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Families as They Really Are cover

Families as They Really Are

by Virginia E. Rutter, Kristi Williams, Barbara J. Risman

3rd Edition

Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company

(0 reviews)
SociologySocial Science

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Book Details

Print ISBN9781324059929
eText ISBN9781324071105
PublisherW. W. Norton & Company
Publishing Year2023
Edition3rd Edition
LanguageEnglish
Pages800

How do contemporary households navigate the complexities of modern life? In an era defined by rapid cultural shifts, economic volatility, and evolving social norms, understanding the domestic sphere requires moving past outdated myths. Families as They Really Are 3rd Edition offers a vital, research-grounded corrective to nostalgic misconceptions about domestic life. By shifting the conversation away from alarmist rhetoric about societal decline, this text investigates how domestic partnerships actually operate in the real world. It provides students and scholars with the critical tools necessary to analyze domestic structures as dynamic, resilient institutions that adapt to external pressures rather than simply disintegrating under them. This perspective is crucial for understanding modern society.

This comprehensive volume gathers original essays from a diverse, interdisciplinary coalition of sociologists, demographers, and family clinicians. The contributors explore how historical legacies, racial dynamics, and economic disparities shape private relationships. Rather than treating the household as an isolated unit, the authors demonstrate how public policies, labor markets, and systemic inequalities directly influence intimate decisions. Readers will explore crucial themes such as the rise of childfree households, the realities of stepfamilies, and the unique experiences of LGBTQ parents. By centering marginalized voices and examining the intersection of race, class, and gender, the book presents a multi-layered, authentic portrait of contemporary domestic arrangements.

Designed specifically for undergraduate courses, Families as They Really Are 3rd Edition balances academic rigor with highly accessible prose. This version introduces critical updates, including deep examinations of nonbinary and transgender experiences, the domestic fallout of the global pandemic, and the financial pressures of student debt. Instructors across sociology, gender studies, and human development departments widely adopt this reader for its engaging, debate-driven format. Utilizing the Families as They Really Are 3rd Edition PDF as a primary learning tool allows students to easily engage with contemporary debates and apply sociological concepts to their own lives. Ultimately, this text empowers readers to understand the diverse pathways modern households tread in a rapidly changing global landscape.

Table of Contents

  1. Chapter Part One: How Do We Know What We Know?

    • • 1. This We Know: Things Change: An Introduction (Virginia E. Rutter and Kristi Williams)
    • • 2. How Do We Tell What’s True? (Philip N. Cohen)
    • • 3. When Is a Relationship between Facts a Causal One? (Philip A. Cowan)
    • • 4. Uncovering Hidden Facts that Matter in Interpreting Individuals' Behaviors: An Ethnographic Lens (Linda M. Burton)
    • • 5. Racism, Family Structure, and Black Families (Deadric T. Williams, Caroline Sanner, Todd Jensen, and Laura Simon)
  2. Chapter Part Two: How Did We Get Here?

    • • 6. The Evolution of American Families (Stephanie Coontz)
    • • 7. American Childhood as a Social and Cultural Construct (Steven Mintz)
    • • 8. African Americans and the Birth of the Modern Marriage (Donna L. Franklin)
    • • 9. Change That Counts: The Evolution of Americans’ Definitions of Family (Claudia Geist, Catherine Bolzendahl, Lala Carr Steelman, and Brian Powell)
    • • 10. Labor Unions and Families: A Very Brief History (Shawn Fremstad)
  3. Chapter Part Three: What Do We Talk about When We Talk about Diversity of Family Forms?

    • • 11. Childfree Families (Amy Blackstone, Brittany Stahnke, and Amy Greenleaf)
    • • 12. Stepfamilies as They Really Are (Lawrence Ganong, Marilyn Coleman, and Caroline Sanner)
    • • 13. When LGBTQ People Become Parents (Abbie E. Goldberg)
    • • 14. Reflections on Race, Family, and Identity: Is There Anything New about Multiracialism Today? (Jenifer L. Bratter)
    • • 15. Queer Bat Signals: Families of Origin and Choice Under Social Distancing and Lockdown (Amy Brainer)
  4. Chapter Part Four: Intimacy in the Twenty-First Century

    • • 16. Why Is Everyone (Still) Afraid of Sex? (Nicholas Velotta, Pepper Schwartz)
    • • 17. Love (and Lust) in the Age of Viruses: Sexual Health and Relationships (Adina Nack)
    • • 18. Orgasms in College Hookups and Relationships (Elizabeth A. Armstrong, Paula England, Alison Ash)
    • • 19. Independent Women: Equality in African American Lesbian Relationships (Mignon R. Moore)
  5. Chapter Part Five: How Does Policy Link to Personal Lives?

