Seamon explores the historical, theological, and societal dynamics of religious intermarriage as a way to introduce scholars to the myriad of factors that have contributed and will continue to contribute to the complete transformation of religion and Christianity in the twenty-first century.

The contributors to Marriage in America, inspired by the philosophy of communitarianism, consider an extensive roster of innovative policies and practices that are intended to promote a more supportive atmosphere for American marriages. A wide range of viewpoints are represented, with essays by legal scholars, social scientists, public policy advocates, family activists, and government program administrators. Visit our website for sample chapters!

This wide-ranging resource will help readers understand the history and current state of marriage and divorce in the United States, including their many cultural, economic, political, legal, and religious facets. Coverage includes information and insights on broad trends in relationships that are changing the landscape of American society, such as childcare, delayed marriages, blended families, and prevalence of marriage and divorce among various socioeconomic groups. In addition, the encyclopedia features in-depth entries covering high-interest issues that are shaping the character of marriage, divorce, relationships, and family life in the 21st century, including economic/legal topics (child support, prenups, divisions of assets in divorce, the wedding industry, no-fault divorce, legal representation in divorce, and economic independence as a factor in separations/divorce); other divorce factors (infidelity, parenthood, illness, domestic abuse, and child abuse); and a host of other legal/cultural issues, factors, and phenomena, both current and historical.

This book is the first comprehensive and systematic study of cross-class romance films throughout the history of American cinema. It provides vivid discussions of these romantic films, analyses their normative patterns and thematic concerns, traces how they were shaped by inequalities of gender and class in American society, and explains why they were especially popular from World War I through the roaring twenties and the Great Depression. In the vast majority of cross-class romance films the female is poor or from the working class, the male is wealthy or from the upper class, and the romance ends successfully in marriage or the promise of marriage.

This book examines the present state of family law in America. This third edition captures recent developments, including the transformation of the institution of marriage to encompass same-sex marriage. In the discussion of same-sex marriage, Professor Katz analyses each opinion, majority and dissenting, in the case of Obergefell v. Hodges, the United States Supreme Court case that lifted the ban on same-sex marriage. Themes include the tension between individual autonomy and governmental regulation in all aspects of family law, the extent to which relationships established before marriage are being regulated, and how marriage is being redefined to take into account gender equality and the legal recognition of same-sex marriage. It demonstrates how the definition of marriage as a partnership in which the individual spouse's rights are recognized has resulted in protection of the vulnerable spouse. It also examines fault and no-fault divorce procedures and the extent to which these procedures reflect social realities. This volume describes state intervention into the parent and child relationship and how this is reflected in the re-examination of the privacy of the family unit. It concludes with a discussion of the conventional model of adoption of children and how new assisted reproductive technologies are having an impact on family formation, particularly adoption, to take into account new family forms.

In this accessible, engaging, and up-to-date course book, Susan L. Brown employs ethnographic vignettes and demographic data to introduce students to twenty-first century perspectives on contemporary families. Appropriate as a primary or secondary text in classes on family and marriage, this book probes momentous shifts in the definition of family, such as the legalization of same-sex marriage and policy debates on welfare reform and work-family issues. Brown also explores the rise in nonmarital childbearing and single-mother families and the decline of “traditional” marriage by delving into the historical roots of family change, current trends of family formation and dissolution, and the implications of family change for the well-being of adults and children. With a lens toward socioeconomic inequality and racial-ethnic variation in family patterns, Families in America illustrates how family diversity is now the norm. The Sociology in the Twenty-First Century series introduces students to a range of sociological issues of broad interest in the United States today, with each volume addressing topics such as family, race, immigration, gender, education, and social inequality. These books—intended for classroom use—will highlight findings from current, rigorous research and demographic data while including stories about people’s experiences to illustrate major themes in an accessible manner. Learn more about the Sociology in the Twenty-First Century Series.

The third edition of Handbook of Marriage and the Family describes, analyzes, synthesizes, and critiques the current research and theory about family relationships, family structural variations, and the role of families in society. This updated Handbook provides the most comprehensive state-of-the art assessment of the existing knowledge of family life, with particular attention to variations due to gender, socioeconomic, race, ethnic, cultural, and life-style diversity. The Handbook also aims to provide the best synthesis of our existing scholarship on families that will be a primary source for scholars and professionals but also serve as the primary graduate text for graduate courses on family relationships and the roles of families in society. In addition, the involvement of chapter authors from a variety of fields including family psychology, family sociology, child development, family studies, public health, and family therapy, gives the Handbook a multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary framework.

Single mothers face unique economic challenges, which have persisted despite women's gains in higher education and the workplace. Drawing on forty years of data from two national surveys, Nicholas H. Wolfinger and Matthew McKeever explore the contradictions that lie at the heart of single motherhood. They find that some single mothers are doing better even as others have fallen through the cracks. Providing an in-depth look into the economics of single motherhood, Thanks for Nothing offers the most detailed statistical portrait of single mothers to date and, importantly, provides concrete suggestions for how policymakers should respond to persisting inequalities among mothers.

In 2010 approximately 15 percent of all new marriages in the United States were between spouses of different racial, ethnic, or religious backgrounds, raising increasingly relevant questions regarding the multicultural identities of new spouses and their offspring. But while new census categories and a growing body of statistics provide data, they tell us little about the inner workings of day-to-day life for such couples and their children. JewAsian is a qualitative examination of the intersection of race, religion, and ethnicity in the increasing number of households that are Jewish American and Asian American. Helen Kiyong Kim and Noah Samuel Leavitt’s book explores the larger social dimensions of intermarriages to explain how these particular unions reflect not only the identity of married individuals but also the communities to which they belong. Using in-depth interviews with couples and the children of Jewish American and Asian American marriages, Kim and Leavitt’s research sheds much-needed light on the everyday lives of these partnerships and how their children negotiate their own identities in the twenty-first century.