3 Review(s)

This work serves as an introductory reference guide to the growing body of literature on the history of the American family. Recognizing the family unit as the institution most central to any society, the volume covers a broad range of theoretical approaches that concentrate on relationships within the family and between the family and the wider community. Essays by specialists in the field of family study investigate the subject both chronologically and topically, examining the family from colonial times to the present, as well as according to sociological and ethnic groups. The conclusions reached are synthesized to reveal trends and patterns that define current family dynamics and provide a structural framework for the expanding study of family history.