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BARROW, Christine, FAMILY IN THE CARIBBEAN: Themes and Perspectives. Toronto, Ontario: Irwin Publishing, 1999, 472pp., $24.95 softcover.
The past decade has witnessed a rash of scholarship on family in the Caribbean. Christine Barrow, who has authored several works on the subject, continues to contribute to this discourse. This book offers a comprehensive review and critical examination of the literature on family patterns in this region.
ORGANIZATION OF THE BOOK
The author constructs the book around six themes, prominent at one time or another, throughout the course of Caribbean family studies. These specific themes are as follows: the definition of the family, the debate between plural and Creole society perspectives, differences between social structure and human action approaches, the analysis of gender roles and relationships, methodology, and the theoretical importance of history and social change in explanations of familial patterns.
A primary attraction of the book is the insertion of reproduced articles at the end of each chapter. This feature adds considerable value to the work, particularly if it is intended for an academic and classroom audience. The use of original articles provides the reader the immediate opportunity to review and critique original research and theoretical analysis of Caribbean families. More importantly, they are able to do so readily...