This best-selling text on marriages, families, and relationships combines an authoritative, yet applied approach with a theme that is especially relevant today: making choices in a diverse society. A balance of various theoretical perspectives along with many examples helps you understand how people are influenced by the society around them, how social conditions change in ways that affect family life, the interplay between families and the larger society, and the family-related choices that individuals make throughout adulthood. Youll gain insightful perspectives on the diversity of our modern society, including different ethnic traditions and family forms, and be encouraged to question assumptions and reconcile conflicting ideas and values as you make informed choices in your own life.

About the Author

Susan D. Stewart is a Professor in the Department of Sociology at Iowa State University. She received her doctorate in sociology from Bowling Green State University. Dr. Stewarts professional areas of interest are gender, family, and demography and specifically how complex living arrangements affect the physical and emotional health of adults and children. Dr. Stewart is the author of BRAVE NEW STEPFAMILIES and just completed a new book, CO-SLEEPING IN FAMILIES. Her research has been supported by grants from the NICHD, USDA, Joint Center for Poverty Research, and the Annie E. Casey Foundation. She has published papers on a diverse range of topics, including child and adolescent obesity, eating habits, nutrition, fertility intentions and behavior, child support and visitation, stepchild adoption, and womens financial literacy. Mary Ann Lamanna is Professor Emerita of Sociology at the University of Nebraska at Omaha. She received her bachelors degree Phi Beta Kappa from Washington University (St. Louis) in political science, her masters degree in sociology (minor in psychology) from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, and her doctorate in sociology from the University of Notre Dame. She is the author of EMILE DURKHEIM ON THE FAMILY (Sage, 2002) and co-author of a book on Vietnamese refugees. She has published numerous articles in law, sociology, and medical humanities journals. Research and teaching interests include family, reproduction, and gender and law. Other research has concerned the sociology of literature, specifically novels of terrorism, and a sociological analysis of Marcel Prousts novel IN SEARCH OF LOST TIME. Agnes Riedmann is Professor of Sociology at California State University, Stanislaus. She attended Clarke College, Dubuque. She received her bachelors degree from Creighton University and her doctorate from the University of Nebraska. Her professional areas of interest are theory, family, and the sociology of body image. She is author of SCIENCE THAT COLONIZES: A CRITIQUE OF FERTILITY STUDIES IN AFRICA (Temple University Press, 1993). Dr. Riedmann spent academic year 2008-09 as a Fulbright Professor at the Graduate School for Social Research, affiliated with the Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, where she taught courses in family, as well as in social policy and in globalization.