Human intimacy: marriage, the family, and its meaning

Machine generated contents note: 1. Human Intimacy in the Brave New World of Family Diversity --
Building Successful Relationships --
Qualities of Strong and Resilient Families: An Overview --
Can We Study Intimacy? --
Optimism versus Pessimism --
Making Decisions That Lead to a Fulfilling Life --
Logic and Emotion in Decision Making --
Decision-Making Steps --
The Gift of Choosing --
Theoretical Approaches to Family Study --
Methods of Study --
The Experiment --
The Survey --
The Clinical Method --
Highlight: Sherlock Holmes, Dr. Watson, and Delinquency Data --
Natural or Field Observation --
Group versus Individual Data --
Strengthening the Family --
2. Human Intimacy, Relationships, Marriage, and the Family --
Family: The Basic Unit of Human Organization --
Family Functions --
The American Family: Many Structures and Much Change --
Families Around the World: China: Families and Government Policy --
Change within Continuity and Uniqueness within Commonality --
Highlight: The Family Riddle --
Highlight: Tricky Statistics: Cohabitation and Rejection of Marriage --
Family: A Buffer against Mental and Physical Illnesses --
The Need for Intimacy --
Highlight: Why Do We Avoid Intimacy? --
The Family as Interpreter of Society --
Unique Characteristics of the American Family --
Highlight: What the Research Says --
Family: The Consuming Unit of the American Economy --
American Families: A Great Diversity of Types --
African American Families --
Hispanic Families --
Asian American Families --
The American Indian and Alaska Native Population --
Debate the Issues: Should Our Society Recognize Gay Marriages? --
3. American Ways of Love --
The American Myth: Romantic Love Should Always Lead to Marriage --
Defining Love --
Highlight: Love Is... --
Theories of Love --
Romantic Love --
Infatuation --
Loving and Liking --
The Double Cross --
Love Is What You Make It --
What Research Tells Us: Love and Friendship --
Love in Strong Families: Appreciation and Respect --
Highlight: Gender Differences in Love --
Learning to Love --
Actions and Attitudes --
Developmental Stages in Learning to Love --
Love over Time: From Passionate to Companionate Love --
Highlight: Love and the Loss of One's Self-Identity --
Love's Oft-Found Companion: Jealousy --
Debate the Issues: Are Love and Marriage Good for You? --
4. Gender Convergence and Role Equity --
Male = Masculine and Female = Feminine: Not Necessarily So --
Norms and Roles --
How Sex and Gender Identity Develop --
Biological Contributions --
Environmental Contributions --
Highlight: The Xanith of Oman --
Gender Differences --
Role Equity --
What Research Tells Us: Stereotypical Sex-Role Differences Compared with Research Findings --
Traditional Gender Roles --
Changing Male and Female Roles --
Women and the Law --
Highlight: "Firsts" for Women in the Past Three Decades --
Families Around the World: The Dani of Irian Jaya (Indonesian New Guinea) --
Gender-Role Stereotypes --
The Movement toward Gender Equality --
Highlight: Men as the Oppressed Sex --
Debate the Issues: Can We Create Gender-Neutral Children? --
5. Communications in Intimate Relationships --
Good Communication: A Basic Strength of Successful Families --
Communication Failure: An Indicator of Relationship Problems --
Aversive Communication --
Communication Can Be Used for Good and Bad Purposes --
The Foundation Blocks of Successful Communication --
Commitment --
Growth Orientation --
Noncoercive Atmosphere --
Developing a Smooth Flow of Communication --
Communication Skills --
Identifying Problem Ownership --
Self-Assertion --
Making Decisions: You-, I-, and We-Statements --
Empathic Listening --
Negotiating --
Problem Solving --
Men and Women: Do They Speak the Same Language? --
Highlight: How Men and Women Can Communicate Better in Intimate Relationships --
Communication and Family Conflict --
