Public and private families a reader

Public & Private Families A N I N T R O D U C T I O N

8eA N D R E W J . C H E R L I NJohns Hopkins University

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PUBLIC AND PRIVATE FAMILIES: AN INTRODUCTION, EIGHTH EDITION

Published by McGraw-Hill Education, 2 Penn Plaza, New York, NY 10121. Copyright © 2017 by McGraw- Hill Education. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. Previous editions © 2013, 2010, and 2008. No part of this publication may be reproduced or distributed in any form or by any means, or stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written consent of McGraw-Hill Education, including, but not limited to, in any network or other electronic storage or transmission, or broadcast for distance learning.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Cherlin, Andrew J., 1948- author. Title: Public & private families : an introduction / Andrew J. Cherlin, Johns Hopkins University. Other titles: Public and private families Description: Eighth edition. | New York, NY : McGraw-Hill Education, [2017] Identifiers: LCCN 2016018980 | ISBN 9780078027154 (alk. paper) Subjects: LCSH: Families--United States. | Families. | Family policy. Classification: LCC HQ536 .C442 2017 | DDC 306.850973—dc23 LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2016018980

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For Claire and Reid

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About the Author Andrew J. Cherlin is Benjamin H. Griswold III Professor of Public Policy and Sociology at Johns Hopkins University. He received a B.S. from Yale University in 1970 and a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of California at Los Angeles in 1976. His books include Labor’s Love Lost: The Rise and Fall of the Working-Class Family in America (2014), The Marriage-Go-Round: The State of Marriage and the Family in America Today (2009), Marriage, Divorce, Remarriage (revised and enlarged edition, 1992), Divided Families: What Happens to Children When Parents Part (with Frank F. Furstenberg, Jr., 1991), The Changing American Family and Public Policy (1988), and The New American Grandparent: A Place in the Family, A Life Apart (with Frank F. Furstenberg, Jr., 1986). In 1989–1990 he was chair of the Family Section of the American Sociological Association. In 1999 he was president of the Population Association of America, the scholarly organization for demographic research. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Academy of Political and Social Science, and the National Academy of Sciences.

In 2005 Professor Cherlin was awarded a John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation Fellowship. He received the Distinguished Career Award in 2003 from the Family Section of the American Sociological Association. In 2001 he received the Olivia S. Nordberg Award for Excellence in Writing in the Population Sciences. In 2009 he received the Irene B. Taeuber Award from the Population Association of America, in Recognition of Outstanding Accomplishments in Demographic Research. He has also received a Merit Award from the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development for his research on the effects of family structure on children. His recent articles include “Nonmarital First Births, Marriage, and Income Inequality,” in the American Sociological Review; “Family Complexity, the Family Safety Net, and Public Policy,” in the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science; “Goode’s World Revolution and Family Patterns: A Reconsideration at Fifty Years,” in Population and Development Review; and “The Deinstitutionalization of American Marriage,” in the Journal of Marriage and Family. He also has written many articles for The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Nation, Newsweek, and other periodicals. He has been interviewed on the Today Show, CBS This Morning, network evening news programs, National Public Radio’s All Things Considered, and other news programs and documentaries.

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Contents in Brief Part One Introduction, 1 1 Public and Private Families, 3 2 The History of the Family, 33

Part Two Gender, Class, and Race-Ethnicity, 69

3 Gender and Families, 71 4 Social Class and Family Inequality, 95 5 Race, Ethnicity, and Families, 119

Part Three Sexuality, Partnership, and Marriage, 153

6 Sexualities, 155 7 Cohabitation and Marriage, 181 8 Work and Families, 217

Part Four Links across the Generations, 237

9 Children and Parents, 239 10 Older People and Their Families, 265

Part Five Conflict, Disruption, and Reconstitution, 295

11 Domestic Violence, 297 12 Union Dissolution and Repartnering, 329

Part Six Family, Society, and World, 361 13 International Family Change, 363 14 The Family, the State, and Social Policy, 389

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Contents List of Boxes, xix Preface, xxi

Part One Introduction, 1

Chapter 1 Public and Private Families, 3 Looking Forward, 4

WHAT IS A FAMILY?, 5 The Public Family, 6 The Private Family, 9 Two Views, Same Family, 11

HOW DO FAMILY SOCIOLOGISTS KNOW WHAT THEY KNOW?, 13

SOCIOLOGICAL THEORY AND FAMILIES, 17 Four Widely Used Perspectives, 17

The Exchange Perspective, 17 The Symbolic Interaction Perspective, 18 The Feminist Perspective, 20 The Postmodern Perspective, 21

