Bøger i Families in Focus serien

For decades, social scientists have assumed that "fictive kinship" is a phenomenon associated only with marginal peoples and people of colour in the United States. In this innovative book, Nelson reveals the frequency, texture and dynamics of relationships which are felt to be "like family" among the White, middle-class.

Since 2004, the number of international adoptions in the US has declined by more than 70%. Estye Fenton studies parents in the US who adopted internationally during this shift, investigating the experiences of adoptive mothers who were forced to negotiate their desire to be parents in the awareness of international adoption as flawed.

Interweaving the narratives of multiple family members, including mothers, fathers, and siblings of her queer and trans informants, Amy Brainer analyses the ways that families navigate their internal differences. Brainer looks across generational cohorts, with informants ranging in age from their twenties to their seventies.

The first ethnographic study of gestational surrogacy in the US, Labor of Love examines the conflicted attitudes that emerge when the ostensibly priceless act of bringing a child into the world becomes a paid occupation. Heather Jacobson interviews surrogate mothers, their family members, the intended parents, and the various professionals who work to facilitate the process.

Offers a nuanced portrait of Asian immigrant families in a changing world as recalled by the people who lived them first-hand: the grown children of Chinese and Korean immigrants. Drawing on extensive interviews, sociologist Angie Y. Chung examines how these second-generation children negotiate the complex and conflicted feelings they have toward their family responsibilities and upbringing.

Despite the fact that, statistically, women of low socioeconomic status (SES) experience greater difficulty conceiving children, infertility is generally understood to be a wealthy, white woman's issue. In Misconception, Ann V. Bell overturns such historically ingrained notions of infertility by examining the experiences of poor women and women of colour.

A nurse inserts an I.V. A personal care attendant helps a quadriplegic bathe and get dressed. A nanny reads a bedtime story to soothe a child to sleep. Every day, workers like these provide critical support to some of the most vulnerable members of our society. Caring on the Clock provides a wealth of insight into these workers, who take care of our most fundamental needs, often at risk to their own economic and physical well-being. Caring on the Clock is the first book to bring together cutting-edge research on a wide range of paid care occupations, and to place the various fields within a comprehensive and comparative framework across occupational boundaries. The book includes twenty-two original essays by leading researchers across a range of disciplines-including sociology, psychology, social work, and public health. They examine the history of the paid care sector in America, reveal why paid-care work can be both personally fulfilling but also make workers vulnerable to burnout, emotional fatigue, physical injuries, and wage exploitation. Finally, the editors outline many innovative ideas for reform, including top-down and grassroots efforts to improve recognition, remuneration, and mobility for care workers. As America faces a series of challenges to providing care for its citizens, including the many aging baby boomers, this volume offers a wealth of information and insight for policymakers, scholars, advocates, and the general public.