Anger --
Over What Topics Do Couples Conflict? --
Personal Relationships in the Information Age --
Social Networking Sites --
Debate the Issues: Is Honesty Always the Best Policy? --
6. Dating, Single Life, and Mate Selection --
Premarital American Dating --
Why Do We Date? --
Premarital Dating Patterns --
College Dating: Hanging Out, Hooking Up, Joined at the Hip --
Dating and Extended Singleness --
Search Tells Us: Women and Singleness --
What Research Tells Us: Singles in America --
Changing Sexual Mores --
Deciding for Yourself --
Freedom of Choice and Sexual Health --
Possible Problems Associated with Premarital --
Sexual Relations --
Highlight: Dawn and Nonmarital Pregnancy --
Making Decisions: Is My Sexual Behavior Healthy? --
Date Rape and Courtship Violence --
Cohabitation: Unmarried-Couple Households --
The Nature of Cohabiting Relationships --
Is the Woman Exploited in Cohabitation? --
The Relationship between Cohabitation and Marriage --
What Research Tells Us: Children and Cohabitation --
Breaking Up --
Living Together and the Law --
Finding the One and Only: Mate Selection --
Background Factors --
Interactional Processes --
From First Impressions to Engagement --
Engagement --
Types of Engagements --
Functions of Engagement --
Debate the Issues: Does Sex Education Prevent Pregnancy or Encourage Promiscuity? --
7. Marriage, Intimacy, Expectations, and the Fully Functioning Person --
Marriage Matters --
The Transition from Single to Married Life --
Marriage: A Myriad of Interactions --
Fulfilling Needs in Marriage --
Families Around the World: Marriage in Japan --
Highlight: Religion and Marriage --
Defining Marital Success --
Strong Relationships and Families --
Highlight: A Hectic Schedule --
Marital Expectations --
Highlight: Carol: The Perpetual Seeker --
The Honeymoon Is Over: Too High Expectations --
Romantic Love or Marriage? --
Differing Expectations --
Eighty Percent I Love You
 Twenty Percent I Dislike You --
The Expectation of Commitment: A Characteristic of Strong and Successful Families --
Highlight: Carl and Allison: The Perfect Couple --
The Expectation of Primariness: Extramarital Relations --
The Self-Fulfilling Prophecy --
Making Decisions: Online Infidelity --
Is it Really Cheating? --
The Self-Actualized Person in the Fully Functioning Family --
Characteristics of Mental Health --
Self-Actualization --
Living in the Now --
The Goals of Intimacy --
You and the State: Legal Aspects of Marriage --
Highlight: Navajo Marital Expectations --
Writing Your Own Marriage Contract and Prenuptial Agreement --
Making Decisions: The Couple's Inventory --
Debate the Issues: Is Marriage a Dying Institution? --
8. Human Sexuality --
Making Decisions: Sex Knowledge Inventory --
The Uniqueness of Human Sexuality --
Highlight: The Sambians of Papua --
Changing Sexual Mores --
Modifying Sexual Behavior --
Highlight: "What Role Should Sex Play in My Life?" Beth-Ann Asks --
Differences between Male and Female Sexuality --
Highlight: A Precoital Contract --
Physiology of the Sexual Response --
Female Sexual Response --
Highlight: Female Genital Mutilation --
Making Decisions: What Are Your Biggest Problems and Complaints about Sex? --
Highlight: Describing Orgasm --
Male Sexual Response --
Variations in Sexual Response --
Some Myths Unmasked --
Does Sexual Addiction Exist? --
Marital Sex: Can I Keep the Excitement Alive? --
Highlight: One Husband's Sexual Life --
Highlight: Sex and Physical Disability --
Sex and the Aging Process --
Menopause --
Sex and Drugs --
Sexually Transmitted Diseases --
Debate the Issues: Pornography --
9. Family Planning, Pregnancy, and Birth --
Children by Choice --
Are We Ready for Children? --
Children Having Children --
Family Planning Decisions --
Deciding on a Contraceptive --
Abortion --
What Research Tells Us: Who Has Abortions? --
Infertility --
Prerequisites of Fertility --
Causes of Infertility --
