Family Diversity and Family Policy: Strengthening Families for America’s Children

Family Diversity and Family Policy: Strengthening Families for America’s Children

Author: Richard M. Lerner

Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media

Published: 2013-03-09

Total Pages: 182

ISBN-13: 1475752067

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Family Diversity and Family Policy describes the dimensions of diversity which characterize the contemporary American family and discusses the implications for public policy and associated intervention programs linked to this diversity. The authors contend that if the programs and policies available to support families are to be most useful, they need to reflect the diversity of the families they intend to help. Beginning with a discussion of the historical and contemporary context of the American family, Family Diversity and Family Policy focuses on child poverty and argues that this topic may be usefully studied within the context of developmental systems theory. This theory systematically links the development of individuals to variations in their physical and social ecology, and is used as a framework for discussing: Contemporary challenges faced by parents charged with rearing adolescents, and the familial and societal issues that arise when the adolescents being reared are parents themselves. Current policy issues that arise from welfare debates in the United States and from recently-enacted welfare reform legislation. The importance for our nation of developing a comprehensive national youth policy. The authors draw implications for the design, delivery, and evaluation of diversity-sensitive policies and programs for families and youth, and offer a vision of how to link scholars, policy makers, and community members in multi-professional and multi-institutional collaborations promoting the positive development of American families and youth. Family Diversity and Family Policy is relevant to scholars and policy makers interested in human development, particularly of children and adolescents. In addition, it should be essential reading for practitioners and policy makers in government, private industry, and public and private social service organizations.


The Palgrave Handbook of Family Policy

The Palgrave Handbook of Family Policy

Author: Rense Nieuwenhuis

Publisher: Springer Nature

Published: 2020

Total Pages: 727

ISBN-13: 3030546187

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"This engaging collection gathers theoretical and empirical insights from leading family policy experts. The authors - representing diverse countries, disciplines, and methods - bring to life the volume's innovative conceptual framework, which is organized around policy institutions, both public and private. The volume closes with a call for new lines of research that should inform family policy scholars for years to come."--Janet Gornick, Professor of Political Science and Sociology, and Director of the Stone Center on Socio-Economic Inequality, The Graduate Center, City University of New York, USA "Featuring exciting contributors from a range of often-siloed scholarly disciplines, countries and cultures, this Handbook offers nuanced insights into how interacting societal inequality factors influence family policy enactment to reinforce or improve inequality outcomes across gender, class, and nations. It is ambitious, broad-reaching, and succeeds in providing a strategic view within and across nations to inspire thoughtful evidence-based policy implications to improve societies in the future."--Ellen Ernst Kossek, Basil S. Turner Professor of Management, Purdue University, USA This open access handbook provides a multilevel view on family policies, combining insights on family policy outcomes at different levels of policymaking: supra-national organizations, national states, sub-national or regional levels, and finally smaller organizations and employers. At each of these levels, a multidisciplinary group of expert scholars assess policies and their implementation, such as child income support, childcare services, parental leave, and leave to provide care to frail and elderly family members. The chapters evaluate their impact in improving children's development and equal opportunities, promoting gender equality, regulating fertility, productivity and economic inequality, and take an intersectional perspective related to gender, class, and family diversity. The editors conclude by presenting a new research agenda based on five major challenges pertaining to the levels of policy implementation (in particular globalization and decentralization), austerity and marketization, inequality, changing family relations, and welfare states adapting to women's empowered roles


Handbook of Family Diversity

Handbook of Family Diversity

Author: David H. Demo

Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Published: 2000

Total Pages: 460

ISBN-13: 9780195120387

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"The Handbook of Family Diversity" fills this gap in scholarship by providing a comprehensive discussion of several key dimensions where families differ: race, socioeconomic status, family structure, sexual orientation, and gender. It is designed to inform and broaden the debate among students, family scholars, practitioners, and policymakers as to what constitutes a family and how families should function. Featuring commissioned chapters by prominent scholars from a variety of fields, The Handbook of Family Diversity discusses different types of families from widely varying social and economic backgrounds. These authoritative yet highly readable essays discuss important public policy issues pertaining to family diversity and describe the everyday realities of family interactions--the tensions and dynamics of intimacy, support, control, communication, and conflict. Multiple disciplinary, theoretical, and methodological perspectives are presented throughout the volume, providing evidence that there is no unified or monolithic perspective on families. Emphasizing the most current and cutting edge knowledge on family diversity, "The Handbook of Family Diversity" sets a new standard for research in this important and vital area of study.


Family Diversity

Family Diversity

Author: Pauline Irit Erera

Publisher: SAGE

Published: 2001-09-11

Total Pages: 281

ISBN-13: 1452236852

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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.


Family Configurations

Family Configurations

Author: Professor Eric D Widmer

Publisher: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.

