Springer Handbook of Marriage and the Family

The third edition of Handbook of Marriage and the Family describes, analyzes, synthesizes, and critiques the current research and theory about family relationships, family structural variations, and the role of families in society. This updated Handbook provides the most comprehensive state-of-the art assessment of the existing knowledge of family life, with particular attention to variations due to gender, socioeconomic, race, ethnic, cultural, and life-style diversity. The Handbook also aims to provide the best synthesis of our existing scholarship on families that will be a primary source for scholars and professionals but also serve as the primary graduate text for graduate courses on family relationships and the roles of families in society. In addition, the involvement of chapter authors from a variety of fields including family psychology, family sociology, child development, family studies, public health, and family therapy, gives the Handbook a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary framework. From the Back Cover Despite waves of societal, cultural, and generational change, the family remains the bedrock unit for studying the individual and society as well as a prime focus of study in its own right. In particular, where diverse family structures were once considered rare occurrences, they are now gaining increased recognition from the social sciences. The Handbook of Marriage and the Family has been updated to reflect the current realities of family life, synthesizing and critiquing the knowledge base in key areas such as dating, parenting, sexuality, gender, ethnicity, sibling relationships, divorce, and stepfamilies. This Third Edition assembles leading experts across the disciplines to cover an expanded range of topics in qualitative and quantitative methodology, roles and relationships, diversity, and application issues, among them:  Systemic and ecological qualities of families. Division of household labor. Families with cohabitating parents. Fathers’ nurturance of children over the life course. Cultural influences on socialization. Family lives of lesbian and gay adults. Family science as a teaching discipline. Like its predecessors, this new edition of the Handbook of Marriage and the Family stands as a comprehensive primary resource for family scientists, sociologists, psychologists, and social workers who work with families, as well as for researchers, graduate students, and faculty in family studies, child development, psychology, sociology, social work, public health, and related fields. About the Author Gary W. Peterson is a Professor and Chair of the Department of Family Studies and Social Work at Miami University, Oxford, Ohio. His areas of research and scholarly expertise are adolescent development within the context of families, parent-child relationships, and family theory. Currently, he is pursuing these areas of inquiry cross-culturally within samples of adolescents from the Peoples’ Republic of China, Russia, India, Kenya, Mexico, Chile, and the U.S. Previous research areas have included public health issues in populations of Mexican-American youth as well as influences on the life plans of low-income, rural youth from Appalachian areas of the U.S. He is a co-editor of the Handbook of Marriage and the Family (2nd Ed.) and Adolescents in Families, Parent-Youth Relations: Cultural And Cross-cultural Perspectives, and Pioneering Paths in the Study of Families: The Lives and Careers of Family Scholars. Dr. Peterson is former editor of the journal Marriage and Family Review and was named a Fellow of the National Council on Family Relations in 2006. Research and scholarly articles have appeared in such publications as Journal of Marriage and the Family, Family Relations, Journal of Adolescent Research, Journal of Research on Adolescence, Youth and Society, Family Process, Sociological Inquiry, and Family Issues. Dr. Peterson is Editor or Co-Editor of