GLOBALIZATION AND FAMILIES, 24

FAMILY LIFE AND INDIVIDUALISM, 26

A SOCIOLOGICAL VIEWPOINT ON FAMILIES, 28

Looking Back, 30 Study Questions, 31 Key Terms, 31 Thinking about Families, 31

Boxed Features

HOW DO SOCIOLOGISTS KNOW WHAT THEY KNOW?: The National Surveys, 18

Chapter 2 The History of the Family, 33 Looking Forward, 34

WHAT DO FAMILIES DO?, 36 The Origins of Family and Kinship, 36

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THE AMERICAN FAMILY BEFORE 1776, 38 American Indian Families: The Primacy of the Tribe, 39 European Colonists: The Primacy of the Public Family, 40 Family Diversity, 41

THE EMERGENCE OF THE “MODERN” AMERICAN FAMILY: 1776–1900, 42 From Cooperation to Separation: Women’s and Men’s Spheres, 44

AFRICAN AMERICAN, MEXICAN AMERICAN, AND ASIAN IMMIGRANT FAMILIES, 46 African American Families, 46

An African Heritage?, 46 The Impact of Slavery, 47

Mexican American Families, 49 Asian Immigrant Families, 50

The Asian Heritage, 50 Asian Immigrants, 51

THE RISE OF THE PRIVATE FAMILY: 1900 –PRESENT, 52 The Early Decades, 52 The Depression Generation, 55 The 1950s, 56 The 1960s through the 1990s, 58

THE CHANGING LIFE COURSE, 61 Social Change in the Twentieth Century, 61 The New Life Stage of Emerging Adulthood, 62

The Role of Education, 62 Constrained Opportunities, 63 Declining Parental Control, 63

Emerging Adulthood and the Life-Course Perspective, 64 What History Tells Us, 64

Looking Back, 65 Study Questions, 66 Key Terms, 67 Thinking about Families, 67

Part Two Gender, Class, and Race-Ethnicity, 69

Chapter 3 Gender and Families, 71 Looking Forward, 72

THE TRANSGENDER MOMENT, 72

THE GESTATIONAL CONSTRUCTION OF GENDER, 75

THE CHILDHOOD CONSTRUCTION OF GENDER, 77 Parental Socialization, 77 The Media, 78 Peer Groups, 78

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THE CONTINUAL CONSTRUCTION OF GENDER, 80 Doing and Undoing Gender, 80

GENDER AS SOCIAL STRUCTURE, 83

THINKING ABOUT GENDER DIFFERENCES TODAY, 86 Causes at Multiple Levels, 86 The Slowing of Gender Change, 87 The Asymmetry of Gender Change, 88 Intersectionality, 88

MEN AND MASCULINITIES, 89

THE CONTRIBUTIONS OF GENDER STUDIES, 90

Looking Back, 92 Study Questions, 93 Key Terms, 93 Thinking about Families, 93

Boxed Features

HOW DO SOCIOLOGISTS KNOW WHAT THEY KNOW?: Feminist Research Methods, 80

FAMILIES AND PUBLIC POLICY: Do Employers Discriminate Against Women?, 84

Chapter 4 Social Class and Family Inequality, 95 Looking Forward, 96

FAMILIES AND THE ECONOMY, 97 The Growing Importance of Education, 97 Diverging Demographics, 99

Age at Marriage, 99 Childbearing Outside of Marriage, 99 The Marriage Market, 100 Divorce, 101 Putting the Differences Together, 101

DEFINING SOCIAL CLASS, 102 Bringing in Gender and Family, 103 Social Classes and Status Groups, 104

The Four-Class Model, 104 Three Status Groups, 107

SOCIAL CLASS DIFFERENCES IN FAMILY LIFE, 107 Assistance from Kin, 108

Kinship among the Poor and Near Poor, 108 Chronic Poverty and Kin Networks, 108 The Limits of Kin Networks, 109 Kinship among the Nonpoor, 110

Social Class and Child Rearing, 110 Social Class and Parental Values, 110 Concerted Cultivation versus Natural Growth, 111

SOCIAL CLASS AND THE FAMILY, 113

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Looking Back, 115 Study Questions, 116 Key Terms, 116 Thinking about Families, 117

