Ann C. Crouter – författare

In this volume, Romance and Sex in Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood: Risks and Opportunities, top scholars in the field of family research examine the nature and origin of adolescents’ contemporary patterns of sexual and romantic relationships, spanning such diverse topics as the evolutionary roots of these behaviors, as well as policies and programs that represent best practices for addressing these issues in schools and communities. The text offers interdisciplinary expertise from scholars of psychology, social work, sociology, demography, economics, human development and family studies, and public policy.Adolescents and young adults today face very different choices about family formation than did their parents’ generation, given such societal changes as the rise in cohabitation, the increase in divorce rates, and families having fewer children. These demographic trends are linked in important ways and provide a backdrop against which adolescents and emerging adults form and maintain romantic and sexual relationships. Editors Crouter and Booth address such questions as:*What are the ways in which early family and peer relationships give rise to romantic relationships in the late adolescent and early adult years?*How do early romantic and sexual relationships influence individuals’ subsequent development and life choices, including family formation?*To what extent are current trends in romantic and sexual relationships in adolescence and emerging adulthood problematic for individuals, families, and communities, and what are the most effective ways to address these issues at the level of practice, program, and policy?Romance and Sex in Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood: Risks and Opportunities is an enlightening compilation of essays for academicians and upper-lever undergraduate and graduate students in the fields of human development and family studies, sociology, and psychology, as well as for practitioners in those fields who work with families and adolescents. The chapters are accessible to a wide variety of audiences.

In this volume, Romance and Sex in Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood: Risks and Opportunities, top scholars in the field of family research examine the nature and origin of adolescents’ contemporary patterns of sexual and romantic relationships, spanning such diverse topics as the evolutionary roots of these behaviors, as well as policies and programs that represent best practices for addressing these issues in schools and communities. The text offers interdisciplinary expertise from scholars of psychology, social work, sociology, demography, economics, human development and family studies, and public policy.Adolescents and young adults today face very different choices about family formation than did their parents’ generation, given such societal changes as the rise in cohabitation, the increase in divorce rates, and families having fewer children. These demographic trends are linked in important ways and provide a backdrop against which adolescents and emerging adults form and maintain romantic and sexual relationships. Editors Crouter and Booth address such questions as:*What are the ways in which early family and peer relationships give rise to romantic relationships in the late adolescent and early adult years?*How do early romantic and sexual relationships influence individuals’ subsequent development and life choices, including family formation?*To what extent are current trends in romantic and sexual relationships in adolescence and emerging adulthood problematic for individuals, families, and communities, and what are the most effective ways to address these issues at the level of practice, program, and policy?Romance and Sex in Adolescence and Emerging Adulthood: Risks and Opportunities is an enlightening compilation of essays for academicians and upper-lever undergraduate and graduate students in the fields of human development and family studies, sociology, and psychology, as well as for practitioners in those fields who work with families and adolescents. The chapters are accessible to a wide variety of audiences.

This book is based on the presentations and discussions from a national symposium on "Creating the Next Generation: Social, Economic, and Psychological Processes Underlying Fertility in Developed Countries," held at the Pennsylvania State University in 2003. The papers address some of the antecedents and consequences of the recent steep declines in fertility in developed countries from different theoretical and disciplinary angles. While fertility rates are still high in some less-developed parts of the world, the new population problem with many countries in Europe, Asia, and North America is declining fertility. With fertility decline comes a reshaping of the population pyramid. The topic of fertility decline is interesting not only at the level of the individuals and couples, but also at the level of the societies that must come to grips with their long-term implications.Divided into four Parts, the text:*looks at contemporary trends in U.S. fertility, thus setting the stage for the entire volume;*discusses social and cultural values and attitudes;*analyzes fertility decisions in different countries; and*focuses on the possible long-term consequences of current fertility trends for individuals, families, and societies.

This book is based on the presentations and discussions from a national symposium on "Creating the Next Generation: Social, Economic, and Psychological Processes Underlying Fertility in Developed Countries," held at the Pennsylvania State University in 2003. The papers address some of the antecedents and consequences of the recent steep declines in fertility in developed countries from different theoretical and disciplinary angles. While fertility rates are still high in some less-developed parts of the world, the new population problem with many countries in Europe, Asia, and North America is declining fertility. With fertility decline comes a reshaping of the population pyramid. The topic of fertility decline is interesting not only at the level of the individuals and couples, but also at the level of the societies that must come to grips with their long-term implications.Divided into four Parts, the text:*looks at contemporary trends in U.S. fertility, thus setting the stage for the entire volume;*discusses social and cultural values and attitudes;*analyzes fertility decisions in different countries; and*focuses on the possible long-term consequences of current fertility trends for individuals, families, and societies.

