Exploring Family Theories

Ingoldsby (Brigham Young U.), Smith (Washington State U. at Vancouver), and Miller (Northern Illinois U.) introduce nine major theories about human family dynamics that have been widely used and accepted in the social sciences over the past half century. Each chapter offers a brief history of the development of a theory, describe the basic assumptions underlying the theory, present the primary terms and concepts, and provide examples of the theory's application in research activities. Theories covered are functionalism, family development theory, exchange theory, symbolic interactionism, conflict theory, family stress theory, family systems theory, feminist family theory, and biosocial theory. Annotation ©2004 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)