Summary

This edited reader, with contributions from experts on families in various countries, documents and explains family life and practices throughout the world, including preindustrial, developing, fully industrialized, and postmodern information societies. Each article is organized around a set of similar themes and concerns: socio-historical and demographic information about the families being studied, religious and cultural beliefs tied to family practices, husband-wife/parent roles and responsibilities, parent-child socialization, and policy initiatives within that society. The opening chapters provide a theoretical overview and a basis for examining family changes and organization patterns from evolutionary and postmodern perspectives.