Shifting the Center: Understanding Contemporary Families

by Susan J. Ferguson, Teresa Toguchi Swartz (Contributor)

This anthology explores the issues and diversity of contemporary families, presenting balanced coverage of racial and ethnic variation and discussing a wide variety of family arrangements and processes. 32 out of the 50 selections included are new to this edition.

Genres: Sociology, School

792 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1997

Reviews

[Dominique · Rating 2 out of 5]

I had to read it for my Human Development Research Methods class.

[Aaron · Rating 5 out of 5]

A compilation of excellent scholarly work, itself a testament to the importance of good writing, good research, and good social science. Ferguson provides an overview of issues, topics, and perspectives on family and kinship. The anthology works as a good introduction to the family and kinship studies as well as sociology as a whole. The tone is often academic and is often a bit dense for the general public, but it is not needlessly technical and does not require familiarity with the topic or the ideas. In fact, one of the things I like best about this is that it consistently challenges myths and misunderstandings about family and kinship by examining widespread beliefs and attitudes and the reality behind them.

This book should be a standard for all sociology students, and I would recommend it for all social science students and anyone interested in family or social matters.