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Handbook of World Families
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Handbook of World Families

  • Bert N. Adams - University of Wisconsin - Madison, Chile, University of Wisconsin, USA
  • Jan Trost - Uppsala University, Sweden

November 2004 | 664 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc

Praise for the Handbook of World Families:

"At a time when we are moving more and more toward a global village, this ambitious book provides evidence of world-wide trends in families and family relations. It also illustrates the resilience of local cultures, seen in variations among nations in trends and responses to them. This is a very useful resource for obtaining the kind of baseline information that is essential to comparative work. As well, a number of chapters contribute to our understanding of the complexities and politics of family life, starting with what is meant by family. This book will educate many about other parts of the world and the central place of families in them."

—Ingrid Arnet Connidis, University of Western Ontario

"In the Handbook of World Families, Bert Adams and Jan Trost, two of the leading scholars in the field of comparative family studies, have masterfully edited a book that comparatively examines families from 25 nations located around the world. The chapter contributors have both theoretical and research knowledge as well as lived experiences of respective nation's families. The result is a well written, highly informed, and authoritative handbook that investigates an extensive range of family issues from local, national, and global perspectives."
-Mark Hutter, Rowan University

What defines a family? The term family is very complex with a vast range of meanings. It can mean a married couple with children, a single parent and child, a married couple with no children, even pets and close friends can be considered to some people as family. The variety is enormous and this family diversity is present not just in the United States, but around the world.

The Handbook of World Families provides a cross-cultural perspective on the family by examining family life in 25 countries worldwide. The countries included in this volume are organized by six world regions including Africa, Asia/South Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and North America-offering readers the most thorough and balanced cross-cultural examination of world families available. Editors Bert N. Adams and Jan Trost, along with contributions by top family studies experts from around the world, ensure reliable, cutting-edge research and perspectives.

While other books may provide a cross-cultural perspective on the family, this book offers a unique comparative view. In doing so, each chapter of the Handbook is organized in a parallel format beginning with an introduction to the region, followed by coverage of mate selection, fertility and socialization, gender roles, marriage, stresses and violence, divorce and remarriage, kinship, aging and death, family and other institutions, and special topics specific to the region.

The Handbook of World Families is an excellent addition to any academic library and an important resource for scholars and academics in the fields of Family Studies and Sociology. It can also be used in graduate level courses on the family in cross-cultural perspective, comparative family organization, and world families.


Bert N. Adams and Jan Trost
Introduction
 
Part I: Africa
Edward K. Mburugu and Bert N. Adams
1. Families in Kenya
Innocent Victor Ogo Modo
2. Nigerian Families
Susan C. Ziehl
3. Families in South Africa
 
Part II: Asia and the South Pacific
David de Vaus
4. Australian Families
Xuewen Sheng
5. Chinese Families
J. P. Singh
6. The Contemporary Indian Family
Kwang-Kyu Lee
7. South Korean Families
Yu-Hua Chen and Chin-Chun Yi
8. Taiwan's Families
 
Part III: Europe
Rudolf Richter and Sandra Kytir
9. Families in Austria
Wilfried Dumon
10. Belgium's Families
Ivo Mozny and Tomás Katrnák
11. The Czech Family
Hannele Forsberg
12. Finland's Families
Thomas Klein and Bernhard Nauck
13. Families in Germany
Olga Tóth and Peter Somlai
14. Families in Hungary
Fausto Amaro
15. The Family in Portugal: Past and Present
Jan Trost and Irene Levin
16. Scandinavian Families
Bernhard Nauck and Daniela Klaus
17. Families in Turkey
 
Part IV: Latin America
Elizabeth Jelin
18. The Family in Argentina: Modernity, Economic Crisis, and Politics
Anne R. Roschelle, Maura I. Toro-Morn, and Elisa Facio
19. Families in Cuba: From Colonialism to Revolution
Maura I. Toro-Morn
20. The Family in Puerto Rico: Colonialism, Industrialization, and Migration
 
Part V: The Middle East
Taghi Azadarmaki
21. Families in Iran: The Contemporary Situation
Ruth Katz and Yoav Lavee
22. Families in Israel
Fahad Al Naser
23. Kuwait's Families
 
Part VI: North America
Carol D. H. Harvey
24. Families in Canada
Barbara H. Settles
25. U.S. Families
 
Epilogue
 
Name Index
 
Subject Index
 
About the Editors
 
About the Contributors


"In the Handbook of World Families, Bert Adams and Jan Trost, two of the leading scholars in the field of comparative family studies, have masterfully edited a book that comparatively examines families from 25 nations located around the world. The chapter contributors have both theoretical and research knowledge as well as lived experiences of respective nation’s families. The result is a well written, highly informed, and authoritative handbook that investigates an extensive range of family issues from local, national, and global perspectives. This book will be of vital interest for academics, students, family practitioners, and professionals, as well as for all those who wish to study and understand families in the contemporary world that is undergoing so much change."

Mark Hutter
Rowan University

"Bert Adams and Jan Trost have conducted an extensive and impressive co-ordination project, bringing together authors from 25 countries to write about family life in six major regions of the world. At a time when we are moving more and more toward a global village, this ambitious book provides evidence of world-wide trends in families and family relations. It also illustrates the resilience of local cultures, seen in variations among nations in trends and responses to them. This is a very useful resource for obtaining the kind of baseline information that is essential to comparative work.As well, a number of chapters contribute to our understanding of the complexities and politics of family life, starting with what is meant by family. This book will educate many about other parts of the world and the central place of families in them."

Ingrid Arnet Connidis
University of Western Ontario
Key features
  • Contributions by top family studies experts worldwide ensure reliable, cutting-edge research and perspectives.
  • Coverage of six general areas of the world (Africa, Asia/South Pacific, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, and North America) provides the most thorough and balanced cross-cultural examination of world families available.
  • Each chapter is divided into approximately 11 parallel sections, making the handbook genuinely broad and comparative in nature as compared with books that are more eclectic in approach and selective in coverage. 

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ISBN: 9781452261577

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ISBN: 9780761927631
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