Contemporary Families at the Nexus of Research and Practice integrates current research with clinical theory to establish the most up-to-date, evidence-supported treatment options for unique contemporary families. Each chapter begins with a case study and genogram. A research section that explains family experiences outlined in the case study follows. Finally, a treatment section presents clinical theory and provides an evidence-supported practice. Together, each chapter demonstrates how theory gets translated into practice. Family forms discussed include families of divorce, stepfamilies, families of addiction, impoverished families, families of incarceration, families of cyberbullying, and families of murder victims. Whether you’re a professional or a student, this book will provide both relevant research findings and explicit instruction and case material to augment your practice.
"Linking research with clinical practice, this text shows therapists how to do evidence-based practice when treating contemporary families. Today's families are diverse and complex, and their problems do not always improve when treatment focuses on addressing a diagnosis. To achieve successful, lasting change, therapists must help families change their patterns of interaction. This book examines several common interactional challenges that contemporary families face, such as co-parenting, divorce, intimate partner violence, blending families, and loss and bereavement. For each challenge, contributors examine research regarding the concern as well as research on multiple diverse family types, and then provide clinical examples showing how to develop interventions for these family types. With its combined focus on inclusion, social justice, and evidence-based practice, this book will help clinicians work with today's diverse families in effective, culturally responsive ways"--
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. The Handbook looks at how changes within the contemporary family have been reflected in family law, family education, and family therapy. The Handbook of Contemporary Families is an excellent resource for advanced undergraduate and graduate students, researchers, educators, and practitioners who study and work with families in several disciplines, including Family Science, Human Development and Family Studies, Sociology, Marriage & Family Therapy, and Social Work.
This nonjudgmental, inclusive, and far-reaching text focuses on the diverse patterns of family structure prevalent in our society today. Family Diversity presents empirical research on the internal dynamics, social environments, support factors, prevalence of discrimination, and common stereotypes that account for the issues surrounding current family relations. By examining the history and nature of foster and adoptive, single-parent, lesbian/gay, step- and grandparent family units, Pauline Irit Erera is able to challenge both the idealized family prototype and the hegemony of the traditional structure.
In this major new introduction to family studies and the sociology of the family, Richard J Gelles shows the links between the institutional constraints shaping family structure and processes and the family environment itself. A sensitivity to family diversity across history, gender, nationality, culture and age, as well as a strong focus on the theoretical and research bases, are important features of the book. There are also extensive discussions of contemporary topics such as: family violence; later life families; the variety of family structures and practices in different cultures and nationalities; the work//family nexus; and family stress. An instructor's manual by Tricia Dyk is available to those who
How do some families successfully negotiate the linguistic, cultural, and psychological challenges of immigration, while others struggle to acculturate? This timely volume explores the complexities of immigrant family life in North America and analyzes the individual and contextual factors that influence health and well-being. Synthesizing cutting-edge research from a range of disciplines, the book addresses such key topics as child development, school achievement, and the cultural and religious contexts of parenting. It examines the interface between families and broader systems, including schools, social services, and intervention programs, and discusses how practices and policies might be improved to produce optimal outcomes for this large and diverse population.
This volume tackles key issues in the changing nature of family life from a global perspective, and is essential reading for those studying and working with families. Covers changes in couple relationships and the challenges these pose; parenting practices and their implications for child development; key contemporary global issues, such as migration, poverty, and the internet, and their impact on the family; and the role of the state in supporting family relationships Includes a stellar cast of international contributors such as Paul Amato and John Coleman, and contributions from leading experts based in North Africa, Japan, Australia and New Zealand Discusses topics such as cohabitation, divorce, single-parent households, same-sex partnerships, fertility, and domestic violence Links research and practice and provides policy recommendations at the end of each chapter
"I find the book extremely attractive. The dialectical perspective provides a consistent avenue from which to address the diversity (structural, cultural, developmental, and functional) in Contemporary American Families. Whereas this perspective does not claim to solve the tensions in families, it offers marvelous insights into the nature and changing diversities in families. I believe this text is particularly well suited for reasonable discussion of serious issues and provides valuable insights into the nature of families and their functioning." --Vince Bloom, California State University, Fresno "Teresa Chandler Sabourin invites students to appreciate the mystery, complexity, and diversity of the contemporary American family. Resisting simplistic descriptions and normative descriptions, Sabourin challenges us to open our minds and hearts to the rich, humane variety of family connections as we search for ways to accommodate the competing demands and conflicting pressures experienced in our most cherished relationships. Starting from the source of her own experience, Sabourin addresses both the darker, abusive side of family relationships, as well as the lighter, spiritual side of intimacy and love. The Contemporary American Family successfully addresses the need for an accessible and teachable treatment of the dialectical perspective on close relationships. This is a book that will encourage students of family communication to respect diversity, question taken-for-granted assumptions, and share the pain and joy and of their own family experiences." --Art Bochner, University of South Florida Increasingly diverse in structure and culture, contemporary families defy explanation by many traditional, linear methods. In order to understand the enormous impact that diversity has on the behaviors and relationships within the family, scholars and students need a means to embrace, rather than solve, relational contradictions. The Contemporary American Family: A Dialectical Perspective on Communication and Relationships recognizes that families are both close and distant, stable and changing, amenable and uncontrollable. Teresa Chandler Sabourin employs a dialectical approach, acknowledging that a family′s contradictions and relational tensions may be the determining factor in its interaction. Writing in a direct and simple style, Sabourin uses this innovative theoretical position to address four types of family diversity: structural, cultural, developmental, and functional. Sure to stimulate discussion and further research, this provocative volume examines The dialectic process in the context of family communication and relationships The redefined, more inclusive American family Contemporary family structures Cultural diversity in the family Issues such as alcoholism, domestic violence, and divorce Spirituality within the family Designed as a supplemental text for upper-level undergraduate and graduate courses in Family Communication, The Contemporary American Family is also an invaluable resource for students in Family Studies and Women′s Studies courses.