Published: 2012-12-28

Total Pages: 178

ISBN-13: 1409492583

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Family Configurations develops current scholarship on families and intimate lives by demonstrating that family relationships, far from being fluid and inconsequential, are more structured and committed than ever. Based on a series of empirical studies carried out in the US and Europe, this volume reveals the diversity of family relationships that emerge as a result of various key family issues, emphasizing the supportive and disruptive interdependencies existing among large sets of family members beyond the nuclear family. By applying social network methods to uncover the relational patterns of contemporary families, and making use of rich empirical data, this book draws on recent developments in family sociology, social network analysis and kinship studies to present a fascinating interdisciplinary approach to the family.


Cultural Diversity and Families

Cultural Diversity and Families

Author: Bahira Sherif Trask

Publisher: SAGE Publications

Published: 2007-01-18

Total Pages: 396

ISBN-13: 1483316831

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Cultural Diversity and Families: Expanding Perspectives breaks new ground by investigating how concepts of cultural diversity have shaped the study of families from theoretical and applied perspectives. Authors Bahira Sherif Trask and Raeann R. Hamon move the dialogue about culturally diverse families to a new level by topically discussing the issues affecting culturally diverse families rather than organizing the information by racial and or ethnic groups. Key Features: Investigates the impact of cultural diversity on the study of families: In order to transcend simplistic categorizations that have juxtaposed White families in opposition to families of color and vice versa, this book delineates the increasing cultural diversity of American families and examines the impact of these demographic changes for the social sciences. Emphasizes the full range of cultural aspects: The book consciously emphasizes cultural aspects, not just ethnicity, but also socioeconomic status, gender, religion, etc. over racial impacts on family life so as not to reinforce the myth that race is a biological truth. By sharing unique family experiences across groups, the book enhances understanding, directs future family research, and serves these families through responsive policy and practice. Offers more coverage of culturally diverse families than any other text: Divided into three parts, this comprehensive text first sets the stage of historical, current, and projected demographic trends pertaining to American families; explores issues facing culturally diverse families from a thematic perspective; and discusses of the impact of cultural diversity for family theory, research, service delivery, and public policy. Intended Audience: This is an excellent text for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses such as Families in a Multicultural Society, Ethnic Minority Families, and Cultural Diversity in American Families in the departments of Human Development & Family Studies, Sociology, and Family Social Work.


New Family Values

New Family Values

Author: Karen Struening

Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield

Published: 2002

Total Pages: 244

ISBN-13: 9780742512313

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New Family Values provides a critical analysis of scholars and authors who argue that law and policy should be used to foster one model of family--the intact two-parent (heterosexual) family. The author argues that this position does not adequately address the problem in purports to solve -family dissolution--and unnecessarily constrains personal liberty. Civic stability and individual well-being require healthy families, but do not necessitate uniformity in family form.


African American Family Life

African American Family Life

Author: Vonnie C. McLoyd

Publisher: Guilford Press

Published: 2005-09-26

Total Pages: 367

ISBN-13: 1572309954

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This volume brings together leading experts from different disciplines to offer new perspectives on contemporary African American families. A wealth of knowledge is presented on the heterogeneity of Black family life today; the challenges and opportunities facing parents, children, and communities; and the impact on health and development of key cultural and social processes. Comprehensive and authoritative, the book critically evaluates current policies and service delivery models and sets forth cogent recommendations for supporting families' strengths. Following an overview that traces the ongoing evolution of theory and research in the field, the book examines how African American families fare on numerous indicators of well-being. Throughout, contributors identify factors that promote or hinder healthy child and family development, writing from a culturally sensitive, nonpathologizing stance. The concluding chapter provides an up-to-date framework for culturally competent mental health practice.


Handbook of Family Diversity

Handbook of Family Diversity

Author: David H. Demo

Publisher: Oxford University Press on Demand

Published: 2000

Total Pages: 460

ISBN-13: 9780195120394

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The status of the American family has been the topic of considerable debate in recent years. As demographic changes make our country more multicultural and as new types of families continue to form and become more common, it is essential for sociologists, social workers, family researchers, and psychologists to understand the full range of diversity in American families. However, to varying extents, African American families, Latino families, Asian American families, poverty-stricken and near-poor families, lesbian and gay families, single-parent families, and stepfamilies have been marginalized from mainstream scholarship. As a result, students taking courses on families are typically not exposed to the experiences of these groups. The Handbook of Family Diversity fills this gap in scholarship by providing a comprehensive discussion of several key dimensions where families differ: race, socioeconomic status, family structure, sexual orientation, and gender. It is designed to inform and broaden the debate among students, family scholars, practitioners, and policymakers as to what constitutes a family and how families should function. Featuring commissioned chapters by prominent scholars from a variety of fields, The Handbook of Family Diversity discusses different types of families from widely varying social and economic backgrounds. These authoritative yet highly readable essays discuss important public policy issues pertaining to family diversity and describe the everyday realities of family interactions--the tensions and dynamics of intimacy, support, control, communication, and conflict. Multiple disciplinary, theoretical, and methodological perspectives are presented throughout the volume, providing evidence that there is no unified or monolithic perspective on families. Emphasizing the most current and cutting edge knowledge on family diversity, The Handbook of Family Diversity sets a new standard for research in this important and vital area of study.