Understanding Families
A Global Introduction
- Linda McKie - Glasgow Caledonian University, UK, Durham University, UK
- Samantha Callan - Edinburgh University, UK
"I don't know how often I've wished for an introductory text on family life which encompassed critical contemporary sociological thinking alongside the basic information students need, and have only found fossilised thinking on a stodgy subject. But now all that has changed. McKie and Callan have achieved what I thought was almost impossible in Understanding Families - a textbook which provides unrivalled foundations for a critical understanding of contemporary families and relationships."
- Carol Smart, The Morgan Centre, University of Manchester
"This excellent, innovative, comprehensive and easy to read text should be essential reading for everyone keen to understand families across the globe... It will make an outstanding contribution to family studies and is highly recommended."
- Janet Walker, Newcastle University
"Easy to read text, which debates current thinking surrounding modern families. Case studies and questions for the reader throughout the text help traslate theory into practice."
- Justine Gallagher, Northumbria University
Written by experts in family studies and family policy, this clear, engaging book adopts a global perspective to usefully examine how modern families can be explored and understood in research, policy and practice.
Packed with critical pedagogy, including case-studies, think points, key words and a glossary, it guides students through topics such as relationships, sexualities and paid and unpaid work, continually returning to its central themes of process and structure. The book also:
- Applies key social theories to contemporary analysis
- Examines key studies on researching families and family life
- Explores the role of government policies and practices
This comprehensive introduction to the study of families and relationships is a timely resource for students and lecturers working across the social sciences, particularly students of family studies, the sociology of the family, family policy, and social work and the family
Linda McKie is Professor of Sociology, Glasgow Caledonian University; Samantha Callan is based at the Centre for Social Justice. They are both affiliated to the Centre for Research on Families and Relationships at the University of Edinburgh.
This is a very dense and intersting text that covers a lot of ground.
A comprehenensive text that makes essential reading for social work students
This text will prove useful to students from a range of disciplines on the BA Health & Community programme
I would recommend this book to students on introductory courses on families and relationships. It is a very clear introduction to those entirely new to this topic, and comprehensive enough to provide useful material to those with some familiarity.
brilliant book - this book is really helpful for students undertaking their practice placement
A useful text, helps the reader to develop understanding of similarities and differences in relation to the family across the world. The links between chapters and glossary are particularly helpful.
Easy to read text, which debates current thinking surrounding modern families. Case studies and questions for the reader throughout the text help traslate theory into practice.
This is a very useful book for people 1) needing to understand more about families and 2) who want to do research into families. It is an academic textbook as opposed to practitioner oriented handbook but I think could still be useful for trainee family therapists and for research into work with families.