Boxed Features

FAMILIES AND PUBLIC POLICY: Homelessness, by the Numbers, 106

Chapter 5 Race, Ethnicity, and Families, 119 Looking Forward, 120

RACIAL-ETHNIC GROUPS, 121 Constructing Racial-Ethnic Groups, 122 “Whiteness” as Ethnicity, 124

AFRICAN AMERICAN FAMILIES, 127 Marriage and Childbearing, 127

Marriage, 128 Childbearing Outside of Marriage, 128 Single-Parent Families, 128

Explaining the Trends, 128 Availability, 129 Culture, 130 Reconciling the Explanations, 133

Gender and Black Families, 133 The Rise of Middle-Class Families, 133

HISPANIC FAMILIES, 136 Mexican Americans, 136 Puerto Ricans, 138 Cuban Americans, 139

ASIAN AMERICAN FAMILIES, 141

SOCIAL CAPITAL AND IMMIGRANT FAMILIES, 143

AMERICAN INDIAN FAMILIES, 144

RACIAL AND ETHNIC INTERMARRIAGE, 146 Variation in Intermarriage, 146 Intersectionality and Intermarriage, 147

RACE, ETHNICITY, AND KINSHIP, 148

Looking Back, 149 Study Questions, 150 Key Terms, 150 Thinking about Families, 151

Boxed Feature

FAMILIES AND PUBLIC POLICY: How Should Multiracial Families Be Counted?, 124

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Part Three Sexuality, Partnership, and Marriage, 153

Chapter 6 Sexualities, 155 Looking Forward, 156

SEXUAL IDENTITIES, 158 The Emergence of Sexual Identities, 159

Sexual Acts versus Sexual Identities, 159 The Emergence of “Heterosexuality” and “Homosexuality”, 159

The Determinants of Sexual Identities, 160 The Social Constructionist Perspective, 160 The Integrative Perspective, 164 Points of Agreement and Disagreement, 165

Questioning Sexual Identities, 166 Queer Theory, 166 Strengths and Limitations, 167

SEXUALITY IN AND OUT OF RELATIONSHIPS, 168 Sexuality in Committed Relationships, 170 Sexual Activity Outside of Relationships, 170

ADOLESCENT SEXUALITY AND PREGNANCY, 172 Changes in Sexual Behavior, 172 The Teenage Pregnancy “Problem”, 173 The Consequences for Teenage Mothers, 173

SEXUALITY AND FAMILY LIFE, 176

Looking Back, 178 Study Questions, 178 Key Terms, 179 Thinking about Families, 179

Boxed Features

HOW DO SOCIOLOGISTS KNOW WHAT THEY KNOW?: Asking about Sensitive Behavior, 162

FAMILIES AND PUBLIC POLICY: The Rise and Fall of the Teenage Pregnancy Problem, 176

Chapter 7 Cohabitation and Marriage, 181 Looking Forward, 182

FORMING A UNION, 183 American Courtship, 184 The Rise and Fall of Dating, 185 Independent Living, 186 Living Apart Relationships, 187

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COHABITATION, 188 Cohabitation and Class, 191

College-Educated Cohabitants, 191 Moderately Educated Cohabitants, 192 The Least-Educated Cohabitants, 192 Summing Up, 194

Cohabitation among Lesbians and Gay Men, 194

MARRIAGE, 195 From Institution to Companionship, 196

The Institutional Marriage, 196 The Companionate Marriage, 196

From Companionship to Individualization, 197 Toward the Individualistic Marriage, 198 The Influence of Economic Change, 199

THE CURRENT CONTEXT OF MARRIAGE, 200 Why Do People Still Marry?, 200 Marriage as the Capstone Experience, 201 The Wedding as a Status Symbol, 201 Marriage as Investment, 203 Marriage and Religion, 204 Same-Sex Marriage, 205 Is Marriage Good for You?, 206 The Marriage Market, 207

The Specialization Model, 208 The Income-Pooling Model, 209

SOCIAL CHANGE AND INTIMATE UNIONS, 209 Changes in Union Formation, 210 Marriage as an Ongoing Project, 212 Toward the Egalitarian Marriage?, 212

Looking Back, 214 Study Questions, 215 Key Terms, 215 Thinking about Families, 215

Boxed Features FAMILIES AND PUBLIC POLICY: The Legal Rights of Cohabiting Couples, 189

