Race and Family

Roberta L. Coles received her PhD in sociology from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. She first taught a course on race and family while a PhD candidate and has continued teaching a similar course at Marquette University, where she is Associate Professor of Sociology in the Department of Social and Cultural Sciences. She teaches courses on family, race and family, race and ethnic relations, gender, social inequality, and urban neighborhoods and serves as an adviser to sociology and family studies majors. Her family-related research has focused on African American single fathers and on Turkish elderly. Her work in these areas has been published in the Journal of Aging Studies, Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, Families in Society, Journal of African American Men, and the Western Journal of Black Studies.

Preface Ch. 1. Introduction Overview of text Discussion of key concepts Ch. 2. Approaching the Study of Race and Family Economic Factors Demographic Factors Historical-legal factors Ch. 3. A Brief History of the American Family American Families through the Centuries Ch. 4. Cross-cultural Comparisons Social or Legal Marriage Marriage types and choices Marriage as a family affair Family power systems Family Functions Ch. 5. Family Structures Extended Family Households Nuclear family households Single-parent families Nonfamily households Ch. 6. Gender Relations and Sex Ratios Gender stereotypes and roles Sex ratios African American gender issues Latina/o gender issues Asian American gender issues Native American gender issues Domestic Violence Ch. 7. Intergenerational Relations: Parent and Child Individual and communal orientations Effects of socioeconomic status on children's well-being Racial socialization Cultural rituals that contribute to racial socialization Ch. 8. Intergenerational Relations in Late Life: The Elderly, Their Adult Children and Grandchildren Intergenerational interaction Illness and death Ch. 9. African American Families How did slavery shape Black American families? African American families after slavery African American families today Ch. 10. Native American Families Looking back in history The state of American Indians and their families today Ch. 11. Latino American Families Manner and timing of entry Similarities among Hispanic families Divergent trends among Latino ethnic groups Ch. 12. Asian American Families East Asians in America Southeast Asians in America Asian American families today Ch. 13. Acculturation and Multiracial Family Issues Acculturation Multiracial issues Bi- or multi-racial identity Transracial adoption References

"The author provided interesting, original examples which I found engaging.... I think the biggest strength is avoiding the 'one ethnicity per chapter' approach found in so many books on family diversity. I like the structural approach." Hilary A. Rose, Concordia University "A very useful book as a companion text for courses on race and ethnicity....The chapters are easy to follow for undergraduate students." Renxin Yang, Northern Michigan University "I think the book is needed because there are limited choices currently available and this book is moving in the right direction....A strength is that it is not an edited book like so many other books on this topic. There is a need for detailed study of ethnic minority families, and I am excited about making this book my required text for my Ethnic Families Course" Cheryl Burgan Evans, Miami University "I find the emphasis on social structure particularly appealing. To date, I have used Taylor's [edited] book, which depends on the instructor to provide all of the integration." Gretchen Cornwell, Pennsylvania State University"