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Diversity in Families. Maxine Baca Zinn and D. Stanley Eitzen, Boston, Allyn and Bacon; 2002. 557 pp. $76
Diversity in Families, by Maxine Baca Zinn and D. Stanley Eitzen, describes family structure and the diversity that occurs within families. This textbook utilizes both psychological and sociological perspectives and would be appropriate for junior- and senior-level courses on marriage and/or family issues. The authors incorporate diversity issues throughout the entire text instead of presenting these issues in separate chapters (such as a separate chapter on the African American family). The authors also recognize that "diversity" is not a homogeneous issue, and they discuss the interactions between ethnicity and socioeconomic status (SES) as it affects family structure. In addition, they acknowledge gender differences in perception and function in the family. The incorporation of this information throughout the book helps to centralize the position that diversity issues must have in any analysis of family life. Otherwise, it is too easy for the reader or student to consider the European American family as "standard" and anything else as deviant from that standard. The authors have an ambitious goal, given the many different ways that cultural diversity, gender, and SES can influence families. For the most part, the authors achieve their goals. However, some of the topics lack depth of coverage. Pedagogical features include chapter reviews and a varied selection of Internet sites for each chapter's topics. Pedagogical strength could have been improved by class exercises or attempts to...