Full Description
One of the most surprising and controversial social debates of the past two decades has been about the meaning and importance of marriage and the family in contemporary American life. Referred to by some as a culture "war over the family," the debate has pitted those concerned about the weakening of the traditional married-parent nuclear family, especially in its impact on children, against those arguing that nothing has gone wrong with families--that they are merely "diversifying." David Popenoe has been one of the most influential figures in laying out for a wide audience the importance of "family decline," and what it means for our children, our society, and our future.
Contents
1: Family Decline; 1: Family Decline in America; 2: American Family Decline, 1960-1990: A Review and Appraisal; 2: Marriage and the Family Today; 3: The Family Condition of America: Cultural Change and Public Policy; 4: Family Values: A Communitarian Position; 5: The Evolution of Marriage and the Problem of Stepfamilies: A Biosocial Perspective; 6: A World Without Fathers; 3: Rebuilding the Nest; 7: Fostering the New Familism: A Goal for America; 8: The Roots of Declining Social Virtue: Family, Community, and the Need for a "Natural Communities Policy"; 9: Modern Marriage: Revising the Cultural Script; 10: Challenging the Culture of Fatherlessness; 11: The Marriage Movement; 12: Can the Nuclear Family be Revived?; 13: A Marriage Research Agenda for the Twenty-First Century: Ten Critical Questions; 4: Part Looking Back; 14: Remembering My Father: An Intellectual Portrait of "The Man Who Saved Marriages"; 15: The War Over the Family: America's Debate Over the Decline of the Two-Parent Family
