Families with Futures

Meg Wilkes Karraker is Professor of Sociology, Family Studies, and Women’s Studies at the University of St. Thomas in Minnesota. She received her PhD in Sociology　from the University of Minnesota. In addition to co-authoring Families with Futures, Dr. Karraker is the author of the highly successful text Global Families (2008).　A former Executive Officer of Sociologists for Women in Society, and a member of the American Sociological Association's Department Resources Group which consults with sociology faculty and programs around the country, in 2005 she was honored as the Aquinas Scholars Professor of the Year. Her research examines social networks among civic, religious, and other organizations serving migrant women, children, and their families.　 Dr. Karraker teaches undergraduate courses in families and family studies, sociological theory, gender, and adolescence. Janet R. Grochowski is the Marie and Robert Jackson Endowed Professor and Chair of Education at the College of Saint Benedict - Saint John’s University in Minnesota.　 She received two doctoral degrees from the University of Minnesota, one in Family Social Science and Health Education Studies and the other in Social and Philosophical Foundations of Learning with an emphasis in resilience. Her research focuses on the family and health studies with special interest in youth and family resilience, global education, and determinants of family health.

Part 1. The Art and Science of Family Studies. 1. The Changing World of Families. 2. Family Scholarship in Action: Theories, Methods and Ethics. Part 2. From Risk to Resilience. 3. Risk and Resilience: Families at Their Best. 4. Family Health: Beyond Illness and Disease. 5. Sexual Intimacy: Biology and Pleasure. Part 3. Family Life Courses. 6. Early Trajectories: Being Single, Choosing Partners. 7. The New Conjugal: Marriage, but Also Civil Unions. 8. Kith and Kin: Creating Families in Communities. 9. Family Discord: Power, Conflict, and Violence. 10. Decoupled Families: Deserted, Separated, Divorced, and Widowed. 11. Money Matters: Economies and Family Lives. Part 4. Into the Future. 12. From Family Values to Valuing Families.