Customer Reviews

Marriages and Families: Diversity and Change (5th Edition)

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This book provides a general educational foundation to the subject. However, it has to be noted that the contents are more descriptive than inferential in nature and readers may have to excuse the research biases and inadequacies as and when they appear.

Ordering was great it just took a week, and it was within the same state 4 hours away. But overall everything was good

I had to return it because I got into the class I was waitlisted for but it seemed pretty interesting from what I was able to scan through and read.

I read an excerpt from the 2000 edition of this book in which the authors set out to "debunk" myths surrounding family and marriage.

It could have been interesting to read but was so poorly put together I can't believe these women were ever hired as professors. The article seemed to be full of contradictions and personal bias, as if the authors had an axe to grind but wouldn't come out and say why. The attempt came off as quite lazy, as it was extremely lacking in any solid research to back up a slew of opinions spouted in the writing.

Not only was it poorly researched but the writing was pretty bad too. It seemed like the authors were attempting an authoritative tone but in doing so, it came off as just dull, dry and boring. It lacked any specific examples and tried so hard to sound grown-up and right that its preachy, point-a-finger-at-everyone-else style was offensive.

For instance, one of the myths the authors seek to debunk is "The Naturalness of Different Spheres for Wives and Husbands," which I think is their way of saying it's OK for male and females roles to overlap (hardly new information for a book published in 2000, since by then lots of kids had been raised by working moms or single parents).

In discussing a pre-Industrial time, they bring up what could have been an intriguing point, that men of the time were more immersed in fatherhood. But could the reader learn any specifics from the article? Nope. Their examples of how fathers were more involved included only mentioning they had "a well-defined set of domestic skills, including provisioning, hospitality and child-rearing." Huh? Hospitality could mean anything from planning a barn dance or child's birthday party to cooking meals for the weary traveler, or it could simply mean Dad raised hops to supply brew to fellow farmers while they chewed cuds over the fence.

You have to wade through far too much of this kind of muck to get at even a germ of an idea and then it's still not clear.

Any student who has been taught to think for herself or himself will likely find much of this writing sadly illogical. I pity the students required to drop a hundred bucks on this junk. If your class requires this book, I'd recommend dropping it and registering for a different class, trying to do without the book or getting it used as cheaply as you can find it. This is unfortunately ignorant.

I was a little nervous to buy this because I have never bought anything on Amazon especially a used text book but when it came in I was so happy. It's condition was great and so was the price. Thank you!

Yes, the book is peppered with feminist propaganda, but I won't base my disdain for the book due to that. I do dislike how whenever they are speaking about people from both sexes, the purposely always list she before he. "She or he is likely to ..." "She or he sometimes may feel..." Why not go s/he, that seems pretty acceptable to me. Or he, then she, since that's alphabetical. Or mix it up and do both, but it's a purposeful action in this book to put female before male.

I just fail to see the worth of the text. Why do I need to read a chapter on Living Single, Living With Others? Or Dating, Coupling, and Mate Selection. Or The Marriage Experience.

What did this book teach me? Well, I now know such important things as the "developmental family life cycle theory", which pays close attention to changes in families over time and attempts to explain family life in terms of a process that unfolds over the life course of families? Huh? Really, who cares? The text is obsessed with trying to explain things, and give names and theories and terms to what I just refer to as "life". Everyone lives life a different way. Live and let live I say, and quit analyzing it. If two gay people have a kid, good for them. Why delve into it? If two straight people have a kid, good for them. If a grandmother lives with the family, who cares? Why is an entire book dedicated to this?

Sadly, most of those probably reading reviews on this book are students who will be required to buy it. So my advice, buy it, use it, resell it. If you happen to be a professor of sociology, put aside your personal feelings about my or other negative reviews, read the book cover to cover, and ask yourself if it really taught you anything, or enlightened you in anyway. I wish my professor had.

The book came on time faster than what I expected. It was in very good condition and I recommend anyone to use this service.

this book looks like it is full of good and useful information and especially benefitial for those who need it for college classes. I have not read it yet as my class has not started yet...but I looked through it and it appeared to be well organized and educational in a good why so you understand the material easy enough.

The book was in perfect condition. I purchased the book as "NEW" and I still paid a cheaper price than I would have at my school's book store. I was very pleased with the sale and hope to do business with this seller again.

Hold your nose on this one, folks!

While there is some solid educational value to be gleaned from this work, I fear the trouble to filter the good from the bad makes this an untenable text, especially for those new to the dicipline.

Why is this work so bad? Simply reams and reams of feminist twaddle! This book is literally infested with the so-called "facts" and "scholarship" from that bankrupted, poisonous and scientifically discredited ideology called feminism.

One does have to appreciate the irony: the very people who have nearly succeeded in destroying the family - feminists - are writing a book about the family!

This book is from the wonderful and whacky world of "wymin's studies" and should be avoided like the plague! Really, there are truly scientifically sound and unbiased works out there. Do yourself a favour and find them.