Chapter 8 Work and Families, 217 Looking Forward, 218

FROM SINGLE-EARNER TO DUAL-EARNER MARRIAGES, 219 Behind the Rise, 220 A Profound Change, 221

THE DIVISION OF LABOR IN MARRIAGES, 222 Rethinking Caring Work, 222

Breaking the Work/Family Boundary, 222 Valuing Caring Labor, 222 Toward an Ethic of Care, 224

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Who’s Doing the Care Work?, 224 Wives’ Earnings and Domestic Work, 226 The Current State of Sharing, 226

WORK-FAMILY BALANCE, 227 Overworked and Underworked Americans, 228 When Demands of Work and Family Life Conflict, 229

Task Size, 229 Task Stress, 230

Toward a Family-Responsive Workplace?, 232

Looking Back, 235 Study Questions, 235 Key Terms, 236 Thinking about Families, 236

Boxed Features

FAMILIES AND PUBLIC POLICY: Paid Parental Leave, 233

Part Four Links across the Generations, 237

Chapter 9 Children and Parents, 239 Looking Forward, 240

WHAT ARE PARENTS SUPPOSED TO DO FOR CHILDREN?, 240 Socialization as Support and Control, 241 Socialization and Ethnicity, 241 Socialization and Social Class, 242 Socialization and Gender, 243 Religion and Socialization, 244 What’s Important?, 244 What Difference Do Fathers Make?, 245 Adoption, 246

Domestic Adoption, 247 Transnational Adoption, 247

Lesbian and Gay Parenthood, 249

WHAT MIGHT PREVENT PARENTS FROM DOING WHAT THEY ARE SUPPOSED TO DO?, 250 Unemployment and Poverty, 250

Unemployment, 251 Poverty, 252

Family Instability, 252 Different Kinds of Households, 253 Multiple Transitions, 254

Family Complexity, 254 Mass Incarceration, 255

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Time Apart, 256 How Parents Compensate for Time Apart, 256 The Consequences of Nonparental Care, 257

THE WELL-BEING OF AMERICAN CHILDREN, 257 Which Children?, 257 Diverging Destinies, 259

Poor and Wealthy Children, 260 Children in the Middle, 260

Looking Back, 262 Study Questions, 263 Key Terms, 263 Thinking about Families, 263

Boxed Features

HOW DO SOCIOLOGISTS KNOW WHAT THEY KNOW?: Measuring the Well-Being of Children, 258

FAMILIES AND PUBLIC POLICY: Do Children Have Rights?, 261

Chapter 10 Older People and Their Families, 265 Looking Forward, 266

THE MODERNIZATION OF OLD AGE, 268 Mortality Decline, 268

The Statistics, 268 The Social Consequences, 268

Fertility Decline, 270 Rising Standard of Living, 271

Variations by Age, Race, and Gender, 271 Social Consequences, 272

Separate Living Arrangements, 274 Contact, 277

INTERGENERATIONAL SUPPORT, 278 Mutual Assistance, 278

Altruism, 279 Exchange, 279

Moving in with Grandparents, 280 Multigenerational Households, 280 Skipped-Generation Households, 281 Rewards and Costs, 281

The Return of the Extended Family?, 281 Care of Older Persons with Disabilities, 283 The Rewards and Costs of Caregiving, 284

THE QUALITY OF INTERGENERATIONAL TIES, 284 Intergenerational Solidarity, 285 Intergenerational Conflict and Ambivalence, 288 The Effects of Divorce and Remarriage, 289

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THE FAMILY NATIONAL GUARD, 290

Looking Back, 292 Study Questions, 293 Key Terms, 294 Thinking about Families, 294

Boxed Features

FAMILIES AND PUBLIC POLICY: Financing Social Security and Medicare, 272

Part Five Conflict, Disruption, and Reconstitution, 295

Chapter 11 Domestic Violence, 297 Looking Forward, 298

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE IN HISTORICAL PERSPECTIVE, 299 Early History, 299 The Twentieth Century, 300

The Political Model of Domestic Violence, 300 The Medical Model of Domestic Violence, 300

INTIMATE PARTNER VIOLENCE, 302 Two Kinds of Violence?, 302 Trends and Prevalence in Intimate Partner Violence, 305

Trends, 305 Prevalence, 306

Which Partnerships Are at Risk?, 308 Marital Status, 308 Social Class, 308

Child Abuse, 309 Incidence, 310 Sexual Abuse and Its Consequences, 311 Physical Abuse and Its Consequences, 312 Poly-victimization, 313 Poverty or Abuse?, 313