    • • 20. Beyond Family Structure: Family Process Studies Help to Reframe Debates about What’s Good for Children (Philip A. Cowan and Carolyn Pape Cowan)
    • • 21. The Marriage Movement (Melanie Heath and Jennifer Randles)
    • • 22. The Case for Divorce (Virginia E. Rutter)
    • • 23. Family Structure, Race, and Child Well-Being (Christina J. Cross)
    • • 24. The New (Post-COVID) Normal? Workplace Flexibility Matters (Marni Fritz, Sejin Um, Barbara Risman)
  6. Chapter Part Six: How Parents and Kids Relate

    • • 25. This Is Your Job Now: Latina Mothers and Daughters and Family Work (Lorena Garcia)
    • • 26. Trans Kids and Their Families: From the Kitchen Table to the Culture Wars (Tey Meadow)
    • • 27. Beyond Sons and Daughters: Nonbinary Experiences with Family (Emily Via, Daniella Guerrero Rodriguez, Ni’Shele Jackson, Barbara J. Risman, William Scarborough)
    • • 28. Adoptive Parents Raising Neoethnics and Demonstrating Whose Rights Matter (Pamela Anne Quiroz)
    • • 29. Parents as Pawns: Intersex, Medical Experts, and Questionable Consent (Georgiann Davis)
    • • 30. Parenting Adult Children in the Twenty-First Century (Joshua Coleman)
  7. Chapter Part Seven: Leveling the Playing Field

    • • 31. Student Loans, Families, and the Unequal Transition to Adulthood (Arielle Kuperberg and Joan Maya Mazelis)
    • • 32. Sí Puedes: Latinx Families and Higher Education (Patricia Sánchez-Connally)
    • • 33. “Between a Rock and a Hard Place”: Undocumented Immigrants and Mixed-Status Families Negotiating Migration Returns to Visit Ill and Dying Family Members (Cassaundra Rodriguez)
    • • 34. Queer(ing) Intimate Partner Violence Through Transgender Inclusion (Xavier Guadalupe-Diaz)
    • • 35. Mass Incarceration and Family Life (Bryan L. Sykes, Becky Pettit, Daniela Kaiser)
  8. Chapter Part Eight: Unfinished Gender Revolution

    • • 36. Why Can’t Anyone “Have It All”? The Colliding Worlds of Work and Caregiving (Kathleen Gerson)
    • • 37. When Men Stay Home: Household Labor in Female-Led Indian Migrant Families (Pallavi Banerjee)
    • • 38. Gender Inequality in the U.S. during the COVID-19 Pandemic (Allison Nicole Dunatchik and Jerry A. Jacobs)
    • • 39. The Power of Queer: How “Guy Moms” Challenge Heteronormative Assumptions about Mothering and Family (Raine Dozier)
    • • 40. Queering Family Sexual Violence (Elizabeth Whalley)

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▶Research Sources (15)
  • Families As They Really Are - ISBN 9781324059929 | CampusBooks
  • Families as They Really Are - Description - WW Norton
  • Families as They Really Are | UMass Lowell Bookstore
  • Elementary Resources | Titlewave for Teachers
  • Rising Voices Library | Scholastic Education
  • Friends + Family Sale | Chronicle Books
  • Books - Archway Editions
  • World of Kids Books | SEL Books for Kids
  • Abrams Kids
  • Families as They Really Are - W.W. Norton
  • Families as They Really Are
  • Families as They Really Are | Rent | 9781324059929 - Valore
  • Families as They Really Are (3rd ed.) - eBooks.com
  • ISBN 9781324059929 - Families As They Really Are 3rd Edition ...
  • Families as they really are : Free Download, Borrow, and Streaming

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