Normal Family Processes, Fourth Edition (4^th Ed.) Growing Diversity and Complexity

Widely adopted, this valued course text and practitioner guide has expanded the understanding of family normality and healthy functioning in our increasingly diverse society. The editor and contributors are at the forefront of research and clinical training. They describe the challenges facing contemporary families and ways in which clinicians can promote resilience. With consideration of sociocultural and developmental influences, chapters identify key family processes that nurture and sustain strong bonds in couples; dual-earner, divorced, single-parent, remarried, adoptive, and kinship care families; gay and lesbian families; culturally diverse families; and those coping with adversity, such as trauma, poverty, and chronic illness. New to This Edition *Reflects important research advances and the changing contexts of family life. *Additional chapter topics: kinship care, family rituals, evidence-based assessment, and neurobiology. *All chapters have been fully updated.

I. Overview

1. The New Normal: Diversity and Complexity in 21st-Century Families, Froma Walsh
2. Clinical Views of Family Normality, Health, and Dysfunction: From Deficit to Strengths Perspective, Froma WalshII. Varying Family Forms and Challenges
3. Couple Interaction in Happy and Unhappy Marriages: Gottman Laboratory Studies, Janice Driver, Amber Tabares, Alyson Shapiro, and John M. Gottman
4. Contemporary Two-Parent Families: Navigating Work and Family Challenges, Peter Fraenkel and Carrie Capstick
5. Risk and Resilience after Divorce, Shannon M. Greene, Edward R. Anderson, Marion S. Forgatch, David S. DeGarmo, and E. Mavis Hetherington
6. The Diversity, Strengths, and Challenges of Single-Parent Households, Carol Anderson
7. Remarriage and Stepfamily Life, Kay Pasley and Chelsea Garneau
8. Gay and Lesbian Family Life: Risk, Resilience, and Rising Expectations, Robert-Jay Green
9. Family Processes in Kinship Care, Malitta Engstrom
10. Adoptive Families, Cheryl Rampage, Marina Eovaldi, Cassandra Ma, Catherine Weigel Foy, Leah Bloom, and Gina Miranda SamuelsIII. Cultural Dimensions in Family Functioning
11. Culture: A Challenge to Concepts of Normality, Monica McGoldrick and Deidre Ashton
12. Intersections of Race, Class, and Poverty: Challenges and Resilience in African American Families, Nancy Boyd-Franklin and Melanie Karger
13. Immigrant Family Processes: A Multidimensional Framework, Celia Jaes Falicov
14. Changing Gender Norms in Families and Society: Toward Equality amid Complexities, Carmen Knudson-Martin
15. The Spiritual Dimension of Family Life, Froma WalshIV. Developmental Perspectives on Family Functioning
16. The Family Life Cycle, Monica McGoldrick and Tazuko Shibusawa
17. Family Resilience: Strengths Forged through Adversity, Froma Walsh
18. Normative Family Transitions, Couple Relationship Quality, and Healthy Child Development, Philip A. Cowan and Carolyn Pape Cowan
19. Mastering Family Challenges in Serious Illness and Disability, John S. Rolland
20. Family and Community Rituals in the 21st Century, Evan Imber-BlackV. Advancing Family Systems Research and Practice
21. Assessment of Effective Couple and Family Functioning: Prevailing Models and Instruments, Jay Lebow and Catherine B. Stroud
22. Unraveling the Complexity of Gene–Environment Interplay and Family Processes, Erica L. Spotts
23. Neurobiology and Family Processes, Mona DeKoven Fishbane

Froma Walsh, MSW, PhD, is the Mose and Sylvia Firestone Professor Emerita in the Crown Family School of Social Work, Policy, and Practice and the Department of Psychiatry, Pritzker School of Medicine, University of Chicago. She is also Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Chicago Center for Family Health. Dr. Walsh is an internationally respected clinical scholar and a foremost authority on family resilience. Integrating developmental, relational, sociocultural, and spiritual perspectives, her resilience-oriented systemic approach with individuals, couples, and families fosters healing and positive adaptation. She is past editor of the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy and past president of the American Family Therapy Academy. Dr. Walsh is the recipient of many honors for distinguished contributions to theory, research, and practice, including the Presidential Citation from the American Psychological Association and awards from the American Family Therapy Academy, the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy, the American Orthopsychiatric Association, and the Society for Pastoral Counseling Research. She is a frequent speaker and consultant internationally, and her books have been translated into many languages.