Elder Abuse, 313

SEXUAL AGGRESSION AND VIOLENCE IN EMERGING ADULTHOOD, 317

EXPLANATIONS, 319 Social Learning Perspective, 320 Frustration–Aggression Perspective, 320 Social Exchange Perspective, 321

DOMESTIC VIOLENCE AND PUBLIC POLICY, 322 Policy Choices, 322 Social Programs, 323

Looking Back, 324 Study Questions, 325

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Key Terms, 326 Thinking about Families, 326

Boxed Features

HOW DO SOCIOLOGISTS KNOW WHAT THEY KNOW?: Advocates and Estimates: How Large (or Small) Are Social Problems?, 306

FAMILIES AND PUBLIC POLICY: The Swinging Pendulum of Foster Care Policy, 314

Chapter 12 Union Dissolution and Repartnering, 329 Looking Forward, 330

FACTORS ASSOCIATED WITH UNION DISSOLUTION, 333 Societal Risk Factors, 333

Cultural Change, 334 Men’s Employment, 334 Women’s Employment, 335 Summing Up, 335

Individual Risk Factors, 336 Age at Entry into Union, 336 Race and Ethnicity, 336 Premarital Cohabitation, 337 Parental Divorce, 338 Spouse’s Similarity, 338

HOW UNION DISSOLUTION AFFECTS CHILDREN, 339 Child Custody, 339 Contact, 340 Economic Support, 341 Psychosocial Effects, 344

The Crisis Period, 344 Multiple Transitions, 345 Long-term Adjustment, 345 Genetically Informed Studies, 347 In Sum, 348

REPARTNERING, 349 Stepfamily Diversity, 349 The Demography of Stepfamilies and Remarriages, 350

THE EFFECTS OF STEPFAMILY LIFE ON CHILDREN, 351 Cohabiting v. Married Stepfamilies, 352 Age at Leaving Home, 352

UNION DISSOLUTION AND REPARTNERING: SOME LESSONS, 353 The Primacy of the Private Family, 353 New Kinship Ties, 355 The Impact on Children, 356

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Looking Back, 357 Study Questions, 358 Key Terms, 359 Thinking about Families, 359

Boxed Features

HOW DO SOCIOLOGISTS KNOW WHAT THEY KNOW?: Measuring the Divorce Rate, 331

FAMILIES AND PUBLIC POLICY: Child Support Obligations, 342

Part Six Family, Society, and World, 361

Chapter 13 International Family Change, 363 Looking Forward, 364

THE CONVERGENCE THESIS, 365

THE GLOBAL SOUTH, 366 The Decline of Parental Control, 367

Rising Age at Marriage, 368 Hybrid Marriage, 369

The Spread of the Companionate Ideal, 371 How Social Norms Change, 372 The Spread of Postmodern Ideals, 374 The Decline of Fertility, 375

GLOBALIZATION AND FAMILY CHANGE, 375 The Globalization of Production, 376 Transnational Families, 377

FAMILY CHANGE IN THE WESTERN NATIONS, 380 Globalization and Family Diversity in the West, 381 The Return to Complexity, 382

THE PAST AND THE FUTURE, 383

Looking Back, 385 Study Questions, 386 Key Terms, 386 Thinking about Families, 387

Chapter 14 The Family, the State, and Social Policy, 389 Looking Forward, 390

THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE WELFARE STATE, 393 The Welfare State, 393 The Rise and Fall of the Family Wage System, 394

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FAMILY POLICY DEBATES, 396 The Conservative Viewpoint, 396 The Liberal Viewpoint, 398 Which Families Are Poor?, 399

SUPPORTING THE WORKING POOR, 400 The Earned Income Tax Credit, 401 Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, 402

Reasons for the Policy Reversal, 403 The Effects of Welfare Reform, 404

CURRENT DEBATES, 405 Supporting Marriage, 405 Same-Sex Marriage, 406 Nonmarital Childbearing, 407 Responsible Fatherhood, 408 Work–Family Balance, 409

SIGNS OF CONVERGENCE?, 411

Looking Back, 412 Study Questions, 413 Key Terms, 413 Thinking about Families, 413

