In Defense of Single-Parent Families

Author: Nancy E. Dowd
ISBN: 0814718698

Single-parent families succeed. Within these families children thrive, develop, and grow, just as they do in a variety of family structures. Tragically, they must do so in the face of powerful legal and social stigma that works to undermine them. As Nancy E. Dowd argues in this bold and original book, the justifications for stigmatizing single-parent families are founded largely on myths, myths used to rationalize harshly punitive social policies. Children, in increasing numbers, bear the brunt of those policies. In this generation, more than two-thirds of all children will spend some time in a single-parent family before reaching age 18. The damage done in the name of justified stigma, therefore, harms a great many children. Dowd details the primary justifications for stigmatizing single-parent families, marshalling an impressive array of resources about single parents that portray a very different picture of these families. She describes them in all their forms, with particular atte

Publisher: NYU Press
Publish Date: 1997

Subjects: Family & Relationships / Parenting / Single Parent, Law / General, Law / Family Law / General, Social Science / Sociology / Marriage & Family

This book is available in the following Community Centers: Women's Center (Location: Parenting)