Family Diversity and Family Policy: Strengthening Families for America’s Children

Family Diversity and Family Policy: Strengthening Families for America’s Children PDF Author: Richard M. Lerner
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1475752067
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 182

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Book Description
Family Diversity and Family Policy describes the dimensions of diversity which characterize the contemporary American family and discusses the implications for public policy and associated intervention programs linked to this diversity. The authors contend that if the programs and policies available to support families are to be most useful, they need to reflect the diversity of the families they intend to help. Beginning with a discussion of the historical and contemporary context of the American family, Family Diversity and Family Policy focuses on child poverty and argues that this topic may be usefully studied within the context of developmental systems theory. This theory systematically links the development of individuals to variations in their physical and social ecology, and is used as a framework for discussing: Contemporary challenges faced by parents charged with rearing adolescents, and the familial and societal issues that arise when the adolescents being reared are parents themselves. Current policy issues that arise from welfare debates in the United States and from recently-enacted welfare reform legislation. The importance for our nation of developing a comprehensive national youth policy. The authors draw implications for the design, delivery, and evaluation of diversity-sensitive policies and programs for families and youth, and offer a vision of how to link scholars, policy makers, and community members in multi-professional and multi-institutional collaborations promoting the positive development of American families and youth. Family Diversity and Family Policy is relevant to scholars and policy makers interested in human development, particularly of children and adolescents. In addition, it should be essential reading for practitioners and policy makers in government, private industry, and public and private social service organizations.

Family Diversity and Family Policy: Strengthening Families for America’s Children

Family Diversity and Family Policy: Strengthening Families for America’s Children PDF Author: Richard M. Lerner
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 1475752067
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 182

Get Book Here

Book Description
Family Diversity and Family Policy describes the dimensions of diversity which characterize the contemporary American family and discusses the implications for public policy and associated intervention programs linked to this diversity. The authors contend that if the programs and policies available to support families are to be most useful, they need to reflect the diversity of the families they intend to help. Beginning with a discussion of the historical and contemporary context of the American family, Family Diversity and Family Policy focuses on child poverty and argues that this topic may be usefully studied within the context of developmental systems theory. This theory systematically links the development of individuals to variations in their physical and social ecology, and is used as a framework for discussing: Contemporary challenges faced by parents charged with rearing adolescents, and the familial and societal issues that arise when the adolescents being reared are parents themselves. Current policy issues that arise from welfare debates in the United States and from recently-enacted welfare reform legislation. The importance for our nation of developing a comprehensive national youth policy. The authors draw implications for the design, delivery, and evaluation of diversity-sensitive policies and programs for families and youth, and offer a vision of how to link scholars, policy makers, and community members in multi-professional and multi-institutional collaborations promoting the positive development of American families and youth. Family Diversity and Family Policy is relevant to scholars and policy makers interested in human development, particularly of children and adolescents. In addition, it should be essential reading for practitioners and policy makers in government, private industry, and public and private social service organizations.

Families, Families, Families!

Families, Families, Families! PDF Author: Suzanne Lang
Publisher: Random House Studio
ISBN: 0553499386
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 33

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Book Description
No matter your size, shape, or pedigree--if you love each other, you are a family! Moms, dads, sisters, brothers — and even Great Aunt Sue — appear in dozens of combinations, demonstrating all kinds of nontraditional families! Silly animals are cleverly depicted in framed portraits, and offer a warm celebration of family love. From School Library Journal PreS-Gr 1—Imagine a house with many rooms, whose walls each have a different color or wallpaper, accenting a family portrait hanging there. On a rustic wooden wall hangs the first portrait—a large family of ducks posing beside a still pond. The next spread shows three pandas in pink vests, much like the pink oriental wallpaper behind them. Each portrait features a gently rhyming line: "Some children live with their grandparents…/and some live with an aunt./Some children have many pets…/and some just have a plant." All of these appealing images demonstrate different ways of being a family. "Some children live with their father./ Some children have two mothers./Some children are adopted./Some have stepsisters and—brothers." The cartoon-style critters contrast pleasantly with more realistic elements—a bamboo plant, a slender ceramic dog, a fat ceramic cat. Families of hippos, tigers, lions, ostriches, and whales join the other family groups in the final spread. The loud-and-clear message is that "if you love each other, then you are a family." And imagine the many children who will be reassured because they have found a portrait of a family they will recognize as their own. A solid choice for most libraries.—Mary Jean Smith, formerly at Southside Elementary School, Lebanon, TN

