Family: References & Edit History

Michael Anderson, Approaches to the History of the Western Family, 1500–1914 (1980), discusses the main approaches and includes a useful bibliography. Important historical collections of essays are Peter Laslett (ed.), Household and Family in Past Time (1972), based essentially on the demographic approach; and Jack Goody, Joan Thirsk, and E.P. Thompson (eds.), Family and Inheritance: Rural Society in Western Europe, 1200–1800 (1976), illustrating the household economics approach. Current research in the field is published in the Journal of Family History (quarterly). For discussions of family and kinship in ancient Greece, see S.C. Humphries, Anthropology and the Greeks (1978, reprinted 1983); and W.K. Lacey, The Family in Classical Greece (1968, reprinted 1984). On ancient Rome, see Beril Rawson (ed.), The Family in Ancient Rome: New Perspectives (1986); and Philippe Ariès and George Duby (eds.), A History of Private Life: From Pagan Rome to Byzantium (1987; originally published in French, 1985), the first volume of a projected series that will provide coverage up to the second half of the 20th century. For the medieval period and after, see Jack Goody, The Development of the Family and Marriage in Europe (1983); Christiane Klapisch-Zuber, Women, Family, and Ritual in Renaissance Italy, trans. from French (1985); and David Herlihy and Christiane Klapisch-Zuber, Tuscans and Their Families: A Study of the Florentine Catasto of 1427 (1985; originally published in French, 1978). The most detailed study of the family from 1500 is Lawrence Stone, The Family, Sex and Marriage in England, 1500–1800 (1977). Another general study, with emphasis on France, is Jean-Louis Flandrin, Families in Former Times: Kinship, Household, and Sexuality (1979; originally published in French, 1976). Michael Anderson, Family Structure in Nineteenth Century Lancashire (1971), is a major case study. Sybil Wolfram, In-Laws and Outlaws: Kinship and Marriage in England (1987), examines more recent family history, especially from a legal point of view. For a philosophical treatment of the subject, see Emmanuel Todd, The Explanation of Ideology: Family Structures and Social Systems (1985; originally published in French, 1983).

Essay collections on the modern family include Norman W. Bell and Ezra F. Vogel (eds.), A Modern Introduction to the Family, rev. ed. (1968); Michael Anderson (ed.), Sociology of the Family, 2nd ed. (1980); Rose Laub Coser, The Family, Its Structure & Functions, 2nd ed. (1974); C.C. Harris et al. (eds.), The Sociology of the Family (1979); and Robert M. Netting, Richard R. Wilk, and Eric J. Arnould (eds.), Households: Comparative and Historical Studies of the Domestic Group (1984). The leading journals in the field are the Journal of Marriage and the Family (quarterly); and Family Relations (quarterly), the latter devoted almost exclusively to applied studies. A detailed introduction to the sociological study of the family is F. Ivan Nye and Felix M. Berardo, The Family: Its Structures and Interaction (1973), dealing extensively with the family cycle and marriage. See also F. Ivan Nye (ed.), Family Relationships: Rewards and Costs (1982); and Steven L. Nock, Sociology of the Family (1987). C.C. Harris, The Family and Industrial Society (1983), analyzes the modern family within the larger society; and D.H.J. Morgan, Social Theory and the Family (1975), gives a more theoretical account. Wade C. Mackey, Fathering Behaviors: The Dynamics of the Man-Child Bond (1985), is a cross-cultural study. Bert N. Adams, The American Family: A Sociological Interpretation (1971), now slightly dated, describes the subject from a sociological point of view; while David M. Schneider, American Kinship: A Cultural Account, 2nd ed. (1980), gives an anthropological perspective. Anthony Clare, Lovelaw: Love, Sex & Marriage Around the World (1986), based on a British television series, presents a comparative view.

A useful collection of articles on socialization in a variety of cultures is John Middleton (ed.), From Child to Adult: Studies in the Anthropology of Education (1970, reprinted 1977). Joseph M. Hawes and N. Ray Hiner (eds.), American Childhood: A Research Guide and Historical Handbook (1985), is a detailed history. Modern problems are discussed in Sheila B. Kamerman and Cheryl D. Hayes (eds.), Families That Work: Children in a Changing World (1982). A negative view of the modern family is presented in David Cooper, The Death of the Family (1971); and R.D. Laing, The Politics of the Family and Other Essays (1971). Philip Abbott, The Family on Trial: Special Relationships in Modern Political Thought (1981), surveys the opinions of philosophers and social theorists. Michael Young and Peter Willmott, Family and Kinship in East London (1957, reprinted 1986), and The Symmetrical Family: A Study of Work and Leisure in the London Region (1973, reprinted 1984), are important studies. Another classic study is Conrad M. Arensberg and Solon T. Kimball, Family and Community in Ireland, 2nd ed. (1968). Feminist perspectives are presented in Ann Oakley, Housewife (1974; U.S. title, Woman’s Work: The Housewife, Past and Present, 1975); and Jessie Bernard, The Future of Marriage, 2nd ed. (1982). Robert S. Weiss, Marital Separation (1975), is based on a study made in the United States. Paul Bohannan (ed.), Divorce and After (1970), is a collection of studies of divorce in several countries. Esther Wald, The Remarried Family: Challenge and Promise (1981), describes the topic from a family therapist’s point of view. Adoption, divorce, and other aspects of family life are discussed in Sheila B. Kamerman and Alfred J. Kahn (eds.), Family Policy: Government and Families in Fourteen Countries (1978). Forms of family organization are studied in William J. Goode, The Family, 2nd ed. (1982). See also Kingsley Davis (ed.), Contemporary Marriage: Comparative Perspectives on a Changing Institution (1985). An overview of African family studies is presented in Diane Kayongo-Male and Philista Onyango, The Sociology of the African Family (1984). The effects of labour migration of Southern African families are discussed in Colin Murray, Families Divided (1981). A very different geographical area is studied in Rubie S. Watson, Inequality Among Brothers: Class and Kinship in South China (1985).

The theory of the universality of the family is set forth in George Peter Murdock, Social Structure (1949, reprinted 1965). C.J. Fuller, The Nayars Today (1976), deals with the Nāyar debate. A good discussion of the matrifocal family is R.T. Smith, “The Matrifocal Family” in Jack Goody (ed.), The Character of Kinship (1973), and other essays in this collection are also valuable. Specific problems of an Israeli kibbutz are discussed in Melford E. Spiro, Children of the Kibbutz, rev. ed. (1975); and Yonina Talmon, Family and Community in the Kibbutz (1972).