Contemporary Issues in Family Studies (eBook)

Angela Abela is Associate Professor andHead of the Department of Family Studies at the University of Malta, as well as a clinical psychologist, family therapist, and supervisor. She is a consultant for the Maltese government and the Standing Committee for Family Affairs in the Maltese Parliament, and is frequently engaged as an expert for the Council of Europe. She has published on a wide range of areas, including children in out-of-home care, the relationship between adolescents and their parents, families living in poverty, marital conflict, and supervision practice. She is an associate editor ofClinical Child Psychology and Psychiatry and an international advisory editor of Contemporary Family Therapy. Janet Walker is an Officer of the Order of the British Empire and Emeritus Professor of Family Policy in the Institute of Health and Society, Newcastle University.She has led over 50 research studies in the fields of marriage and divorce, parenting, policing, youth justice, and family law processes. She has published in a wide variety of academic journals, presented papers at over 200 conferences around the world, and advised governments on family mediation in England, China, Chile, Canada, and the Council of Europe. Currently, she is a board member of the Canadian Institute for Law and the Family and a trustee of Relate. She has held several public appointments, most recently as Deputy Chair of the UK Social Security Advisory Committee.

List of Figures xiv

List of Tables xv

Preface xvi

The Contributors xvi

About the Book xvii

Acknowledgements xviii

Contributors' Biographies xx

Part I Changing Couple and Family Relationships 1

1 Global Changes in Marriage, Parenting and Family Life: An
Overview 5

Angela Abela and Janet Walker

2 Cohabitation or Marriage? Contemporary Living Arrangements in
the West 16

Turid Noack, Eva Bernhardt and Kenneth Aarskaug Wiik

3 'Alone Together' Marriages and 'Living Apart Together'
Relationships 31

Paul R. Amato and Lydia N. Hayes

4 Marriage and Divorce in the Western World 46

Jan Pryor

5 Divorce in the Arab Gulf Countries: A Major Challenge to
Family and Society 59

Layachi Anser

6 Couple and Family Dynamics and Escalations in Violence
74

Justine van Lawick

7 Loving Diversity: Living in Intercultural Couple Relationships
87

Danika N. Hiew, W. Kim Halford and Shuang Liu

8 Growing Older in a Changing World: Opportunities and
Challenges for Family Life and Social Support 100

John Bond

Part II Parenthood, Parenting and Family Life 115

9 The Transition to Parenthood: Choices and Responsibilities
119

Janet Walker

10 Why Fewer Babies? Understanding and Responding to Low
Fertility in Europe 136

Maria Letizia Tanturri

11 Mothers, Fathers, Families and Child Development 151

Gabriela Misca and Jo Smith

12 Raising Children in Single-Parent Families 166

Jan M. Nicholson, Fabrizio D'Esposito, Nina Lucas and
Elizabeth M. Westrupp

13 Sexual Orientation, Marriage and Parenthood: A Global
Perspective 189

Charlotte J. Patterson, Rachel G. Riskind and Samantha L.
Tornello

14 Parenting Teenagers 203

John Coleman

15 Working Families: Who Cares? 215

Simon B. Burnett, Jonathan Swan and Cary Cooper

16 Children and Divorce in World Perspective 227

Paul R. Amato and Lisa M. Boyd

Part III Global Impacts on Family Life 245

17 Globalisation and Family Life 249

Melinda Mills

18 The Internet and Its Implications for Children, Parents and
Family Relationships 262

Monica T. Whitty

19 Immigrant Families Coming to the West 275

Ubaldo Martínez Veiga

20 The 'Quiet Migration': Challenges for Families with Children
Adopted Internationally 288

Gabriela Misca

21 Families Living on the Margin in Affluent Societies 302

Angela Abela and Marie-Cécile Renoux

22 Mate Selection and Marriage Stability in the Maghreb
317

Sabah Ayachi

23 Demographic Change and Its Impact on Relationships in Japan
and East Asia 328

James M. Raymo

24 I Say a Little Prayer for You: Do Prayers Matter in Marriage
and Family Life? 341

Frank D. Fincham

Part IV Looking to the Future: The Role of States in
Supporting Families 355

25 Why Should States Have an Interest in Making Families
Stronger? 357

Ruth Farrugia

26 Making a Global Case for Family Policy: How Families Support
Society and How Policies Support Families 369

Karen Bogenschneider

27 Partnership, Parenting and Protecting Children's Best
Interests: Implications for Policy and Practice 382

Janet Walker and Angela Abela

Index 393

This book is dedicated to discussing
trulyimportant family issues across a number of
continents, cultures, and countries. It is extraordinarily well
organized and accessible-with summaries of key ideas throughout. I
am pleased to recommend this book to anyone who wishes to gain an
overview of the latest information on how to "support and
strengthen families across cultures, regions, languages and
forms".

--Professor D. Russell Crane, Brigham Young
University and Editor of 'Contemporary Family
Therapy'

This cornucopia of research-based perspectives drawn from
different cultural contexts on such an important nexus of issues is
a timely gift for academics, practitioners and policy makers
working to strengthen modern families. Governments across the world
are belatedly recognising that partnering and parenting are not
easily disentangled and support for couples is an indispensable
dimension to 21st century family policy. This
wide-ranging collection will be an important resource as they
strive to respond to family change in nuanced, informed and
effective ways.

--Dr Samantha Callan, Associate Director for
Families and Mental Health, Centre for Social Justice and Honorary
Research Fellow, Centre for Research in Families and Relationships,
University of Edinburgh.

Angela Abela and Jan walker are to be congratulated on their
achievement. They have brought together leading international
scholar practitioners to produce this elegant and influential
inter-disciplinary compendium of research and theory in
contemporary family studies. The book assumes the status of a
Handbook, in my view, because of its continuing potential to inform
policy, theory, research and practice in the field of family
studies for many years to come. We shall all benefit!

--Arlene Vetere, Professor of Clinical Psychology,
Surrey University, UK