Marriages and Families: Changes, Choices, and Constraints (4th Edition)

For courses in Marriage and Family, Sociology of Family, Family Studies/Relationships in departments of Sociology, Family Studies, and Psychology. Exceptionally comprehensive, innately interesting, and extremely readable, this best-selling text introduces students to the study of contemporary marriages and families in ways to which they can easily relate. It examines the diversity of American families-giving equal attention to all racial, ethnic, and other societal groups-and examines not only the choices, but the constraints that often limit our family-related choices today. This open-minded approach, combined with a set of practical guidelines presented in each chapter, encourages students to think and act for themselves-and thereby join the effort to resolve some of the crucial issues confronting 21st century families. Although written from a sociological perspective, the text incorporates material from other disciplines as well-e.g., history, economics, social work, psychology, law, biology, and anthropology-all supported by both quantitative and qualitative research-most from the mid to late 1990s.