The Handbook of Contemporary Families explores how families have changed in the last 30 years and speculates about future trends. Editors Marilyn Coleman and Lawrence H. Ganong, along with a multidisciplinary group of contributors, critique the approaches used to study relationships and families while suggesting modern approaches for the new millennium.

Table of Contents

• Introduction
• Part I: Considering the Past, Contemplating the Future
• 1. Household Diversity: The Starting Point for Healthy Families in the New Century - John Scanzoni
• 2. Alternate Lifestyles Today: Off the Family Studies Screen - Roger H. Rubin
• 3. The Social and Cultural Construction of American Childhood - Steven Mintz
• Part II: Contemporary Couples
• 4. Cohabitation and Family Change - Judith A. Seltzer
• 5. Variations in Marriage over Time: An Ecological/Exchange Perspective - Ronald M. Sabatelli, Karen Ripoll
• 6. Gay Men and Lesbians: The Family Context - Lawrence A. Kurdek
• 7. Ambiguous Constructions: Development of a Childless or Child-Free Life Course - Richard Bulcroft, Jay Teachman
• 8. Intimate Relationships in Later Life: Current Realities, Future Prospects - Teresa M. Cooney, Kathleen Dunne
• Part III: Gender Issues in Contemporary Families
• 9. Jobs, Marriage, and Parenting: Working It Out in Dual-Earner Families - Maureen Perry-Jenkins, Elizabeth Turner
• 10. Gendered Family Relations: The More Things Change, the More They Stay the Same - Lori A. McGraw, Alexis J. Walker
• 11. Feminist Visions for Transforming Families: Desire and Equality Then and Now - Katherine R. Allen
• Part IV: Raising Children in Contemporary Families
• 12. Encountering Oppositions: A Review of Scholarship about Motherhood - Susan Walzer
• 13. Fathering: Paradoxes, Contradictions, and Dilemmas - Scott Coltrane
• 14. Pathogenic-Conflict Families and Children: What We Know, What We Need to Know - W. Glenn Clingempeel, Eulalee Brand-Clingempeel
• Part V: Changing Family Structures
• 15. Divorce in Social and Historical Context: Changing Scientific Perspectives on Children and Marital Dissolution - Paul R. Amato
• 16. Single-Parent Families: Risks, Resilience, and Change - Michele T. Martin, Robert E. Emery, Tara S. Peris
• 17. Britain’s Changing Families - Graham Allan, Sheila Hawker, Graham Crow
• 18. Stepfamilies: Changes and Challenges - Kay Pasley, Brad S. Moorefield
• Part VI: Race and Ethnicity in Contemporary Families
• 19. Continuing Research on Latino Families: El Pasado y el Futuro - Linda Citlali Halgunseth
• 20. Diversity in African American Families: Trends and Projections - M. Belinda Tucker, Saskia K. Subramanian, Angela D. James
• 21. Asian American Families: Diverse History, Contemporary Trends, and the Future - Masako Ishii-Kuntz
• 22. A “Seven-Generation” Approach to American Indian Families - Walter T. Kawamoto, Tamara C. Cheshire
• 23. Muslim Families in the United States - Bahira Sherif-Trask
• Part VII: Families in Society
• 24. Families and Religious Beliefs, Practices, and Communities: Linkages in a Diverse and Dynamic Cultural Context - David C. Dollahite, Loren D. Marks, Michael A. Goodman
• 25. Family Law for Changing Families in the New Millenium - Mary Ann Mason, Mark A. fine, Sarah Carnochan
• 26. Building Enduring Family Policies in the 21st Century: The Past as Prologue? - Karen Bogenschneider, Tom Corbett
• 27. The Disturbing Paradox of Poverty in American Families: What We Have Learned over the Past Four Decades - Mark R. Rank
• Part VIII: Technology and Contemporary Families
• 28. Brave New Families: Modern Health Technologies and Family Creation - Dianne M. Bartels
• 29. Understanding the Effects of the Internet on Family Life - Robert Hughes, Jr., Jason D. Hans
• Part IX: Working with Contemporary Families
• 30. Family Therapy’s Response to Family Diversity: Looking Back, Looking Forward - Leigh A. Leslie, Goldie Morton
• 31. Contemporary Family Life Education: Thirty Years of Challenge and Progress - Deborah B. Gentry
• About the Editors
• About the Contributors