Boxed Features

FAMILIES AND PUBLIC POLICY: The Abortion Dilemma, 397

Glossary, 414 References, 420 Name Index, 450 Subject Index, 458

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Families and Public Policy Chapter 3 Do Employers Discriminate Against Women?, 84 4 Homelessness, by the Numbers, 106 5 How Should Multiracial Families Be Counted?, 124 6 The Rise and Fall of the Teenage Pregnancy Problem, 176 7 The Legal Rights of Cohabiting Couples, 189 8 Paid Parental Leave, 233 9 Do Children Have Rights?, 261 10 Financing Social Security and Medicare, 272 11 The Swinging Pendulum of Foster Care Policy, 314 12 Child Support Obligations, 342 14 The Abortion Dilemma, 397

How Do Sociologists Know What They Know? Chapter 1 The National Surveys, 18 3 Feminist Research Methods, 80 6 Asking about Sensitive Behavior, 162 9 Measuring the Well-Being of Children, 258 11 Advocates and Estimates: How Large (or Small) Are Social Problems?, 306 12 Measuring the Divorce Rate, 331

List of Boxes

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Preface The sociology of the family is deceptively hard to study. Unlike, say, physics, the topic is familiar (a word whose very root is Latin for “family”) because virtually everyone grows up in families. Therefore, it can seem “easy” to study the family because students can bring to bear their personal knowledge of the subject. Some textbooks play to this familiarity by mainly providing students with an opportunity to better understand their private lives. The authors never stray too far from the individual experiences of the readers, focusing on personal choices such as whether to marry and whether to have children. To be sure, giving students insight into the social forces that shape their personal decisions about family life is a worthwhile objective. Nevertheless, the challenge of writing about the sociology of the family is also to help students understand that the significance of families extends beyond personal experience. Today, as in the past, the family is the site of not only private decisions but also activities that matter to our society as a whole.

These activities center on taking care of people who are unable to fully care for themselves, most notably children and the elderly. Anyone who follows social issues knows of the often-expressed concern about whether, given developments such as the increases in divorce and childbearing outside of marriage, we are raising the next gen- eration adequately. Anyone anxious about the well-being of the rapidly expanding older population (as well as the escalating cost of providing financial and medical assis- tance to them) knows the concern about whether family members will continue to provide adequate assistance to them. Indeed, rarely does a month pass without these issues appearing on the covers of magazines and the front pages of newspapers.

In this textbook, consequently, I have written about the family in two senses: the private family, in which we live most of our personal lives, and the public family, in which adults perform tasks that are important to society. My goal is to give students a thorough grounding in both aspects. It is true that the two are related—taking care of children adequately, for instance, requires the love and affection that family mem- bers express privately toward each other. But the public side of the family deserves equal time with the private side.

Organization This book is divided into 6 parts and 14 chapters. Part One (“Introduction”) introduces the concepts of public and private families and examines how sociologists and other social scientists study them. It also provides an overview of the history of the family. Part Two (“Gender, Class, and Race-Ethnicity”) deals with the three key dimensions of social stratification in family life: gender, social class, and race-ethnicity. In Part Three (“Sexuality, Partnership, and Marriage”), the focus shifts to the private family. The sec- tion examines the emergence of the modern concept of sexuality, the formation of partnerships, and the degree of persistence and change in the institution of marriage. Finally, it covers the complex connections between work and family.

Part Four (“Links across the Generations”) explores how well the public family is meeting its responsibilities for children and the elderly. Part Five (“Conflict, Disruption,

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and Reconstitution”) deals with the consequences of conflict and disruption in family life. It first studies intimate partner violence. Then the formation and dissolution of mar- riages and cohabiting unions are discussed. Finally, in Part Six (“Family, Society, and World”) family change around the world and social and political issues involving the family and the state are discussed.

Special Features Public and Private Families is distinguishable from other textbooks in several impor- tant ways.

First and foremost, it explores both the public and the private family. The public/ private distinction that underlies the book’s structure is intended to provide a more balanced portrait of contemporary life. Furthermore, the focus on the public family leads to a much greater emphasis on government policy toward the family than in most other textbooks. In fact, most chapters include a short, boxed essay under the general title, “Families and Public Policy,” to stimulate student interest and make the book relevant to current political debates.

In addition to this unique emphasis on both the Public and Private Families, the text:

• Addresses the global nature of family change. Although the emphasis in the book is on the contemporary United States, no text should ignore the impor- tant cross-national connections among families in our globalized economy. New in this edition, the text includes a chapter on “International Family Change” that provides a comprehensive treatment of the major types of change that are occurring in family life around the world (Chapter 13).