Making Decisions: How Old Is Too Old? --
Methods of Treatment: Designing Babies --
Highlight: The Ultimate Breakthrough --
Highlight: Who, in Fact, Are the Parents of Jaycee? --
Pregnancy --
Pregnancy Tests --
Highlight: Am I Really Pregnant? --
Environmental Causes of Congenital Problems --
Controlling Birth Defects --
Birth --
Highlight: Infant Mortality Rates --
Cesarean Birth --
Birth Pain --
Natural Childbirth --
Rooming-In --
Alternative Birth Centers --
Home Births --
Postpartum Emotional Changes --
Debate the Issues: To Clone or Not to Clone --
10. The Challenge of Parenthood --
What Effects Do Children Have on a Marriage? --
Highlight: The Highs and Lows of Parenthood --
Traditionalization of the Marital Relationship --
Parental Effectiveness --
Highlight: Diversity in Child-Rearing Values and Practices --
The Father's Role in Parenting --
Television, Video Games, and the Internet as Surrogate Parents --
Child Rearing, Discipline, and Control --
Spanking --
Making Decisions: Using Discipline and Punishment Effectively --
The Growing Child in the Family --
Infancy: The First Year --
The Toddler: 2 to 3 Years of Age --
Early Childhood: 4 to 5 Years of Age --
School Age: 6 to 11 Years of Age --
Puberty-Adolescence: 12 to 18 Years of Age --
Highlight: Cell Phones --
Don't Call Me, I'll Call You --
Highlight: Adolescent Hormones and Brain Functioning --
Highlight: Oh No, John Is Back Home Again --
The Young Adult: 19 to 30 Years of Age --
What Research Tells Us: Young Adults Living with Parents --
Broader Parenting --
Parents without Pregnancy: Adoption --
The Single-Parent Family --
Highlight: Father Absence in African American Homes Note continued: Debate the Issues: Should Parents Stay Home to Rear Their Children? --
11. Family Life Stages: Middle Age to Surviving Spouse --
Increasing Life Expectancy --
Dealing with Change: Another Characteristic of the Strong, Healthy Family --
The Graying of America --
Middle Age: The Empty Nest --
Highlight: How a Highly Trained Engineer Became a Bicycle-Repair Man --
The Sandwich Generation: Caught in the --
Middle --
Retirement --
Widowhood as the Last Stage of Marriage --
Highlight: Doctor's Wife --
The Adjustment Process and Remarriage --
Highlight: Remarriage after the Loss of a Spouse --
The Grandparenting Role --
Highlight: Death of a Young Wife: A Young Father Alone --
Highlight: Becoming Parents Again after Your Children Are Raised --
Older but Coming on Strong --
Debate the Issues: Should Physicians Help Terminally Ill Patients Commit Suicide? --
12. The Importance of Making Sound Economic Decisions --
What Research Tells Us: GNI per Capita in Various Countries --
What Research Tells Us: Median Income of Households and Families --
Slowly Drowning in a Sea of Debt --
What Research Tells Us: College Worth It? --
What Research Tells Us: How Much Do Americans Owe? --
Making Decisions: Compare Your Attitudes about Money --
Making Good Credit, Borrowing, and Installment-Buying Decisions --
Discount Interest: Consumer Purchases --
Simple Interest: Home Loans --
Financial Problems and Marital Strain --
The Seductive Society: Credit and Advertising --
Effective Money Management --
To Pool or Not to Pool Family Money? --
Allocation of Funds: Who Makes the Spending Decisions? --
Budgeting: Enlightened Control of Spending --
Making Decisions: How to Budget Your Income --
Saving through Wise Spending --
Making Decisions: Budget Worksheet --
The Economy and Black, Hispanic, Asian American, and Single-Parent Families --
Inflation and Recession --
Inflation --
Families Around the World: Mexico: The Middle-Class Family --
Periods of Reduced Inflation and Mild Recession --
Deciding What Insurance Is Needed --
Medical Insurance --
Automobile Insurance --
Home Owners Insurance --
Life Insurance --
Deciding to Buy a Home --
The Decision to Invest --
Highlight: You Can Still Make a Million Dollars --
