The Blackwell Companion to the Sociology of Families

The Blackwell Companion to Sociology of Families is an authoritative volume of original essays by expert contributors. It tackles a range of issues relevant to family life today, such as social inequality, parenting practices, children's work, the changing patterns of citizenship, and challenges confronting multi-cultural families. Each essay examines the changing family forms and relationships as well as the changing social context (by way of globalization, technological innovation, state policy, religion, employment and community) that shapes modern family life. From an explicitly comparative perspective, the authors provide a selective overview of empirical research and address emerging issues. Families in Europe and North America are given special attention, with discussion of previously neglected groups including immigrant families and gays and lesbians. The Companion shows how revolutionary changes in aging, longevity, and sexual behavior have radically affected the experience of children and parents over the life course, and shifted the ties that bind different generations. This exceptional volume shows why the study of social change in families is a necessary key for understanding the transformations in individual and social life, across the globe.

Jacqueline Scott is a Reader in Sociology at the University of Cambridge and Co-Director of the Cambridge Interdisciplinary Research Centre on Ageing. Her recent publications examine youth and disadvantage, inter-generational attitudinal change and cross-national comparisons of family and demographic change.

Judith Treas is Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Irvine. A Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America, she is recognized for research on the life course and aging, family, sexuality, inequality, and population. Her recent publications investigate cross-national differences in gender beliefs and family behavior, the lives of elderly immigrants, and the determinants of change in sexual attitudes.

Martin Richards is Director of the Centre for Family Research and Professor Family Research at the University of Cambridge. His publications include Sexual Arrangements: Marriage and Affairs (with Janet Reibstein, 1963), What is a Parent: A Socio-Legal Analysis (2001) and Body Lore and Laws (2002), both edited with Andrew Bainham and Shelley Day-Sclater.