Marriages and Families: Changes, Choices, and Constraints - Hardcover

Benokraitis, Nijole V.

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9780130341778: Marriages and Families: Changes, Choices, and Constraints

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0130341770 ISBN 13: 9780130341778

Publisher: Pearson, 2001

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For courses in Marriage and Family, Sociology of Family, Family Studies/Relationships in departments of Sociology, Family Studies, and Psychology.

Exceptionally comprehensive, innately interesting, and extremely readable, this best-selling text introduces students to the study of contemporary marriages and families in ways to which they can easily relate. It examines the diversity of American families―giving equal attention to all racial, ethnic, and other societal groups―and examines not only the choices, but the constraints that often limit our family-related choices today. This open-minded approach, combined with a set of practical guidelines presented in each chapter, encourages students to think and act for themselves―and thereby join the effort to resolve some of the crucial issues confronting 21st century families. Although written from a sociological perspective, the text incorporates material from other disciplines as well―e.g., history, economics, social work, psychology, law, biology, and anthropology―all supported by both quantitative and qualitative research―most from the mid to late 1990s.

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About the Author:

Nijole V Benokraitis, professor of sociology at the ', University of Baltimore, has taught the Marriage 'and Family course for 18 years and says it's her 'favorite class, although her courses in Racial and Ethnic Relations and Gender Roles run a close second. Professor Benokraitis received a B.A. in Sociology and English from Emmanuel College, a M.A. in sociology from the University of Illinois at Urbana, and a doctorate in sociology from the University of Texas at Austin. She is a strong proponent of applied sociology and requires her students to enhance their study of course topics through interviews, direct observation, and other hands-on learning methods. She also enlists her students in community-service activities, such as tutoring and mentoring inner-city high school students, writing to government officials and other decision makers about specific social problems, and volunteering research services to nonprofit organizations.

Professor Benokraitis, who immigrated to the United States from Lithuania with her family when she was six years old, is bilingual and bicultural. She has authored, co-authored, edited, or co-edited Contemporary Ethnic Families in the United States: Characteristics, Variations, and Dynamics (Prentice Hall, 2002), Feuds about Families: Conservative, Centrist, Liberal, and Feminist Perspectives (Prentice Hall, 2000); Subtle Sexism: Current Practices and Prospects for Change (Sage, 1997); Modern Sexism: Blatant, Subtle, and Covert Discrimination, 2nd Edition (Prentice Hall, 1995); Seeing Ourselves: Classic, Contemporary, and Cross-Cultural Readings in Sociology, 5th Edition (Prentice Hall, 2001); and Affirmative Action and Equal Opportunity: Action, Inaction, and Reaction (Westview Press, 1978).

Professor Benokraitis has published numerous articles and book chapters on such topics as institutional racism, discrimination against women in government and higher education, fathers in two-earner families, displaced homemakers, and family policy. She has served as both chair and graduate program director of the University of Baltimore's Department of Sociology and has chaired numerous university committees.

The recipient of grants and fellowships from many institutions, including the National Institute of Mental Health, the Ford Foundation, the American Educational Research Association, the Administration on Aging, and the National Endowment for the Humanities. She has for some time served as a consultant in the areas of sex and race discrimination to women's commissions, business groups, colleges and universities, and programs of the federal government, and she has made several appearances on radio and television on gender communication differences and single-sex educational institutions. She currently serves on the editorial board of Women & Criminal Justice.

Professor Benokraitis lives in Maryland with her husband, Dr. Vitalius Benokraitis, Chair of the Computer and Information Sciences Department at Shepherd College, West Virginia. They have two children, Gema and Andrius.

The author looks forward (and always responds) to comments on this 4th Edition of Marriages and Families: Changes, Choices, and Constraints. She can be contacted at

University of Baltimore
Division of Criminology,
Criminal Justice,
and Social Policy
1420 North Charles Street
Baltimore, MD 21201
Voicemail: 410-837-5294
Fax: 410-837-5061
E-mail: nbenokraitis@ubmail.ubalt.edu

From the Back Cover:

Continue your studies online with the Marriages and Families Companion Website™.
www.prenhall.com/benokraitis

Prentice Hall's exclusive Companion Website™ that accompanies Marriages and Families, 4/E, offers unique tools and support that make it easy for you to integrate this online study guide with the textbook. The site is a comprehensive resource organized according to the chapters in the text and features a variety of learning modules:

Interactive Study Guide contains chapter outlines, chapter quizzes, relevant web links, census updates, and surveys to help you define your goals.
ContentSelect research database, available around the clock from your computer using a special passcode, offers you access to hundreds of academic journal articles and magazines that are directly related to the disciplines of sociology and family studies.
Reference Modules contain hundreds of web links and a Net Search feature that provides the opportunity to access information on the Web that relates to the content of the text.
Communication Modules include Live Chat and Message Boards to facilitate online collaboration and communication.
Personalization Modules include our enhanced Help feature that contains a text page for browsers and plug-ins.

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