In Enduring Bonds, Philip N. Cohen, renowned sociologist and blogger of the wildly popular and insightful Family Inequality, examines the complex landscape of today's diverse families. Through his interpretive lens and lively discussions, Cohen encourages us to alter our point of view on families, sharing new ideas about the future of marriage, the politics of research, and how data can either guide or mislead us. Deftly balancing personal stories and social science research, and accessibly written for students, Cohen shares essays that tie current events to demographic data. Class-tested in Cohen’s own lectures and courses, Enduring Bonds challenges students to think critically about the role of families, gender, and inequality in our society today.

Young children are social beings. In this volume, a group of distinguished authors examine an array of interpersonal relationships that are formative in shaping childhood - relationships that affect the child today and influence the adult tomorrow.

ìAs far as I am aware, there is no other scholarly book on adult mother/daughter relationships, particularly one that incorporates data from pairs of mothers and daughters...I believe that the contents provide useful material for instructors, researchers, and therapists alike.î - Rosemary Blieszner, PhD Professor of Gerontology and Family Studies Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University The mother/daughter tie is one that persists well past childhood and it takes on unique characteristics as daughter enter midlife and mohers enter old age. Incorporating vivid descriptions by mothers and daughters about their relationships, this book addresses both the rewards and the costs that mothers and daughters incur in maintaining their relationships into old age. For psychologists, gerontologists, and sociologists, as well as academics and researchers in womenís and family studies.

Mary Renck Jalongo Interpersonal relationships present an interesting paradox to the young child. Although human bonds are a source of love, security and joy, they are, at the same time, the context in which children feel intense and complicated emotions such as jealousy, shame, resentment, sorrow, and rage. To illustrate, consider a series of incidents in the life of a young child named Melissa. All of these events were so memorable that they became oft-repeated family stories. At age 4, after Melissa was reprimanded by her mother, she packed a small plastic suitcase and announced that she was running away. Her mother kept a watchful eye while the preschooler stood at the end of the driveway for several moments. The child’s sister—eight years her senior—decided to go out and gently inquire about her younger sibling’s plans, to which Melissa responded ruefully, “I can’t run away. I remembered that I’m not allowed to cross the street by myself. ” Months later, Melissa enters kindergarten and she arrives home at the end of her school day, obviously upset. When asked about it, she says, “One of the kids told me I was doing my work wrong and it ruined my whole day. ” In first grade, Melissa has experience with one of the school child’s greatest fears: a mean teacher.

Stories provided by women explore the loyalty and acceptance in their relationships with girlfriends, best friends, soulmates, and confidants

First published in 1996. This new book gives voice to an emerging consensus among bereavement scholars that our understanding of the grief process needs to be expanded. The dominant 20th century model holds that the function of grief and mourning is to cut bonds with the deceased, thereby freeing the survivor to reinvest in new relationships in the present. Pathological grief has been defined in terms of holding on to the deceased. Close examination reveals that this model is based more on the cultural values of modernity than on any substantial data of what people actually do. Presenting data from several populations, 22 authors - among the most respected in their fields - demonstrate that the health resolution of grief enables one to maintain a continuing bond with the deceased. Despite cultural disapproval and lack of validation by professionals, survivors find places for the dead in their on-going lives and even in their communities. Such bonds are not denial: the deceased can provide resources for enriched functioning in the present. Chapters examine widows and widowers, bereaved children, parents and siblings, and a population previously excluded from bereavement research: adoptees and their birth parents. Bereavement in Japanese culture is also discussed, as are meanings and implications of this new model of grief. Opening new areas of research and scholarly dialogue, this work provides the basis for significant developments in clinical practice in the field.

Why LGBTQ adults don’t end troubled ties with parents and why (perhaps) they should Families We Keep is a surprising look at the life-long bonds between LGBTQ adults and their parents. Alongside the importance of “chosen families” in the queer community, Rin Reczek and Emma Bosley-Smith found that very few LGBTQ people choose to become estranged from their parents, even if those parent refuse to support their gender identity, sexuality, or both. Drawing on interviews with over seventy-five LGBTQ people and their parents, Reczek and Bosley-Smith explore the powerful ties that bind families together, for better or worse. They show us why many feel obliged to maintain even troubled—and sometimes outright toxic—relationships with their parents. They argue that this relationship persists because what we think of as the “natural” and inevitable connection between parents and adult children is actually created and sustained by the sociocultural power of compulsory kinship. After revealing what holds even the most troubled intergenerational ties together, Families We Keep gives us permission to break free of those family bonds that are not in our best interests. Reczek and Bosley-Smith challenge our deep-rooted conviction that family—and specifically, our relationships with our parents—should be maintained at any cost. Families We Keep shines a light on the shifting importance of family in America, and how LGBTQ people navigate its complexities as adults.