family relations at the Family Research Center of the University of North Carolina. His many publications include The Black Family in Modern Society: Patterns of Stability and Security, published by the University of Chicago Press.