We see that javascript is disabled or not supported by your browser - javascript is needed for important actions on the site. Read more

What's New - Home - Login

Member $avings: $81,536,701.24 | Books Available: 801,277 | Members Online: 48

Swap Used Books - Buy New Books at Great Prices!

How To Swap Books Sign Up Search submenu

PBS Market (New Books)

Gift Buying Guide

Book Browser Advanced Search Books Posted Today Member Book Reviews Award Winning Books NYT Best Sellers Amazon Best Sellers Most Traveled Copies Club Wish List

Discussion Forums Book Lists

Club Lists My Book Lists My Watched Lists Create a List

Blog Donations

School Donation Program In Memory of... Military Donation Program Friends of PBS

Box-O-Books Maps The Eclectic Pen Fun Stuff

20 Questions Sudoku Bookmark Creator

Top 100

Requests Posts Swappers Referrers Reviewers

Pulse of PBS Spread The Word

Invite Friends Bookmarks Facebook Page Facebook App More Ways...

Photo Gallery Recipes Club Tag Cloud Member Testimonials

Help Center submenu

How To Swap Books Browse Help Docs Ask the Librarian PBS Member Icons Live Help

Kiosk

PBS Market (New Books) Go Shopping Buy Credits Buy PBS Money Upgrade Membership Gift Certificates Transfer Credits

Need Help?

Search - Counted Out: Same-sex Relations and Americans' Definitions of Family (The American Sociological Association's Rose Series in Sociology)

Counted Out Samesex Relations and Americans' Definitions of Family - The American Sociological Association's Rose Series in Sociology
Author: Brian Powell, Catherine Bolzendahl, Claudia Geist, Lala Carr Steelman

When state voters passed the California Marriage Protection Act (Proposition 8) in 2008, it restricted the definition of marriage to a legal union between a man and a woman. The act s passage further agitated an already roiling debate about whether American notions of family could or should expand to include, for example, same-sex marriage, unma... more »rried cohabitation, and gay adoption. But how do Americans really define family? The first study to explore this largely overlooked question, Counted Out asks men and women of different ages, races, religions, and socioeconomic backgrounds to share their opinions on what counts as family and what doesn t. The book examines these currents in public opinion to assess their policy implications and to predict how Americans definitions of family may change in the future.

Counted Out broadens the scope of previous studies by moving beyond efforts to understand how Americans view their own families to examine the way Americans characterize the concept of family in general. The book reports on and analyzes the results of the authors Constructing the Family Surveys (2003 and 2006), which asked more than 1500 people to explain their views on a broad range of issues, including gay marriage and adoption, single parenthood, the influence of biological and social factors in child development, religious ideology, and the legal rights of unmarried partners. Not surprisingly, the authors find that the standard bearer for public conceptions of family continues to be a married, heterosexual couple with children. More than half of Americans also consider same-sex couples with children as family, and from 2003 to 2006 the percentages of those who believe so increased significantly up six percent for lesbian couples and five percent for gay couples. The presence of children in any living arrangement meets with a notable degree of public approval. Less than 30 percent of Americans view heterosexual cohabitating couples without children as family, while similar couples with children count as family for nearly 80 percent. Many Americans, however, are still torn over whether certain living arrangements count as family, particularly same-sex couples without children. And nearly all reject the idea that housemates, for example, are family. Counted Out shows that for most Americans, however, the boundaries around what they define as family are becoming more malleable with time.

Although such issues as same-sex marriage and gay adoption remain at the center of a cultural divide, Counted Out demonstrates that American definitions of family are becoming more expansive not less. Who counts as family has far-reaching implications for policy, including health insurance coverage, end-of-life decisions, estate rights, and child custody. Public opinion matters. As lawmakers consider the future of family policy, they will want to consider the evolution in American opinion represented in this groundbreaking book.

ISBN-13: 9780871546876
ISBN-10: 0871546876
Publication Date: 9/1/2010
Pages: 336
Rating:

0 stars, based on 0 rating

Publisher: Russell Sage Foundation
Book Type: Hardcover
Members Wishing: 0
Reviews: Amazon | Write a Review

Genres:

Parenting & Relationships
Nonfiction >> Current Events >> Civil Rights & Liberties
Politics & Social Sciences >> Government >> Social Policy
Nonfiction >> Social Sciences
LGBTQ+ Books >> Nonfiction >> Civil Rights

Back to the Top ↑

Search - Counted Out: Same-sex Relations and Americans' Definitions of Family (The American Sociological Association's Rose Series in Sociology)

Loading...