Key Concepts in Family Studies
- Jane Ribbens McCarthy - The Open University
- Rosalind Edwards - University of Southampton, UK
SAGE Key Concepts series
Family Policy | Sociology of the Family | Working with Parents, Families & Communities
"This is a thoughtful and sometimes challenging elaboration of some of the key concepts in contemporary family studies... Students and researchers will want to have this book close to hand, not simply as a reference work but as a stimulus to critical social analysis."
- David H J Morgan, University of Manchester
"Written in an intelligent, engaging, and accessible manner by two leading and highly respected family scholars whose contributions to the field over the past two decades have been path-breaking. This is an important resource for students and professionals studying, and working in, the field of family studies within and across the disciplines of sociology, social policy, social work, health studies, education, and gender studies."
- Andrea Doucet, Carleton University
This book's individual entries introduce, explain and contextualise key topics within the study of family lives. Definitions, summaries and key words are developed throughout with careful cross-referencing allowing students to move effortlessly between core ideas and themes. Each entry provides:
- Clear definitions
- Lucid accounts of key issues
- Up-to-date suggestions for further reading
- Informative cross-referencin.
Relevant, focused and accessible, this book will provide students with an indispensible guide to the central concepts of family studies.
This is a thoughtful and sometimes challenging elaboration of some of the key concepts in contemporary family studies. In each of the forty-eight short essays, the reader will find a theoretically informed and cross-referenced guide to the major themes that have constituted this highly significant area of the social sciences. Students and researchers will want to have this book close to hand, not simply as a reference work but as a stimulus to critical social analysis
David H J Morgan
Emeritus Professor of Sociology, University of Manchester
Key Concepts in Family Studies is written in an intelligent, engaging, and accessible manner by two leading and highly respected family scholars whose contributions to the field over the past two decades have been path-breaking. This is an important resource for students and professionals studying, and working in, the field of family studies within and across the disciplines of sociology, social policy, social work, health studies, education, and gender studies
Andrea Doucet
Professor of Sociology
Carleton University, Canada
Excellent text which supports students studying childhood and families.
This is a useful set of essays which are proving very useful to social policy students with a particular interest in families. It sets out clearly and succinctly the theories, issues and controversies around families today, in an informative and provocative style.
This is a useful and informative book that can be used as background reading for undegraduate nursing students to help understand the concept of family in preparation for their practice experiences.
This collection of key concepts is particularly useful for students learning to conduct social policy analysis who have had limited exposure to family studies. It offers a clear exposition of contemporary debates in the field and makes very useful suggestions for further readings for students wishing to deepen their knowledge on any of the 48 concepts covered. It is culturally sensitive and avoids the pitfall of value-laden analysis , clarifying and challenging assumptions in a manner that is bound to be very useful for students of policy analysis.
Excellent text
I think this will be a very useful resource for students as they take my course on Sociology of the Family this autumn, and will be a good complement to the other text I have adopted.
This is a reference book and can only accompany a more comprehensive text or other readings that are the focus of a course.
The text is a detailed, and thorough exploration of family issues. It will be used within the lifespan development module, to enable students to explore the subject within the context of family work. I will also recommend it for other modules within the social work degree course, such as Every Child Matters.
Useful reference book in a library, but insufficient detail to be adopted for a course.
