Understanding Families
A Global Introduction
- Linda McKie - Glasgow Caledonian University, UK, Durham University, UK
- Samantha Callan - Edinburgh University, UK
Families are at the core of our society. Our experience of them affects many aspects of our everyday lives shaping our expectations and future plans.
Written by field experts this clear, engaging book adopts a global perspective to usefully examine how modern families can be explored and understood. Packed with critical pedagogy, including case-studies, think points, key words and a glossary, it guides students through topics such as relationships, sexualities and paid and unpaid work.
The book also:
- Applies key social theories from classical sociological theory and contemporary analysis
- Examines best practice for researching families and family life
- Explores the role of government policies and practices
This comprehensive introduction to the study of families and relationships is a timely resource for students and lecturers working across the social sciences.
This excellent, innovative, comprehensive and easy to read text should be essential reading for everyone keen to understand families across the globe. It addresses key questions, carefully blends policy concerns, research issues and theoretical debates, points to further reading and includes a very helpful glossary. It will make an outstanding contribution to family studies and is highly recommended
Janet Walker
Emeritus Professor, Newcastle University
This is a clearly written, well organized, and highly digestible overview of the sociology of the family. It covers major themes and issues, including important changes over time in behavior as well as the ideas used to understand patterns of behavior and structure. The authors manage to include a strong international perspective while highlighting many specific examples and trends in the UK and across Europe. What I appreciate so much about this book is that it is to the point and not overburdened by a tedious amount of detail or nuances of the type that can so easily mire and demoralize readers who are trying to capture the essential features in the study of the family. I highly recommend this book for serious students who want to efficiently capture the gist of this thing called family
Scott M. Stanley
Research Professor and Co Director of the Center for Marital and Family Studies, University of Denver, USA
I don't know how often I've wished for an introductory text on family life which encompassed critical contemporary sociological thinking alongside the basic information students need, and have only found fossilised thinking on a stodgy subject. But now all that has changed. McKie and Callan have achieved what I thought was almost impossible in Understanding Families; this is a textbook which provides unrivalled foundations for a critical understanding of contemporary families and relationships
Carol Smart
Professor of Sociology, The Morgan Centre, University of Manchester
This has some great chapters in especially around introducing global perspectives on families. The Glossary at the back is really helpful.
An excellent text in every respect, exploring all aspects of family life. The book offers a contemporary information, covering all patterns including employment, family structure and changing government policy.
A key strength of this text is that it is focused on changing family patterns within the UK, which is overlooked with many major texts.
The course is ideal for students of all levels, particularly students at level 3 and undergraduate.
In summary, an essential text for any course exploring aspects of sociology of the family.
This is a clear and comprehensive to contemporary families that fits perfectly with our module on 'The Family and the Law'.
This book will be really useful for students who are studying on a module called 'understanding families and communities'.
This book is highly recommended for all A Level or undergraduate course exploring the family.
It covers all the major areas of the family; offering a 'global' exploration, with regular focus on the patterns of UK families. The book provides a basic overview of the family, as well as providing analysis on work, social policy and the future of families. It offers the latest up-to-date information, discussing the latest emerging social and family issues in gay marriage and adoption.
The book offers easy reading, with detailed explanation. Which makes it ideal for A Level or first year undergraduate students.
I would highly recommend this book, as it provides all the required information, with commentary suitable for all students, not just the most able.
This book is excellent for students studying 'the family' I have recommended my students buy this book as it gives them a very strong foundation for subsequent study. I particularly like the lay out of this book, it provides the students with questions to check their understanding. It makes clear links to the other chapters where there may be further explanation / expansion. I particularly find it really useful to have a summary at the end of each chapter and recommendations for further reading.
This is an excellent and highly accessible introduction to family studies, bringing together concepts, policies and trends in such a clear and comprehensive manner. Its presentation of relevant theory is unparalleled in its breadth while maintaining clarity and focus. Its international approach gives this book universal relevance, and its chapter on researching families is particularly valuable for social policy graduates planning their dissertation in this field. The glossary is also very useful.
We have adopted this book for our new module Connected Lives, as it provides students with a good gounding in the current theoretical, research, and policy issues and developments, which are needed to understand families in contemporary society.
A useful introduction to the area of Family Studies. Am recommending as supplemental as the module itself is a policy module and this is more sociologically orientated, but it does help to provide context to the policies we are examining.
Sage College Publishing
