Content area
Full Text
Public and Private Families: An Introduction. Andrew J. Cherlin. New York: McGraw-Hill. 1996. 560 pages. $37.25.
Cherlin's new textbook for courses on marriage and the family is notable for its emphasis on social issues. Borrowing the economic concept of public goods, Cherlin contends that families produce a public good in caring for dependents. This he calls the "public family." His text emphasizes how public policy decisions affect families and includes discussions on such topics as homeless families, the gender wage gap, and government classification of multiracial children. Recognizing the multidisciplinary nature of family studies, this text draws on research from psychology, history, economics, and other social science fields; nevertheless, the emphasis on the public family marks this work as solidly sociological.
Although this text highlights contemporary experiences of the family in the United States, it also includes comparisons with other Western countries and developing nations. For example, the text provides in depth explanations of marriage in Thailand, the importance of kin for upper-class Mexicans, and the marriage process in sub-Saharan Africa.
Cherlin's writing style and overall approach to the material are straight-forward and direct. For example, he clearly delineates liberal and conservative stances on various political and social issues. He also explains his rationale for decisions and documents his decision-making process with a direct "I decided to include," or "I have tried to write" comment.
The textbook's format makes it easy for students to follow. Each chapter begins with an outline explaining the contents and concludes with a list of key terms and a summary. Bibliographic citations are listed at the bottom of each page rather than in an index. Although this makes cites more accessible for students, I found it cumbersome when I was researching a topic. The end of the book includes subject indices, which, in part, help overcome this weakness.
Chapter 1 opens with a lively discussion of two debates concerning the U.S. family. The first explains the furor over...