The area of work and family is a hot topic in the social sciences and appeals to scholars in a wide range of disciplines. There are few edited volumes in this area, however, and this may be the only one that focuses on low-income families--a particularly important group in this era of welfare-to-work policy. Interdisciplinary in nature, the volume brings together contributors from the fields of psychology, social work, sociology, demography, economics, human development and family studies, and public policy. It presents important work-family topics from the point of view of low-income families at a time in history when welfare to work programs have become standard. Divided into four parts, each section addresses a different aspect of the topic, consisting of a big picture lead essay which is followed by three papers that critique, extend, and supplement the final paper. Many of the chapters address important social policy issues, giving the volume an applied focus which will make it of interest to many groups. Serving to organize the volume, these issues and others have been encapsulated into four sets of anchor questions: *How has the availability, content, and stability of the jobs available for the working poor changed in recent decades? How do work circumstances for low-income families vary as a function of gender, family structure, race, ethnicity, and geography? What implications do these changes have for the widening inequality between the haves and have-nots? *What features of work timing matter for families? What do we know about the impacts of shift work, long hours, seasonal work, and temporary work on employees, their family relationships, and their children''s development? *How are the child care needs of low-income families being met? What challenges do these families face with regard to child care, and how can child-care services be strengthened to support parents and to enhance child development? *How are the challenges of managing work and family experienced by low-income men and women? The primary audience for the book is academicians and their students, policy specialists, and people charged with developing and evaluating family-focused programs. The volume will be appropriate for classroom use in upper-level undergraduate courses and graduate courses in the fields of family sociology, demography, human development and family studies, women''s studies, labor studies, and social work.

The area of work and family is a hot topic in the social sciences and appeals to scholars in a wide range of disciplines. There are few edited volumes in this area, however, and this may be the only one that focuses on low-income families--a particularly important group in this era of welfare-to-work policy. Interdisciplinary in nature, the volume brings together contributors from the fields of psychology, social work, sociology, demography, economics, human development and family studies, and public policy. It presents important work-family topics from the point of view of low-income families at a time in history when welfare to work programs have become standard. Divided into four parts, each section addresses a different aspect of the topic, consisting of a big picture lead essay which is followed by three papers that critique, extend, and supplement the final paper. Many of the chapters address important social policy issues, giving the volume an applied focus which will make it of interest to many groups. Serving to organize the volume, these issues and others have been encapsulated into four sets of anchor questions: *How has the availability, content, and stability of the jobs available for the working poor changed in recent decades? How do work circumstances for low-income families vary as a function of gender, family structure, race, ethnicity, and geography? What implications do these changes have for the widening inequality between the haves and have-nots? *What features of work timing matter for families? What do we know about the impacts of shift work, long hours, seasonal work, and temporary work on employees, their family relationships, and their children''s development? *How are the child care needs of low-income families being met? What challenges do these families face with regard to child care, and how can child-care services be strengthened to support parents and to enhance child development? *How are the challenges of managing work and family experienced by low-income men and women? The primary audience for the book is academicians and their students, policy specialists, and people charged with developing and evaluating family-focused programs. The volume will be appropriate for classroom use in upper-level undergraduate courses and graduate courses in the fields of family sociology, demography, human development and family studies, women''s studies, labor studies, and social work.

Any parent who has raised more than one child is likely to be keenly aware of subtle or even striking differences among their offspring. The central premise of this volume is that children bring personal qualities to their relationships with other family members that help shape family interaction, relationships, and even processes that family researchers have called "parenting." The chapters address how children''s personal qualities make their mark on families in ways that may in turn influence children''s subsequent development. The volume is based on the presentations and discussions from a national symposium on "Children''s influence on family dynamics: The neglected side of family relationships" held at the Pennsylvania State University, as the ninth in a series of annual interdisciplinary symposia focused on family issues. It is divided into four parts, each dealing with a different aspect of the topic. Part I sets the stage by focusing on the features of children that make a difference, as well as the kinds of research designs that are likely to shed light on the role of child influences. Part II focuses on early childhood, particularly the role of infant temperament and other individual differences in very young children in shaping their parents'' behaviors, reactions in turn that feedback and influence the developing child. Part III focuses on adolescence, a time when young people are able to exert more choice in how they spend their time and who they spend it with. Part IV pulls the themes of the volume together and points the way for future research.

Any parent who has raised more than one child is likely to be keenly aware of subtle or even striking differences among their offspring. The central premise of this volume is that children bring personal qualities to their relationships with other family members that help shape family interaction, relationships, and even processes that family researchers have called "parenting." The chapters address how children''s personal qualities make their mark on families in ways that may in turn influence children''s subsequent development. The volume is based on the presentations and discussions from a national symposium on "Children''s influence on family dynamics: The neglected side of family relationships" held at the Pennsylvania State University, as the ninth in a series of annual interdisciplinary symposia focused on family issues. It is divided into four parts, each dealing with a different aspect of the topic. Part I sets the stage by focusing on the features of children that make a difference, as well as the kinds of research designs that are likely to shed light on the role of child influences. Part II focuses on early childhood, particularly the role of infant temperament and other individual differences in very young children in shaping their parents'' behaviors, reactions in turn that feedback and influence the developing child. Part III focuses on adolescence, a time when young people are able to exert more choice in how they spend their time and who they spend it with. Part IV pulls the themes of the volume together and points the way for future research.

Based on the presentations and discussions from a national symposia, Just Living Together represents one of the first systematic efforts to focus on cohabitation. The book is divided into four parts, each dealing with a different aspect of cohabitation. Part I addresses the big picture question, "What are the historical and cross cultural foundations of cohabitation?" Part II focuses specifically on North America and asks, "What is the role of cohabitation in contemporary North American family structure?" Part III turns the focus to the question, "What is the long- and short-term impact of cohabitation on child well-being?" Part IV addresses how cohabiting couples are affected by current policies and what policy innovations could be introduced to support these couples. Providing a road map for future research, program development, and policymaking. Just Living Together will serve as an important resource for people interested in learning about variations in the ways families of today are choosing to organize themselves.