Family Disintegration

The contemporary family is being distracted, disturbed and distraught by societal pressures from every direction. The nuclear family concept, believed crucial to child rearing, is becoming passé according to census data. Or has the wave of disruption to families crested? It is hoped that this bibliography will serve as a useful tool to researchers seeking further information on families and the pressures being exerted upon them in the 21st century.

Family relations are undergoing dramatic changes globally and locally. At the same time, certain features of family life endure. This popular book, now in a fully updated second edition, presents a comprehensive assessment of recent research on 'family', parenting, childhood and interpersonal ties. A Sociology of Family Life queries assumptions about a disintegration of 'the family' by revealing a remarkable persistence of commitment and reciprocity across cultures, within new as well as traditional family forms. Yet, while new kinds of intimate relationships such as 'friends as family' and LGBTQ+ intimacies become commonplace, such personal relationships can still be difficult to negotiate in the face of wider structural norms. With a focus on factors such as class, gender, race, ethnicity and sexuality, this new edition highlights inequalities that influence and curb families and personal life transnationally. Alongside substantial new material on cultural and digital transformations, the book features extensive updates on issues ranging from demography, migration, ageing and government policies to reproductive technologies, employment and care. With a global focus, and blending theory with real-life examples, this insightful and engaging book will remain indispensable to students across the social sciences.

Child and family welfare systems confront the problems of families throughout the world on a daily basis. Whilst there may be differences between nations and organisations, there are also similarities. This book presents a comparative study of child and family welfare models in the developed nations.

The official final report of the National Commission on America's Urban Families. Conclusion is that the stable and loving two-parent family provides the healthiest environment for children. B/w photos and graphs.

The institution of the family is by far the most important of all the societal networks in which the lives of men, women and children are involved. Nowhere is this more true than in the less developed countries of Asia. Originally published in 1979, The Family in Asia aimed to provide a series of comprehensive survey chapters which described traditional family patterns in a selection of Asian countries at different stages of economic development. These range from a rapidly expanding and highly developed industrial nation, Japan, through modernising and developing countries, India, Pakistan, Iran, China, South Korea and the Philippines, to more underdeveloped countries, such as Thailand and Afghanistan. Each chapter is written by a senior country specialist and covers an integrated series of topics within a uniform framework in order to facilitate inter-country comparisons. Valuable description and statistical material is provided on the literature and on the effects of industrialisation, urbanisation and modernisation, but perhaps more important is a theoretical framework and the editors’ review of some basic characteristics of social modernisation. These include the degree of equalitarian family relations and sexual divisions in society; emphasis on individualism and independence; the differentiation and specialised functioning of social institutions; urban life; birth control and family planning; social mobility; marital disruption and divorce; neglect and care of the elderly; formal education for children; and government intervention and influence on family activities. Read in its historical context, this title will interest specialists in development and Asian studies, in demography, sociology and in anthropology. Students in particular, will value the tight analytical framework in which the book has been written.