Marriage and the Family

by Stephen A. Grunlan

This revised and updated, 21st century edition of a widely used textbook discusses the sociology of the family, historical perspective, alternative lifestyles, minority families, mate selection, premarital sex, sexuality, and singleness. It also addresses marital adjustment, communication, conflict resolution, childbearing, parenting, gender roles, aging, finances, and violence. Marriage and the Family uses case studies, discussion questions, suggested reading, glossary, tables, and illustrations to help the reader understand the importance of strong family units in crucial times.

336 pages, Paperback

First published March 1, 1984

Reviews

[Casey Carback · Rating 4 out of 5]

Great book on the sociology & spirituality of marriage & the family. The author is very knowledgeable & provides a scientific/research approach to the subject while also leaving room for the Holy Spirit to speak.

Grunlan provides an overall non-biased approach. He states in the preface “it is not my purpose to provide the ‘right’ answers but rather to help readers think through the issues and come to their own conclusions.”

Chapter 6: “Husband-and-Wife relationship” was my favorite chapter because it provides a thorough explanation on the 2 schools of thought in Christian marriage: traditional/complementarian & partnership/egalitarian. He ends the chapter by stating that each person should follow what they feel God is speaking to them personally... “as Christians, we should not attempt to force our own personal model of marriage on others”.

I’d love to see an updated version of this book, since it was published in 1984.

[Christina Cramer · Rating 1 out of 5]

If I could give this a negative star, I would.