Family Theories: An Introduction

by James M. White, Todd F Martin, Kari Adamsons

Family Theories: An Introduction by James M. White, Todd F. Martin, and new co-author Kari Adamsons provides an incisive, thorough primer to current theories of the family that balances the diversity and richness of a broad scope of scholarly work in a concise manner. This best-selling text draws upon eight major theoretical frameworks developed by key social scientists to explain variation in family life. These frameworks include social exchange and choice, symbolic-interaction, family life course development, systems, conflict, feminist, ecological, and functional theories.

This new Fifth Edition includes suggestions for integrating theory to guide a research program and more applications for those going on to careers in the helping professions. With an increased focus on both classical theories as well as contemporary and emerging theories, this text challenges students to think about how families and family theories have changed over the last 70 years as well as where family scholarship is headed.

360 pages, ebook

Published December 20, 2018

Reviews

[Max · Rating 3 out of 5]

It's a pretty decent overview of the current state of family theories and models to understand family dynamics. The book tries pretty hard to not advocate for one theory over another, and most of the time it succeeds in this. I really liked the sort of comparative analysis that it applies to the different theories, using a standard formula in each chapter to highlight similarities and differences between the theories. Enjoyed it overall!