The status of the American family has been the topic of considerable debate in recent years. As demographic changes make our country more multicultural and as new types of families continue to form and become more common, it is essential for sociologists, social workers, family researchers, and psychologists to understand the full range of diversity in American families. However, to varying extents, African American families, Latino families, Asian American families, poverty-stricken and near-poor families, lesbian and gay families, single-parent families, and stepfamilies have been marginalized from mainstream scholarship. As a result, students taking courses on families are typically not exposed to the experiences of these groups.
The Handbook of Family Diversity fills this gap in scholarship by providing a comprehensive discussion of several key dimensions where families differ: race, socioeconomic status, family structure, sexual orientation, and gender. It is designed to inform and broaden the debate among students, family scholars, practitioners, and policymakers as to what constitutes a family and how families should function. Featuring commissioned chapters by prominent scholars from a variety of fields, The Handbook of Family Diversity discusses different types of families from widely varying social and economic backgrounds. These authoritative yet highly readable essays discuss important public policy issues pertaining to family diversity and describe the everyday realities of family interactions—the tensions and dynamics of intimacy, support, control, communication, and conflict. Multiple disciplinary, theoretical, and methodological perspectives are presented throughout the volume, providing evidence that there is no unified or monolithic perspective on families. Emphasizing the most current and cutting edge knowledge on family diversity, The Handbook of Family Diversity sets a new standard for research in this important and vital area of study.