Part I: Changing families in a changing world

Chapter 1: Exploring today's families

Relatively speaking / Jan Borst

The way we weren't: the myth and reality of the "traditional" family / Stephanie Coontz

What's ahead for families / Joseph F. Coates

Chapter 2: Diversity in family life

Racially and ethnically mixed families / Bruno Oriti, Amy Bibb, and Jayne Mahboubi

Homeless policy: the need to speak to families / Elaine A. Anderson and Sally A. Koblinsky

Part II: Establishing intimate relationships

Chapter 3: Gender roles

Parents, children and gender roles / Susan D. Witt

Families and gender equity / Scott Coltrane

Chapter 4: Love, dating, and mate selection

The origin of romantic love and human family life / Helen Fischer

Love lessons / Hara Estroff Marano.

Mate selection preferences among African American college students / Louie E. Ross

Chapter 5: Human sexuality/sexual expression

Teens and sex / Jeannie I. Rosoff

How men view sex, contraception, and child rearing / William R. Grady et al.

Part III: The marriage experience

Chapter 6: Marriage and partnerships

The future of marriage / Frank F. Furstenberg Jr.

The case for gay (and straight) marriage / Jonathan Rauch

Does your marriage pass the test? / Florence Isaacs

Chapter 7: Marriage: communication and power

Women, men and money / Kim Clark

But what do you mean? / Deborah Tannen

Chapter 8: Families and work: facing the economic squeeze

Mothers in the labor force / Shannon Dortch

Is your family wrecking your career? / Betsy Morris.

Moonlight and child care / Shelly Reese

Part IV: Parents and children

Chapter 9: To parent or not to parent

Feminism and the family / Mary Ann Glendon

Balancing act / Marlene Lozada

The mother market / Patricia Braus

New mothers, not married / George A. Akerlof and Janet L. Yellen

Chapter 10: Raising children

Normal families: research on gay and lesbian parenting / Gary Sanders

The lost art of fatherhood / Dan Fost

The changing meanings of spanking / Phillip W. Davis

Chapter 11: Other family relationships

Grandparents raising grandchildren / Nancy M. Pinson-Millburn et al.

Caring for aging parents / Virginia Morris

The sibling syndrome / Diane Crispell

Part V: Challenges confronting families in the 21st century

Chapter 12: Family violence and abuse

Behind closed doors / Kristen Golden.

A day in the life / Bill Hewitt

Chapter 13: Divorce: the process of uncoupling

Divorcing reality / Stephanie Coontz

Family law at century's end / Milton C. Regan Jr.

Chapter 14: Remarriage and stepfamilies

Combining grown families / Susan Littwin

Parenting stepchildren and biological children / William L. MacDonald and Alfred DeMaris.