Shifting the Center: Understanding Contemporary Families

Shifting the Center: Understanding Contemporary Families explores the issues and diversity of contemporary families, presenting balanced coverage of racial and ethnic variation and discussing a wide variety of family arrangements and processes. 25 out of the 54 selections included are new to this edition.

* indicates new reading

Preface

I. Introduction to the Study of Families

1. Diana Gittins, "The Family in Question: What is the Family? Is It Universal?"

2. Maxine Baca Zinn, "Feminist Rethinking from Racial-Ethnic Families"

*3. Maureen Sullivan, "The Emergence of Lesbian-Coparent Families in Postmodern Society"

*4. Frank F. Furstenberg, "Values, Policy, and the Family"

II. Historical Changes and Family Variations

5. Stephanie Coontz, "Historical Perspectives on Family Diversity"

*6. Bonnie Thornton Dill, "Fictive Kin, Paper Sons, and Compradazgo"

*7. Shirley Hill, "The Politics of Theorizing Black Families: Old Debates, New Directions"

*8. Karen Pyke, "'The Normal American Family' as an Interpretive Structure of Family Life among Grown children of Korean and Vietnamese Immigrants"

*9. Rae Lesser Blumberg, "Gender, Economy, and Kinship in Complex Households among Six U.S. Ethnic Groups"

III. Courtship, Dating, and Power

10. Martin King Whyte, Choosing Mates--The American Way

*11. Laura Hamilton and Elizabeth A. Armstrong, "Gendered Sexuality in Young Adulthood: Double Binds and Flawed Options"

12. Ritch C. Savin-Williams, "Dating and Romantic Relationships Among Gay, Lesbian, and Bisexual Youths"

*13. Monisha Pasupathi, "Arranged Marriages: What's Love Got to Do With It?"

IV. Marriage, Cohabitation, and Partnership

14. Andrew J. Cherlin, "The Deinstitutionalization of Marriage"

*15. Melanie Heath, "State of Our Unions: Marriage Promotion and the Contested Power of Heterosexuality"

*16. Naomi Gerstel and Natalia Sarkisian, "Marriage: The Good, the Bad, and the Greedy"

17. Hung Cam Thai, "Clashing Dreams: Highly Educated Overseas Brides and Low-Wage U.S. Husbands"

18. Judith A. Seltzer, "Families Formed Outside of Marriage"

*19. Irene Levin, "Living Apart Together: A New Family Form"

20. Gretchen A. Stiers, "From This Day Forward: Commitment, Marriage, and Family in Lesbian and Gay Relationships"

V. Motherhood and Fatherhood

Motherhood

21. Patricia Hill Collins, "Shifting the Center: Race, Class, and Feminist Theorizing about Motherhood"

22. Rachel Salazar Parrenas, "Mothering From a Distance: Emotions, Gender, and Intergenerational Relations in Filipino Transnational Families"

*23. Teresa Toguchi Swartz, "Mothering for the State: Foster Parenting and the Challenges of Government-Contracted Carework"

Fatherhood

24. Scott Coltrane, "Fathering: Paradoxes, Contradictions, and Dilemmas"

25. Jennifer Hamer, "What It Means to Be Daddy: Fatherhood for Black Men Living Away From Their Children"

*26. Rosanna Hertz, "The Father as an Idea"

VI. Parents and Parenting, Children and Childrearing

*27. Karen V. Hansen, "Not-so-Nuclear Families: Class, Gender, and Networks of Care"

*28. Ellen E. Pinderhughes and Brenda Jones Harden, "Beyond the Birth Family: African American Children Reared by Alternative Caregivers"

*29. Katherin M. Flower Kim, "Out of Sorts: Adoption and (Un)Desirable Children"

30. Judith Stacey and Timothy J. Biblarz, "How) Does The Sexual Orientation of Parents Matter?"

31. Annette Lareau, "Invisible Inequality: Social Class and Childrearing in Black Families and White Families"

*32. Allison J. Pugh, "Consumption as Care and Belonging: Economies of Dignity in Children's Daily Lives"

VII. Grandparents and Multigenerational Relationships

33. Lynne M. Casper and Suzanne M. Bianchi, "Grandparenting"

34. Kathleen S. Bahr, "The Strengths of Apache Grandmothers: Observations on Commitment, Culture, and Caretaking"

35. Luisa Margolies, "My Mother's Hip: Lessons from the World of Eldercare"

VIII. Divorce, Remarriage, and Blended Families

*36. Michele Adams and Scott Coltrane, "Framing Divorce Reform: Media, Morality, and the Politics of Family"

*37. Carrie Yodanis, "Divorce Culture and Marital Gender Equality: A Cross-National Study"

*38. Susan Walzer and Thomas P. Oles, "Accounting for Divorce: Gender and Uncoupling Narratives"

39. Mary Ann Mason, "The Modern American Stepfamily: Problems and Possibilities"

40. William Marsiglio, "Overlooked Aspects of Stepfathering"

IX. Families and Violence

41. Kersti A. Yllo, "Through a Feminist Lens: Gender, Diversity, and Violence: Extending the Feminist Framework"

42. Staya P. Krishnan and Malahat Baig-Aminet al., "Lifting the Veil of Secrecy: Domestic Violence Against South Asian Women in the United States"

43. Claire M. Renzetti, "Toward a Better Understanding of Lesbian Battering"

44. Ola Barnett, Cindy L. Miller-Perrin, and Robin D. Perrin, "Abuse of Elders"

X. Families, Work, and Carework

45. Kathleen Gerson and Jerry A. Jacobs, "The Work-Home Crunch"

*46. Pamela Stone and Meg Lovejoy, "Fast Track Women and the 'Choice' to Stay Home"

*47. Joanna Dreby, "Negotiating Work and Parenting over the Life Course: Mexican Family Dynamics in a Binational Context"

*48. Veronica Tichenor, "Gendered Bargain: Why Wives Cannot Trade Their Money for Housework"

49. Christopher Carrington, "No Place Like Home: The Division of Domestic Labor in Lesbigay Families"

*50. Evelyn Nakano Glenn, "Creating a Caring Society"

XI. Families and Poverty

51. Mark Rank, "As American as Apple Pie: Poverty and Welfare"

52. Sharon Hays, "Flat Broke With Children: The Ground Level Results of Welfare Reform"

*53. Kathyrn Edin and Maria Kefalas, "Unmarried with Children"

*54. Lee Rainwater and Timothy M. Smeeding, "Is There Hope for America's Low-Income Children?"