Arlene Skolnick

Public Dreams, Private Lives@@@A World of Their Own Making: Myth, Ritual, and the Quest for Family Values

A World of Their Own Making: Myth, Ritual, and the Quest forFamily Values, byJohn R. Gillis. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1997. 310 pp.

Complex Ethnic Households in America

1 6.95 paper. ISBN: 0-674-96188-9. orld of Their Own Making: Myth, Ri ual, d the Quest forFamily Values, byJohn R. I am also thankful that policy analysts continue to ask difficult questions and grapple with the legal and administrative details that will be required to implement childand familyfriendly policies. The surreal feeling I got from reading FamilyShiftsis more a reflection of my own scaled-down aspirations than a commentary on the utopian visions that Eichler embraces. Predictably, I experience similar feelings when I talk to Nordic scholars about parental leave, to English colleagues about disabled care, and to French or Italian scholars about the building and staffing of child care centers. The sad part is recognizing that these practical and socially responsible also thankful that policy an lysts conti ue difficult questions and grapple with the family policies seem more distallt and fantastic than ever.

The Intimate Environment: Exploring Marriage and the Family.

well-being. Because marriage in our society is the idealized means to ensure that children are cared for, it makes sense to strengthen this institution. It does not make sense, however, to mandate marriage at the expense of understanding how adults come to lack the resources necessary to form enduring parenting partnerships. As researchers and public policy analysts, the contributors of this volume fall short of providing a more broad view of the complex social forces that contribute to economic deprivation.

Family in Transition

1.The State of the Family and the Study of the Family. 2.In Search of the Family. 3.Theoretical Perspectives on the Family. 4.Families in the Distant Past. 5.Families in Modern Society. 6.The American Family in Our Time. 7.Economics, Ethnicity, and Culture in the American Family. 8.Sex and Gender. 9.The Ultimate Human Connection: The Love Relationship. 10.Marriage: Tradition and Transformation. 11.The Bonds of Marriage. 12.Divorce and Remarriage. 13.Parenthood. 14.The Construction of Childhood. 15.The Future of the Family: Prospects and Policies.