Marriages and Families: Changes, Choices, and Constraints, 9th edition

Published by Pearson (July 13, 2018) © 2019

  • Nijole V. Benokraitis University of Baltimore
  • Cheryl Buehler

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For courses in Marriage and the Family.

A comprehensive introduction to the issues families face today

Marriages and Families: Changes, Choices and Constraints explores contemporary changes in the family through the lenses of the choices that are available to family members and the constraints that often limit their choices. Authors Nijole Benokraitis and Cheryl Buehler examine a variety of cross-cultural and multicultural scenarios to help students better understand the families in which they were raised as well as the families they may be forming themselves.

The 9th Edition offers coverage of contemporary topics such as adult children living at home and the gray divorce revolution.

Hallmark features of this title

  • Data Digest infographics provide a thought-provoking overview of current statistics and trends that makes the numbers more interesting and digestible.
  • Material from the authors' files, including anecdotes and examples adapted from classroom discussions, illustrate abstract theories and concepts.
  • Changes features show how marriages and families have changed or are expected to change in the future.
  • Choices features illustrate the kinds of decisions families can make to improve their well-being.
  • Constraints features point out some obstacles that limit our choices, highlighting the impact of macro-level socioeconomic, demographic and cultural factors.
  • Since You Asked questions in each chapter introduce important concepts or preview controversial issues.

New and updated features of this title

  • UPDATED: Chapter 1, The Changing Family, offers new material on adult children living at home, the Women's March of 2017 and single mothers by choice.
  • UPDATED: Chapter 5, Socialization and Gender Roles, includes new material on transgender people and a new section on gender and sports.
  • UPDATED: Chapter 14, Families in Later Life, includes new sections on marital status, living arrangements and the gray divorce revolution.
  • UPDATED: Chapters 3 and 4 and Chapters 11 and 12 have been merged to consolidate interrelated topics that had previously been addressed in separate chapters. This ensures a better flow of ideas and decreases the number of chapters to accommodate teaching schedules.
  • REVISED: Stop and Think critical thinking questions, originally at the end of features throughout the text, now appear in each major section. They encourage students to reflect on current topics and to develop their views of family life and society using theory and research.
  • REVISED: Making Connections features, expanded to each major section of each chapter, prompt students to identify links between course material and their own lives.

Features of Revel for the 9th Edition

  • The Pearson Originals docuseries explains contemporary issues and current events, helping students to connect with stories on a personal level and to contextualize core concepts.
  • UPDATED: Current Event Bulletins, written by the text's authors, enable students to connect key concepts with real-life current events. Our authors regularly add new or revised articles to ensure that the content remains current. Updated articles include the following:
    • The Rise of Single-father Homes
    • Immigrant Family Life: Close Knit but Stressful
    • What Does Sexual Competence Mean for Teens?
  • Interactive graphs, maps and activities featuring innovative Social Explorer technology allow students to explore data as they read, boosting engagement with key concepts.

1. The Changing Family
2. Studying the Family
3. Historical and Contemporary Family Diversity
4. The Economy and Family Life
5. Socialization and Gender Roles
6. Love and Loving Relationships
7. Sexuality and Sexual Expression throughout Life
8. Choosing Others: Dating and Mate Selection
9. Singlehood and Cohabitation
10. Marriage and Communication in Intimate Relationships
11. Parenting: More Choices and Constraints
12. Domestic Violence and Other Family Health Issues
13. Separation, Divorce, Remarriage, and Stepfamilies
14. Families in Later Life

About our authors

Nijole V. Benokraitis is professor emerita of sociology at the University of Baltimore. She received a B.A. in sociology and English from Emmanuel College in Boston, a master's degree in sociology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Texas at Austin.

A strong proponent of applied sociology, Professor Benokraitis enlisted her students in community service activities such as tutoring low-income high school students and volunteering research services to nonprofit organizations. She has authored, co-authored, edited or co-edited almost a dozen books, including SOC (now in its 6th Edition); Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity: Action, Inaction, Reaction; Contemporary Ethnic Families in the United States: Characteristics, Variations, and Dynamics; Feuds about Families: Conservative, Centrist, Liberal, and Feminist Perspectives; Modern Sexism: Blatant, Subtle, and Covert Discrimination; Subtle Sexism: Current Practices and Prospects for Change; and 8 editions of Seeing Ourselves: Classic, Contemporary, and Cross-Cultural Readings in Sociology. She has also published numerous articles and book chapters on topics such as institutional racism, discrimination against women in government and higher education, and family policy.

See www.allmysoc.com to find out more about Dr. Benokraitis's background, selected publications and contact information. She and her husband have 2 adult children and 1 grandchild.

Cheryl Buehler is professor of human development and family studies (HDFS) at the University of North Carolina Greensboro. She earned a B.S. in home economics education from Iowa State University, and an M.S. and Ph.D. in family social science at the University of Minnesota. Professor Buehler teaches undergraduate and graduate courses on family relationships within diverse contexts, family theories and research methods.

Dr. Buehler has published over 100 papers on divorce, marital relationships, parenting, family functioning, and adolescent development in academic journals such as Journal of Marriage and the Family, Journal of Family Issues, Journal of Family Psychology, Journal of Family Theory and Review, Child Development, Developmental Psychology and Journal of Youth and Adolescence. She has also served as associate editor of several academic journals, including the Journal of Marriage and Family, Family Relations and Journal of Family Theory and Review. Dr. Buehler was recently the director of graduate studies in HDFS and the interim department chair. Her current research interests include teens' psychophysiological response patterns in stressful circumstances and predictors of infants' weight problems.

Professor Buehler is an active family member in several family systems, including a central 1 that includes her husband of many years and their 2 dogs. Dr. Buehler can be contacted at cbuehler@uncg.edu.

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