Points & Counterpoints: Controversial Relationship and Family Issues in the 21st Century

Description

Edited by noted family scholars Marilyn Coleman and Lawrence Ganong, this collection of contemporary, controversial articles is designed to develop students' critical thinking skills and to stimulate dialogue and discussion about important issues in marriage, families, and close relationships.

Editors Coleman and Ganong have selected articles that are consistently engaging, lively, and thought-provoking. These include a wide range of both academic and popular essays examining numerous subjects not addressed in most marriage and family texts--such as interracial dating and marriage, age at the time of marriage, men and women as friends, licensing parents, the Internet as an aid in developing relationships, and New Social Darwinism.

Points and Counterpoints presents balanced controversial viewpoints on:
* Relationships.
* Marriage.
* Parenting.
* Family diversity.

Each issue features an introduction to the key concepts and provides discussion questions that encourage students to synthesize the material, explore possible solutions, and develop their own positions.

Table of Contents

Part One: Controversial Relationship Issues
Issue 1: Does the Internet Help People Form Romantic Relationships? Is the Internet a Love Machine?
1a. Romance in Cyberspace: Understanding Online Attraction, Alvin Cooper and Leda Sportolari
1b. Love on the Internet?, B. Cornwell and D. C. Lundgren
Issue 2: Are Men and Women Really From Different Planets?
2a. Mars and Venus, Toni Schindler Zimmerman, Shelley A. Haddock, and Christine R. McGeorge
2b. Beyond Mars and Venus: Men and Women in the Real World, Donna L. Sollie
Issue 3: Can Men and Women Be 'Just' Friends?
3a. 'Just Friends'? Frequency of Sexual Activity in Cross-Sex Friendships, Walid Afifi and Sandra L. Faulkner
3b. 'I Like You... as a Friend': Attraction in Cross-Sex Friendship, Heidi M. Reeder
Issue 4: Living Together: Preparation for Marriage or Playing at Commitment?
4a. Living Together Is Just Playing at a Committed Relationship, Esther Crain
4b. Living Together Is Good Preparation for Marriage and for Life, Robyn Brown
Issue 5: Does Distance Make the Heart Grow Fonder or Go Wander? Can Long-Distance Romance Work?
5a. Staying Close When Apart: Intimacy and Meaning in Long-Distance Dating Relationships, Joyce A. Arditti and Melissa Kauffman
Issue 6: 'Goin' to the Chapel and....': Does Marriage Matter?
6a. Flying Solo, Tamala M. Edwards with Tammerlin Drummond and Elizabeth Kauhnan, Anne Mofiet, Jacqueline Savaiano, and Maggie Stager ,
Part Two: Controversial Marriage Issues
Issue 7: When Should Women Marry?
7a. Women Who Marry When They Are Young Will Be Happier, Danielle Crittenden
7b. Women Should Marry When, and If, They Are Ready - Fools Rush In..., Jennifer Pozner
Issue 8: 'I Now Pronounce You Husband and... Husband?' Legal Marriage and Same-Sex Couples
8a. A Man and a Woman Are Needed for the 'Honorable Estate', William J. Bennett
8b. State Has No Compelling Reason to Bar Same-Sex Unions, Scott Miller
Issue 9: Love and Marriage Go Together Like...?
9a. Thinking About Romantic/Erotic Love, Henry Grunebaum
9b. Fallacies About Love and Marriage, Joseph S. Silverman
Issue 10: Why Do Men Batter Women? Two Perspectives
10a. Feminist Perspectives on Male Violence Against Women, Amy Marin and Nancy Felipe Russo
10b. Family Systems Perspectives on Battering: The Importance of Context, Stephen Anderson and Margaret Schlossberg
Part Three: Controversial Issues Regarding Parents
Issue 11: Should Parenting Require a License?
11a. Licensing Parents - A Controversial Cure for Crime, David T. Lykken
11b. Toward Voluntary Parenthood, Sandra Scarr
11c. The Outcome of Parenting: What Do We Really Know?, Judith Rich Harris
Issue 12: Parenting by the Book - But Whose Book? Race, Ethnicity, and Parenting Styles
12a. Race, Ethnicity, and Parenting Styles, Linda Halgunseth, Catherine Cushinberry, and Tashel Bordere
Issue 13: 'Mama, He Says...': Children as Language Brokers for Their Parents
13a. Language Brokering: Positive Developmental Outcomes, Linda Halgunseth
13b. Language Brokering as a Stressor for Immigrant Children and Their Families, Adriana J. Umaña-Taylor
13c. Language Brokering: A Personal Experience, Susan Santiago
Issue 14: Are Companies Becoming Friendlier to Working Moms and Dads?
14a. Being There for the Children, Carol Lippert Gray
14b. Friendly for Whose Family?, Betty Holcomb
14c. Watch Out for 'Family Friendly' Policies, Barbara Bergmann
Issue 15: Does Day Care Make Children Mean? The New Debate Over Working Mothers
15a. Denying Reality Can't Change Day Care Facts, Mona Charen
15b. Want Better Child Care? Hire Better Caregivers, Jack Shonkoff and Deborah Phillips
Issue 16: Do Fathers Matter?
16a. Yes, Fathers Really Matter!, Ross Parke and Armin Brott
16b. Are Fathers Essential? Maybe Not, Louise B. Silverstein and Carl F. Auerbach
Issue 17: Do These Genes Look OK? The Human Genome Project and Our Future
17a. Blessings From the Book of Life, David Stipp
17b. Designer Genes for All?, Garland E. Allen
Part Four: Controversial Issues Related to Family Diversity
Issue 18: Is Love (Color) Blind?
18a. My Life in Black and White, Susan Fales-Hill
18b. Getting Under My Skin, Don Terry
Issue 19: Nuclear Family Wars: The Status of American Families
19a. Can the Nuclear Family Be Revived?, David Popenoe
19b. The American Family Today Is Not Worse Off Than in the Past, Stephanie Coontz
Issue 20: How Harmful Is Divorce to Children?
20a. Staying Together for the Sake of the Children, Walter Kirn
20b. Divorcing Reality, Stephanie Coontz
Issue 21: Should Divorce Laws Be Reformed?
21a. A Solution to America's Divorce Problem, Steven L. Nock, James D. Wright, and Laura Sanchez
21b. Divorce Reform Won't Lower the Divorce Rate, Ashton Applewhite
Issue 22: Are Stepparents 'Bad' for Children?
22a. The Truth About Cinderella, Martin Daly and Margo Wilson
22b. Was Cinderella Right? The New Social Darwinism Targets Stepparents, Mary Ann Mason
Issue 23: Cultural Values and Caregiving
23a. Cultural Values and Caregiving, M. Elise Radina