Handbook of Family Diversity

The status of the American family has been the topic of considerable debate in recent years. As demographic changes make our country more multicultural, and as new types of family forms become more common, it is essential for sociologists, social workers, and psychologists to understand the full range of diversity in American families. To varying extents, African-American families, Hispanic-American families, lesbian and gay families, single-parent families, step families, and families with low socioeconomic status have been marginalized from mainstream scholarship on families. As a result, students taking courses on families are typically not exposed to the experiences of these groups.

The Handbook of Family Diversity fills this gap in scholarship by providing a comprehensive discussion of several key dimensions where families differ: race, socioeconomic status, family structure, and sexual orientation and gender. Featuring commissioned chapters by prominent senior scholars from a variety of fields, it discusses the multiple aspects of family interaction as they vary across different types of families as well as key public policy issues pertaining to family diversity.