• Includes distinctive chapters. The attention to the public family led me to write several chapters that are not included in some sociology of the family textbooks. These include, in addition to the new chapter on international family change, Chapter 14, “The Family, the State, and Social Policy,” and Chapter 10, “Older People and Their Families.” These chapters examine issues of great current inter- est, such as income assistance to poor families, the costs of the Social Security and Medicare programs, and the extension of marriage to same-sex couples. Throughout these and other chapters, variations by race, ethnicity, and gender are explored.

• Gives special attention to the research methods used by family sociologists. To give students an understanding of how sociologists study the family, I include a section in Chapter 1 titled, “How Do Family Sociologists Know What They Know?” This material explains the ways that family sociologists go about their research. Then in other chapters, I include boxed essays under a similar title on subjects ranging from national surveys to feminist research methods.

Pedagogy Each chapter begins in a way that engages the reader: the controversy over whether the Scarborough 11 in Hartford, Connecticut, constitute a family (Chapter 1); the transgender moment (Chapter 3); the letters that Alexander Hamilton wrote to a man he loved (Chapter 6); the courtship of Maud Rittenhouse in the 1880s (Chapter 7); and so forth. And each of the six parts of the book is preceded by a brief introduction that sets the stage.

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Several Quick Review boxes in each chapter include bulleted, one-sentence summa- ries of the key points of the preceding sections. Each chapter also contains the follow- ing types of questions:

• Looking Forward—Questions that preview the chapter themes and topics. • Ask Yourself—Two questions that appear at the end of each of the boxed features. • Looking Back—Looking Forward questions reiterated at the end of each chap-

ter, around which the chapter summaries are organized. • Thinking about Families—Two questions that appear at the end of each chapter

and are designed to encourage critical thinking about the “public” and the “private” family.

What’s New in Each Chapter? As always, all statistics in the text and all figures have been updated whenever pos- sible. Many minor revisions have been made in each chapter. The most prominent addition is a new chapter on international family change. It pulls together some material that had been included in other chapters in the previous editions, but it also adds much new material. Other changes are presented in the following list:

CHAPTER 1. PUBLIC AND PRIVATE FAMILIES

• A discussion of the “Scarborough 11” controversy and what it can teach us about the definition of the family begins the chapter.

• The section on “Marriage and Individualism” has been moved to later in the chapter and retitled “Family Life and Individualism.”

• The “Families and the Great Recession” boxed features that were in several chapters in the previous editions have been deleted now that the Great Reces- sion has been over for several years.

CHAPTER 2. THE HISTORY OF THE FAMILY

• The family and public policy boxed feature on divorce reform, which was out of date given the recent decline in divorce, has been deleted. Chapters 3 through 13 still include family and public policy boxes.

• The stage of life that was called “early adulthood” in the previous edition is now called “emerging adulthood,” which is the term most researchers and writers are using.

• Discussion of Lawrence Stone’s term affective individualism, which is not used much in current work, has been deleted. However, individualism and its two forms, utilitarian individualism and expressive individualism, are still empha- sized. See the “Family Life and Individualism” section of Chapter 1.

CHAPTER 3. GENDER AND FAMILIES

• An opening section that discusses the great increase in public attention to transgender people has been added.

• A new subsection on intersectionality has been added. • The boxed feature “Feminist Research Methods” has been updated.

CHAPTER 4. SOCIAL CLASS AND FAMILY INEQUALITY

• The section on “Family Life and the Globalization of Production” has been moved to the new Chapter 13 on “International Family Change.”

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• Citations to growing middle-class parental investment of time and money in children’s development are new.

CHAPTER 5. RACE, ETHNICITY, AND FAMILIES

• The “How Should Multiracial Families Be Counted?” boxed feature has been updated to discuss how the Census Bureau is considering dropping the term “race” from the 2020 Census.

• Updated section on Mexican Americans notes that net migration from Mexico is nearly zero.

• Discussion of the intermarriage boom has been updated.

CHAPTER 6. SEXUALITIES

• The section on hooking up has been moved from Chapter 7 to this chapter.

CHAPTER 7. COHABITATION AND MARRIAGE

• Same-sex marriage is discussed in a new subsection. • Recent articles claiming that a new equilibrium of stable, egalitarian marriage

is emerging in most Western countries are discussed. • The section on living apart relationships has been moved from Chapter 6 to

this chapter. • The subsection on “The Globalization of Love” has been moved to new Chapter 13.