Family Configurations

Family Configurations PDF Author: Professor Eric D Widmer
Publisher: Ashgate Publishing, Ltd.
ISBN: 1409492583
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 178

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Book Description
Family Configurations develops current scholarship on families and intimate lives by demonstrating that family relationships, far from being fluid and inconsequential, are more structured and committed than ever. Based on a series of empirical studies carried out in the US and Europe, this volume reveals the diversity of family relationships that emerge as a result of various key family issues, emphasizing the supportive and disruptive interdependencies existing among large sets of family members beyond the nuclear family. By applying social network methods to uncover the relational patterns of contemporary families, and making use of rich empirical data, this book draws on recent developments in family sociology, social network analysis and kinship studies to present a fascinating interdisciplinary approach to the family.

A Family Is a Family Is a Family

A Family Is a Family Is a Family PDF Author: Sara O'Leary
Publisher: Groundwood Books Ltd
ISBN: 1773063952
Category : Juvenile Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 36

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Book Description
When a teacher asks her class to think about what makes their families special, the answers are all different, but the same in one important way ... When a teacher asks the children in her class to think about what makes their families special, the answers are all different in many ways — but the same in the one way that matters most of all. One child is worried that her family is just too different to explain, but listens as her classmates talk about what makes their families special. One is raised by a grandmother, and another has two dads. One has many stepsiblings, and another has a new baby in the family. As her classmates describe who they live with and who loves them — family of every shape, size and every kind of relation — the child realizes that as long as her family is full of caring people, it is special. A warm and whimsical look at many types of families, written by award-winning author Sara O’Leary, with quirky and sweet illustrations by Qin Leng. Correlates to the Common Core State Standards in English Language Arts: CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.K.1 With prompting and support, ask and answer questions about key details in a text. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.2 Retell stories, including key details, and demonstrate understanding of their central message or lesson. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.6 Identify who is telling the story at various points in a text. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.1.9 Compare and contrast the adventures and experiences of characters in stories. CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.RL.2.6 Acknowledge differences in the points of view of characters, including by speaking in a different voice for each character when reading dialogue aloud.

Understanding Family Diversity and Home - School Relations

Understanding Family Diversity and Home - School Relations PDF Author: Gianna Knowles
Publisher: Routledge
ISBN: 1136517308
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 210

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Book Description
How can adults in Early Years settings and primary schools fully embrace the diverse nature of family life of the children they are working with? This essential text will help students and those already working with children to understand both theoretically and practically, what may constitute a ‘family’. It explores how to build relationships with a child’s family to ensure early years settings and schools are working in partnership with children’s home environments, thereby supporting the best possible learning outcomes for children. It will help the reader to develop their skills, knowledge and understanding of their professional practice in education, and chapter by chapter explores the challenges that may be experienced in working with the diverse nature of family life in the UK, including: mixed race families immigrant, refugee and asylum seeker families step-families and step-parenting gay and lesbian families families and adoption fostering and children in care families living in poverty families and bereavement families and disability (including mental health). Understanding Family Diversity and Home-School Relations is engagingly practical, using case study examples throughout, and providing reflective activities to help the reader consider how to develop their practice in relation to the insights this book provides. It is a unique road-map to understanding pupils’ backgrounds, attitudes and culture and will be essential reading for any student undertaking relevant Foundation and BA Degrees, including those in initial teacher training, taking post-graduate qualifications or as part of a practitioner’s professional development.

