Full Description
The latest work from respected family policy expert Shirley Zimmerman. Family Policy offers the only single-authored reference book to provide both students and instructors with a comprehensive and coherent introduction to the topic. The author clearly and cogently guides students through the foundations, policy frameworks, and implications of policy decisions for family well-being, ending with a carefully considered set of conclusions and implications for policy practice. The book also provides concrete illustrative examples that bring the academic subject matter to life for students. As well as study and thought questions at the end of each chapter that help students test their comprehension of the material, deepen understanding of the subject matter, and spur classroom discussion.
Contents
PART ONEFamily PolicyThe Emergence of Its Discourse and Knowledge-Producing ActivitiesFamily Policy DiscourseThe Construction of Family Problems and Their SolutionsThe Many and Changing Meanings of Family Family Values in the Context of Family ChangeAttitudes toward Government, Families, and the EconomyFrom Attitudes to SolutionsFamily Policies Constructed at the Federal Level for Selected Years in the 1980s and 1990sThe Defense of Marriage ActThe Construction of a Solution or a Problem?States' Political Cultures and Their Constructed Solutions to Family Problems in the 1990sThe Institutional FrameworkFamily Policy as the Outcome of Institutional ArrangementsThe Rational Choice FrameworkThe Construction of Family Policy as Rational ChoiceVariations on Policy as Rational Choice in the Construction of Policy Solutions to Family ProblemsIncremental Theory and Game TheoryAn Alternative to Family Choice Theory in the Construction of Family PolicyPolitical Culture TheoryMore Policy Frameworks for Constructing Solutions to Family ProblemsInterest Group Theory and Elite TheoryThe Construction of Policy Solutions to Family ProblemsA Systems' PerspectiveFAMILY WELLBEING: FAMILY FRAMEWORKSImplications of Constructed Solutions to Family Problems for Family Well-BeingFamily Systems Theory and Exchange and Choice Theories Symbolic Interactionism and Family Stress TheoryInterpretative Frameworks for Thinking about Family Well-BeingConflict Theory and Feminist and Cultural TheoriesInterpretative Frameworks for Thinking about Constructed Solutions to Family Problems and their Implications for Family Well-BeingPART FIVE: SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS AND POLICY PRACTICE IMPLICATIONSAdding It All UpFamily Policy as Constructed Solutions to Family Problems-Past, Present and FutureFamily PolicyConstructed Solutions to Family Problems-Implications for Family Policy Practice
