Understanding the Family (Published in association with The Open University) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 080397955X ISBN 13: 9780803979550

Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd, 1994

Synopsis

This introductory textbook presents an accessible, interdisciplinary account of how `the family′ is constituted in `public′ and `private′ spheres.

Drawing on a range of theoretical perspectives from sociology, social policy, psychology and psychoanalysis, the book examines critically assumptions about ′the family′ that are embedded in social policy, law and political discourse. It reveals that such assumptions fail to recognize a marked diversity of family forms in contemporary society and also ignore the complex ways in which family life comes to be experienced. It outlines the tensions that exist between the dominant assumptions of state and society and the lived realities and everyday experiences of family life.

Understanding the Family constitutes an integrated and accessible set of teaching materials which will encourage students to develop a clear and critical understanding of the family in contemporary society.

About this title

About the Authors

John Muncie is Emeritus Professor of Criminology at the Open University, UK. He is the author of Youth and Crime (5th edition, Sage, 2021), and he has published widely on issues in comparative youth justice and children’s rights, including the co-edited companion volumes Youth Crime and Justice and Comparative Youth Justice (Sage, 2006). He has produced numerous Open University texts and readers, including Crime: Local and Global (Willan, 2010), Criminal Justice: Local and Global (Willan, 2010), The Problem of Crime (2nd edition, Sage, 2001), Crime Prevention and Community Safety (Sage, 2001) and Imprisonment: European Perspectives (Harvester, 1991). He has also contributed nine volumes to the The Sage Library of Criminology (Sage, 2007–2009). He is co-editor of the Sage journal Youth Justice: An International Journal.

Margaret Wetherell is Professor of Social Psychology at the Open University, UK and Director of the Economic and Social Research Council Programme on Identities and Social Action.

Edition details

• Publisher: SAGE Publications Ltd
• Publication date: 1994
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 080397955X
• ISBN 13: 9780803979550
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 336
• Editor: Muncie John, Wetherell Margaret, Dallos Rudi, Cochrane Allan Douglas