Debate The Issues: Credit: Is Credit The Way to Economic Freedom? --
13. The Dual-Earner Family: The Real American Revolution --
Women and the Economy --
What Research Tells Us: Women in the Workforce --
Job Opportunities for Women --
Pay Differentials between Men and Women --
Making the Decision to Become a Two-Earner Family --
The Employed Wife's Economic Contribution to the Family --
Community Service and the Employed Wife --
Household Activities and Supermothers --
Deciding in Favor of Part-Time Work --
Child Care and Parental Leave --
Stay-at-Home Moms --
Employers, Pregnant Employees, and Employed Mothers --
Home-Based Work --
Marital Satisfaction in the Two-Earner Family --
Work and Family: Sources of Conflict --
Jobs, Occupations, and Careers --
Dual-Career Families --
Commuter Marriage and/or the Weekend Family --
Debate the Issues: Is Sexual Harassment in the Workplace Pervasive? --
14. Family Crises --
Coping with Crises --
Highlight: Types of Stressor Events --
Stress: Healthy and Unhealthy --
Crisis Management --
Highlight: Agencies That Can Help with Various Crises --
Defense Mechanisms --
Death in the Family --
Natural Causes --
Ambiguous Loss --
Suicide and Homicide --
Firearm Mortality --
Grief and Bereavement --
Accidents, Injuries, and Catastrophic Illness --
Making Decisions: The Case of the Weinstein Family --
Family Violence --
Violence between Partners --
Child Abuse --
Sibling Abuse --
Peer Abuse --
Highlight: Repressed Memories of Incest --
Parental Abuse by Children --
Factors Associated with Family Violence --
Poverty and Unemployment --
Children and Poverty --
The Military Family in the Time of War --
Drug and Alcohol Abuse --
Drugs and Drug Abuse --
Alcohol --
Debate the Issues: Should Drugs Be Legalized? --
15. The Dissolution of Marriage --
Let No One Put Asunder --
Divorce Facts --
Reasons for America's High Divorce Rate --
Emotional Divorce and the Emotions of Divorce --
Highlight: Not One Divorce but Six --
Highlight: Divorce: Constant Self-Questioning --
Divorce but Not the End of the Relationship --
Making Decisions: What Changes Must Be Made with Divorce? --
Problems of the Newly Divorced --
Economic Consequences --
Children and Divorce --
Types of Child Custody --
The Children of Divorce --
Learning to Coparent --
Highlight: Divorce and Dad --
Divorce: The Legalities --
Some Cautions about No-Fault Divorce --
Divorce Counseling and Mediation --
Reducing Divorce Rates --
Divorce May Not Be the Answer --
Debate the Issues: Should Couples Stay Together for the Sake of the Children? --
16. Remarriage: A Growing Way of American Life --
Returning to Single Life --
Cohabitation as a Courtship Step to Remarriage --
Remarriage: Will I Make the Same Mistakes Again? --
Highlight: Bob, Carol, Ted, and Alice --
Family Law and Stepfamilies --
Child-Support Obligations --
Custody and Visitation of Stepchildren --
His, Hers, and Ours: The Stepfamily --
Highlight: How to Ruin a Remarriage --
Highlight: The Ten Commandments of Stepparenting --
Weekend Visits of the Noncustodial Child --
Dealing with Sexuality in the Stepfamily --
Highlight: How Much Closer Can We Get? --
The New Extended Family --
Building Stepfamily Strengths --
The Prenuptial Agreement --
Mediation to Settle Conflicts and Other Prevention Programs --
Debate the Issues: Fatherless America: Can a Stepfather Take the Place of a Biological Father? --
17. Actively Seeking Marital Growth and Fulfillment --
"And They Lived Happily Ever After" --
Highlight: Economic Success, Marital Failure --
Highlight: Self-Improvement, Marital Failure --
Marriage Improvement Programs --
Guidelines for Choosing Marriage Improvement Programs --
Highlight: A Family Life Enrichment Weekend --
An Ounce of Prevention Is Worth a Pound of Cure: Marriage Enrichment --
Highlight: Marriage Encounter --
Marriage with Purpose: Effective Management --
In the Future, the Family Will Remain and Diversify.