Marriages and Families : Changes, Choices, and Constraints (5th Edition)

FROM THE PUBLISHER

Exceptionally comprehensive, innately interesting, and extremely readable, this best-selling exploration of contemporary marriages and families 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. Although written from a sociological perspective, it 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. Its open-minded approach, combined with a set of practical guidelines in each chapter, provide readers with a veritable handbook for understanding and dealing with the dynamics marriage and family life today. The Changing Family. Studying Marriage and the Family. The Family in Historical Perspective. Gender Roles and Socialization. Love and Loving Relationships. Sexuality and Sexual Expression Throughout Life. Dating and Mate Selection. Singlehood, Cohabitation, and Other Living Arrangements. Marriage and Communication in Intimate Relationships. To Be Or Not To Be a Parent. Raising Children: Contemporary Prospects and Pitfalls. Racial-Ethnic Families. Families and Work. Family Violence and Other Crisis-Related Issues. Separation and Divorce. Remarriage and Stepfamilies. Aging and Family Life: Grandparents, the Widowed, and Caregivers. For anyone who deals with families.

SYNOPSIS

Although written from a sociological perspective, this text incorporates material from other disciplines, including economics, social work, psychology, and biology, to introduce students to issues facing families. It balances theoretical and empirical discussions with practical examples and applications, exploring contemporary changes in society and the family. Cross-cultural and multicultural material is integrated in every chapter, and highlighted in boxed readings. This fourth edition includes new material on topics such as cyber romances and teen parents. The author teaches sociology at the University of Baltimore.

Annotation © Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

FROM THE CRITICS

Booknews

In this revamped 1996 edition, Benokraitis (criminology, criminal justice, and social policy; U. of Baltimore) incorporates new research, surveys, media illustrations, and Internet sites; and adds chapter opening outlines. The author maintains her global, cross- cultural perspective on the evolution of the family along with offering provocative questions, examples, and a data digest. Supplementary multimedia materials for both students and instructors include the New York Times "Themes of the Times" program, PowerPoint slide set/CD-ROM, and an online resource and study guide. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.

ACCREDITATION

Author Biography: Nijole V Benokraitis, professor of sociology at the ', University of Baltimore, has taught the Marriage 'and Family course for 18 years and says it's her 'favorite class, although her courses in Racial and Ethnic Relations and Gender Roles run a close second. Professor Benokraitis received a B.A. in Sociology and English from Emmanuel College, a M.A. in sociology from the University of Illinois at Urbana, and a doctorate in sociology from the University of Texas at Austin. She is a strong proponent of applied sociology and requires her students to enhance their study of course topics through interviews, direct observation, and other hands-on learning methods. She also enlists her students in community-service activities, such as tutoring and mentoring inner-city high school students, writing to government officials and other decision makers about specific social problems, and volunteering research services to nonprofit organizations.

Professor Benokraitis, who immigrated to the United States from Lithuania with her family when she was six years old, is bilingual and bicultural. She has authored, co-authored, edited, or co-edited Contemporary Ethnic Families in the United States: Characteristics, Variations, and Dynamics (Prentice Hall, 2002), Feuds about Families: Conservative, Centrist, Liberal, and Feminist Perspectives (Prentice Hall, 2000); Subtle Sexism: Current Practices and Prospects for Change (Sage, 1997); Modern Sexism: Blatant, Subtle, and Covert Discrimination, 2nd Edition (Prentice Hall, 1995); Seeing Ourselves: Classic, Contemporary, and Cross-Cultural Readings inSociology, 5th Edition (Prentice Hall, 2001); and Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity: Action, Inaction, and Reaction (Westview Press, 1978).

Professor Benokraitis has published numerous articles and book chapters on such topics as institutional racism, discrimination against women in government and higher education, fathers in two-earner families, displaced homemakers, and family policy. She has served as both chair and graduate program director of the University of Baltimore's Department of Sociology and has chaired numerous university committees.

The recipient of grants and fellowships from many institutions, including the National Institute of Mental Health, the Ford Foundation, the American Educational Research Association, the Administration on Aging, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. She has for some time served as a consultant in the areas of sex and race discrimination to women's commissions, business groups, colleges and universities, and programs of the federal government, and she has made several appearances on radio and television on gender communication differences and single-sex educational institutions. She currently serves on the editorial board of Women & Criminal Justice.

Professor Benokraitis lives in Maryland with her husband, Dr. Vitalius Benokraitis, Chair of the Computer and Information Sciences Department at Shepherd College, West Virginia. They have two children, Gema and Andrius.