Many observers of contemporary American family life view current
sociodemographic and psychological trends in family affairs with
alarm, as evidence of an irrevocable "decline" in the viability of "the"
family as the fundamental "building block" of American social orga nization and development. This article presents the postmodern thesis
that family structures are changing for the better, in response to post-
materialist transformations in social values that are associated with
greater freedom of choice, equality, and autonomy, especially for women.
References
1.
Abramovitz, M. (1988). Regulating the lives of women: Social welfare policy from colonial times to the present. Boston: South End Press.
2.
Aisenberg, N., & Harrington, M. (1988). Women of academe: Outsiders in the sacred grove. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press.
3.
Belenky, M.F., Clinchy, B.M., Goldberger, N.R., & Tarule, J.M. (1986). Women's ways of knowing: The development of self, voice, and mind. New York: Basic Books.
4.
Berger, B., & Berger, P.L. (1983). The war over the family: Capturing the middle ground. Garden City, NY: Doubleday Anchor.
5.
Braverman, L. (Ed.). (1988). A guide to feminist family therapy. New York: Haworth.
6.
Chilman, C. S., Nunnally, E. W., & Cox, F. M. (Eds.). (1988). variant family forms. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
7.
Chodorow, N. (1978). The reproduction of mothering: Psychoanalysis and the sociology of gender. Berkeley: University of California Press.
8.
Cohen, S., & Katzenstein, M.F. (1988). The war over the family is not over the family. In S. M. Dornbusch & M. H. Strober (Eds.), Feminism, children and the new families (pp. 25-46). New York: Guilford.
9.
Coleman, H. (1991). The family ideal and the obstacles to family violence reform. Unpublished manuscript, University of Utah, Graduate School of Social Work, Salt Lake City.
10.
Degler, C. (1977). At odds: Women and the family in America from the revolution to the present. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
11.
Demos, J. (1970). A little commonwealth: Family life in Plymouth Colony. New York: Oxford University Press.
12.
Demos, J. (1979). Images of the American family, then and now. In V. Tufte & B. Myererhoff (Eds.), Changing images of the family (pp. 43-60). New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
13.
Donovan, J. (1985). Feminist theory: The intellectual traditions of American feminisms. New York: Ungar .
14.
Dornbusch, S.M., & Strober, M.H. (Eds.). (1988). Feminism, children and the new families . New York: Guilford.
15.
Elshtain, J. B. (Ed.). (1982). The family in political thought. Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press.
16.
Family troubles: A survey of recent articles. (1991, Spring). Wilson Quarterly, 15,18-19.
17.
Firestone, S. (1970). The dialectics of sex: The case for feminist revolution . New York: Bantam.
18.
Flax, J. (1982). The family in contemporary feminist thought: A critical review. In J. B. Elshtain (Ed.), The family in political thought (pp. 223-253). Amherst: University of Massachusetts Press.
19.
Friedrich-Cofer, L. (Ed.). (1986). Human nature and public policy: Scientific views of women, children, and families. New York: Praeger.
20.
Gordon, L. (1988). Heroes of their own lives: The politics and history of family violence, Boston 1880-1969. New York: Penguin.
21.
Harding, S. (1986). The science question in feminism. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
22.
Harry, J. (1988). Some problems of gay/lesbian families. In C. S. Chilman, E. W. Nunnally, & F. M. Cox (Eds.), Variant family forms (pp. 96-113). Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
23.
Hartman, A. (1981). The family: A central focus for practice. Social Work, 26, 7-13.
24.
Hartman, A., & Laird, J. (1987). Family practice. In A. Minahan (Ed.), Encyclopedia of social work (Vol. 1, pp. 575-589). Silver Spring, MD: National Association of Social Workers.
25.
Hunter College Women's Studies Collective. ( 1983). Women's realities, women's choices: An introduction to women's studies. New York: Oxford University Press.
26.
Inglehart, R. (1977). The silent revolution: Changing values and political styles among Western publics. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
27.
Inglehart, R. (1990). Culture shift in advanced industrial society. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
28.
Kain, E.L. (1990). The myth of family decline: Understanding fiamilies in a world of rapid social change. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books.
29.
Kitzinger, C. (1987). The social construction of lesbianism. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
30.
Miller, D.C. (1987). Children's policy and women's policy: Congruence or conflict? Social Work, 32, 289-292.
31.
Miller, D.C. (1990). Women and social welfare: A feminist analysis . New York: Praeger.
32.
Millet, K. (1970). Sexual politics. New York: Avon.
33.
Pleck, E. (1987). Domestic tyranny: The making of American social policy against family violence from colonial times to the present. New York: Oxford University Press.
34.
Rich, A. (1976). Of woman born: Motherhood as experience and institution . New York: W. W. Norton.
35.
Spakes, P. (1989). Reshaping the goals of family policy: Sexual equality, not protection. Affilia, 4(3), 7-24.
36.
Sprey, J. (Ed.). (1990). Fashioningfamily theory: New approaches. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
37.
Staples, R. (Ed.). (1986). The black family : Essays and studies (3rd ed.). Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
38.
Steiner, G.Y. (1981). The futility of family policy. Washington, DC: Brookings Institution.
39.
Thorne, B., & Yalom, M. (Eds.). (1982). Rethinking the family: Some feminist questions. New York: Longman.
40.
Tong, R. (1989). Feminist thought: A comprehensive introduction . Boulder, CO: Westview.
41.
Webster, L. (1991). Holy politics! A review of the growth and social implications of the new Christian right in the 1980s. Unpublished manuscript, University of Utah, Graduate School of Social Work , Salt Lake City.
42.
Weitzman, L.J. (1988). Women and children last: The social and economic consequences of divorce law reforms. In S. M. Dornbusch & M. H. Strober (Eds.), Feminism, children and the new families (pp. 212-248). New York: Guilford.
