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Family Life Now
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Family Life Now

Third Edition

Other Titles in:
Marriage and Family

December 2020 | 696 pages | SAGE Publications, Inc
Family Life Now is a candid, thoughtful examination of marriages, families, and intimate relationships that follows the Family Life Education framework. Written in a student-friendly, conversational style, the text encourages readers to draw upon their own backgrounds and experiences to understand theories and concepts vital to the family sciences. Author Kelly J. Welch incorporates scholarship from the social and behavioral sciences to cover topics that are important to students today, such as LGBTQ+ individuals and relationships, cohabitating, and financial compatibility with a partner.

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PREFACE
 
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
 
ABOUT THE AUTHOR
 
Chapter 1: Family Life Now
What Is Marriage?

 
What Is Family?

 
Contemporary Families

 
Families in Cultural Contexts

 
Family Life Education: The Study of Families Through A Family Lens

 
Family Life Education: Strengthening Families

 
Summary

 
Key terms

 
 
Chapter 2: Understanding Families Through Research and Theory
Understanding Families Through Research

 
Becoming a Consumer of the Literature

 
Understanding Families Through Theory

 
Family Interactions and You

 
Family Life Education: Creating, Implementing, and Evaluating Effective Family Programming

 
Summary

 
Key terms

 
 
Chapter 3: Family Communication, Conflict, and Forgiveness
The Communication Process

 
Communication Between Men and Women

 
Types of Communication

 
Cornerstones of Communication

 
Conflict in Relationships

 
The Role of Forgiveness in Family and Intimate Relationships

 
Family Life Education: Forging Family Strengths

 
Summary

 
Key terms

 
 
Chapter 4: Gender in Today’s Society
It Matters: The Biology of Gender

 
It Matters: The Culture of Gender

 
Gender Polarization: Complementary Opposites—Or Inequality?

 
The Theories of Gender Development

 
It Matters: The Agents of Socialization

 
It Matters: Gender and Contemporary Issues

 
Family Life Education: Practicing With Sensitivity and Respecting Diversity

 
Summary

 
Key terms

 
 
Chapter 5: Intimacy: Developing and Experiencing Affectionate Bonds
Intimacy: Do We Have a Need to Relate to Others?

 
What Do Intimate Relationships Look Like?

 
The Psychosocial Development of Children

 
Adolescents’ and Young Adults’ Psychosocial Development

 
Obstacles to Intimacy

 
Family Life Education: Valuing Diverse Couple Experiences

 
Summary

 
Key terms

 
 
Chapter 6: Love and Loving
Love Is a Cultural and Historical Experience

 
What Is Love, Actually?

 
Companionate Love: Experiencing Love as a Commitment

 
Developing Love

 
Theories of Love and Loving

 
Family Life Education: Relating to Others With Respect, Sincerity, and Responsibility

 
Summary

 
Key terms

 
 
Chapter 7: The Path to Commitment: Attraction, Dating, Partnering, and Cohabitation
“Frisky Business”: Interpersonal Attraction Theories

 
The Path to Commitment

 
Relationship Development

 
Nonmarital Cohabitation: Living Together

 
Family Life Education: Using Reinforcing Strategies to Aid Couple Formation and Maintenance

 
Summary

 
Key terms

 
 
Chapter 8: Singlehood, Coupling, and Marriage
Being Single

 
The Act of Marriage

 
The Transition to Marriage: Why It’s So Tough

 
Satisfying Marriages

 
Family Life Education: Identifying Social and Cultural Influences Affecting the Marital Experience

 
Summary

 
Key terms

 
 
Chapter 9: You, Sex, and Sexuality
Learning Sexuality: Cultural Contributions

 
Our Sexual Selves

 
Sexually Transmitted Infections

 
Relationships and Sex

 
Cheating: Sex Outside the Relationship

 
Experiencing Sexual Difficulties

 
Family Life Education: Advancing Healthy Sexual Well-Being From a Value-Respectful Position

 
Summary

 
Key terms

 
 
Chapter 10: Becoming Parents: Choices and Challenges
Childbearing Trends: Who’s Having Babies?

 
Having Children: Now, Later, or Never?

 
Being Pregnant and Giving Birth

 
Unexpected Outcomes

 
Adoption: By Circumstance or Choice

 
Contraception and Abortion

 
Family Life Education: Fostering Healthy Family Formation

 
Summary

 
Key terms

 
 
Chapter 11: Parenting Life Now
Change Over Time: Parenting Is a Process

 
From Partners to Parents: Making the Transition

 
Today’s Parents

 
Parenting 101: Best Practices for Parenting

 
Family Life Education: Guiding and Influencing a Child’s Development

 
Summary

 
Key terms

 
 
Chapter 12: Family Life and Work: A Balancing Act
Working Families: The Transformation of American Homes

 
A Portrait of Contemporary Dual-Earner Couples

 
Couples and Work: Just Trying to Make Ends Meet

 
The Balancing Act: Juggling Family Life and Work

 
Policies for Working Families

 
Marriage and Money

 
Family Life Education: Understanding and Assisting Families’ Decisions

 
Summary

 
Key terms

 
 
Chapter 13: Uncoupling: Relationship Deterioration and Divorce
Uncoupling

 
Emotionally Ending the Marriage/Couple

 
Legally Ending the Marriage: The Formal Divorce

 
Avoiding Divorce: Getting a Marriage Back on Track

 
Family Life Education: Educating and Assisting Families Through Transition and Change

 
Summary

 
Key terms

 
 
Chapter 14: Rebuilding: Family Life Following Couple Dissolution and Divorce
The Aftermath of Divorce: Transitions

 
How Divorce Affects Children and Adolescents

 
Challenges for Single Parents

 
Transitions to Repartnering

 
Family Life Education: Protecting Children’s and Adults’ Well-Being

 
Summary

 
Key terms

 
 
Chapter 15: Family Change: Stress, Crisis, and Transition
Family Change

 
Family Crisis

 
Family Coping and Resilience

 
The Crisis of Family Violence

 
Family Life Education: Providing Knowledge and Skills

 
Summary

 
Key terms

 
 
Chapter 16: Family Life and Aging
Aging and the Aged

 
Marriage Experiences Through Aging

 
Intergenerational Ties

 
Family Changes Toward the End of Life

 
Dying and Death Experiences

 
Family Life Education: Removing Barriers and Assisting in Transitions

 
Summary

 
Key terms

 
 
GLOSSARY
 
REFERENCES
 
INDEX

Supplements

Instructor Resource Site

edge.sagepub.com/welch3e

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  • All tables and figures from the textbook 
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Student Study Site
edge.sagepub.com/welch3e

The open-access Student Study Site makes it easy for students to maximize their study time, anywhere, anytime. It offers flashcards that strengthen understanding of key terms and concepts, as well as learning objectives that reinforce the most important material.

Updates regarding diversity.
Readability for students

Dr Sarah Kuborn
Human Environ Studies, Southeast Missouri State Univ
March 1, 2021