Public and Private Families: An Introduction | 
 enlarge | Author: Andrew Cherlin
Publisher: McGraw-Hill Humanities/Social Sciences/Languages
Category: Book
Buy Used: $51.99
New (31) Used (55) from $51.99
Rating:  2 reviews
Sales Rank: 330621
Media: Hardcover
Edition: 5
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 608
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.4
Dimensions (in): 10.1 x 8 x 0.6
ISBN: 0073528080
Dewey Decimal Number: 306.85
EAN: 9780073528083
ASIN: 0073528080
Publication Date: October 23, 2006
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Product Description
Nationally recognized for its sound scholarship and balanced approach and written by one of the leading authorities in the field, this text examines the family through two lenses: the familiar private family in which we live most of our personal lives, and the public family in which we, as adults, deal with broader societal issues such as the care of the elderly, the increase in divorce, and childbearing outside of marriage. The book looks at intimate personal concerns, such as whether to marry, as well as societal concerns, such as governmental policies that affect families. Distinctive chapters � Chapter 9, �Children and Parents;� Chapter 10, �The Elderly and Their Families;� and Chapter 14, �The Family, the State and Social Policy� � examine issues of great current interest, such as income assistance to poor families, the effects of out-of-home childcare, and the costs of the Social Security and Medicare programs.
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| Customer Reviews:
 Recommended September 19, 2008
I am a Sociology and Psychology double major taking a Bachelor's level Marriage and Family sociology class, and I think this book is great! Many textbooks, even in sociology(!), can be dull, but I am finding this book to be a very good read. Very informative and thought-provoking. Statistics in the forms of graphs and tables are also helpful. I also think viewing the family as having a "public" and "private" dimension is valuable and relevant. It's also well-organized and seems to cover all the bases. In response to the previous review, I don't find the material difficult. There's a brief summary in the form of bullet points at the end of every section and every chapter! Doesn't get much more straight-forward than that. I also tend to sell back my books, but I think I will keep this one as a resource. No complaints really, I will think about it over the course of the semester.
 Great textbook, but too challenging for my students February 4, 2007
6 out of 6 found this review helpful
This review is from the perspective of a sociology instructor and refers to the 4th edition of the textbook and reader. I've used this pair of texts twice in a Sociology of Family course at a medium-size, medium-quality Midwestern university. The textbook is the most accurate, complete, well-organized, and sociological of the many family textbooks I've reviewed. However, I don't plan to use it again. It is too challenging for my students. Cherlin assumes a basic knowledge of sociological concepts and social facts that my students don't have. They become confused and frustrated when reading. There is a good website associated with the textbook that gives students study help, but I can't use the instructor version because of bad publisher customer service (tech support and my publisher's rep have been passing the buck about who should help me for the past month). I'd recommend this book if your students have the basics in place before the course starts. I plan to look for something written for students who don't. UPDATE Spring Semester 2008: I am still using the newer edition of this text and reader and providing more basic-sociology and explaining-Cherlin's-points during lecture. I haven't found anything I like better but am still looking. Website problems are ongoing and publisher support continues to be nil.
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