Handbook of Family Diversity

Handbook of Family Diversity PDF Author: David H. Demo
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 9780195120387
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 460

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Book Description
"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, sexual orientation, and gender. It is designed to inform and broaden the debate among students, family scholars, practitioners, and policymakers as to what constitutes a family and how families should function. Featuring commissioned chapters by prominent scholars from a variety of fields, The Handbook of Family Diversity discusses different types of families from widely varying social and economic backgrounds. These authoritative yet highly readable essays discuss important public policy issues pertaining to family diversity and describe the everyday realities of family interactions--the tensions and dynamics of intimacy, support, control, communication, and conflict. Multiple disciplinary, theoretical, and methodological perspectives are presented throughout the volume, providing evidence that there is no unified or monolithic perspective on families. Emphasizing the most current and cutting edge knowledge on family diversity, "The Handbook of Family Diversity" sets a new standard for research in this important and vital area of study.

Family Diversity

Family Diversity PDF Author: Pauline Irit Erera
Publisher: SAGE
ISBN: 1452236852
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 281

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Book Description
This nonjudgmental, inclusive, and far-reaching text focuses on the diverse patterns of family structure prevalent in our society today. Family Diversity presents empirical research on the internal dynamics, social environments, support factors, prevalence of discrimination, and common stereotypes that account for the issues surrounding current family relations. By examining the history and nature of foster and adoptive, single-parent, lesbian/gay, step- and grandparent family units, Pauline Irit Erera is able to challenge both the idealized family prototype and the hegemony of the traditional structure.

New Family Values

New Family Values PDF Author: Karen Struening
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 9780742512313
Category : Law
Languages : en
Pages : 244

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Book Description
New Family Values provides a critical analysis of scholars and authors who argue that law and policy should be used to foster one model of family--the intact two-parent (heterosexual) family. The author argues that this position does not adequately address the problem in purports to solve -family dissolution--and unnecessarily constrains personal liberty. Civic stability and individual well-being require healthy families, but do not necessitate uniformity in family form.

Cultural Diversity and Families

Cultural Diversity and Families PDF Author: Bahira Sherif Trask
Publisher: SAGE Publications
ISBN: 1483316831
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 396

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Book Description
Cultural Diversity and Families: Expanding Perspectives breaks new ground by investigating how concepts of cultural diversity have shaped the study of families from theoretical and applied perspectives. Authors Bahira Sherif Trask and Raeann R. Hamon move the dialogue about culturally diverse families to a new level by topically discussing the issues affecting culturally diverse families rather than organizing the information by racial and or ethnic groups. Key Features: Investigates the impact of cultural diversity on the study of families: In order to transcend simplistic categorizations that have juxtaposed White families in opposition to families of color and vice versa, this book delineates the increasing cultural diversity of American families and examines the impact of these demographic changes for the social sciences. Emphasizes the full range of cultural aspects: The book consciously emphasizes cultural aspects, not just ethnicity, but also socioeconomic status, gender, religion, etc. over racial impacts on family life so as not to reinforce the myth that race is a biological truth. By sharing unique family experiences across groups, the book enhances understanding, directs future family research, and serves these families through responsive policy and practice. Offers more coverage of culturally diverse families than any other text: Divided into three parts, this comprehensive text first sets the stage of historical, current, and projected demographic trends pertaining to American families; explores issues facing culturally diverse families from a thematic perspective; and discusses of the impact of cultural diversity for family theory, research, service delivery, and public policy. Intended Audience: This is an excellent text for advanced undergraduate and graduate courses such as Families in a Multicultural Society, Ethnic Minority Families, and Cultural Diversity in American Families in the departments of Human Development & Family Studies, Sociology, and Family Social Work.

African American Family Life

African American Family Life PDF Author: Vonnie C. McLoyd
Publisher: Guilford Press
ISBN: 1572309954
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 367

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Book Description
This volume brings together leading experts from different disciplines to offer new perspectives on contemporary African American families. A wealth of knowledge is presented on the heterogeneity of Black family life today; the challenges and opportunities facing parents, children, and communities; and the impact on health and development of key cultural and social processes. Comprehensive and authoritative, the book critically evaluates current policies and service delivery models and sets forth cogent recommendations for supporting families' strengths. Following an overview that traces the ongoing evolution of theory and research in the field, the book examines how African American families fare on numerous indicators of well-being. Throughout, contributors identify factors that promote or hinder healthy child and family development, writing from a culturally sensitive, nonpathologizing stance. The concluding chapter provides an up-to-date framework for culturally competent mental health practice.