PREFACEACKNOWLEDGMENTSABOUT THE AUTHORChapter 1: Family Life NowWhat Is Marriage?What Is Family?Contemporary FamiliesFamilies in Cultural ContextsFamily Life Education: The Study of Families Through A Family LensFamily Life Education: Strengthening FamiliesSummaryKey termsChapter 2: Understanding Families Through Research and TheoryUnderstanding Families Through ResearchBecoming a Consumer of the LiteratureUnderstanding Families Through TheoryFamily Interactions and YouFamily Life Education: Creating, Implementing, and Evaluating Effective Family ProgrammingSummaryKey termsChapter 3: Family Communication, Conflict, and ForgivenessThe Communication ProcessCommunication Between Men and WomenTypes of CommunicationCornerstones of CommunicationConflict in RelationshipsThe Role of Forgiveness in Family and Intimate RelationshipsFamily Life Education: Forging Family StrengthsSummaryKey termsChapter 4: Gender in Today''s SocietyIt Matters: The Biology of GenderIt Matters: The Culture of GenderGender Polarization: Complementary Opposites--Or Inequality?The Theories of Gender DevelopmentIt Matters: The Agents of SocializationIt Matters: Gender and Contemporary IssuesFamily Life Education: Practicing With Sensitivity and Respecting DiversitySummaryKey termsChapter 5: Intimacy: Developing and Experiencing Affectionate BondsIntimacy: Do We Have a Need to Relate to Others?What Do Intimate Relationships Look Like?The Psychosocial Development of ChildrenAdolescents'' and Young Adults'' Psychosocial DevelopmentObstacles to IntimacyFamily Life Education: Valuing Diverse Couple ExperiencesSummaryKey termsChapter 6: Love and LovingLove Is a Cultural and Historical ExperienceWhat Is Love, Actually?Companionate Love: Experiencing Love as a CommitmentDeveloping LoveTheories of Love and LovingFamily Life Education: Relating to Others With Respect, Sincerity, and ResponsibilitySummaryKey termsChapter 7: The Path to Commitment: Attraction, Dating, Partnering, and Cohabitation"Frisky Business": Interpersonal Attraction TheoriesThe Path to CommitmentRelationship DevelopmentNonmarital Cohabitation: Living TogetherFamily Life Education: Using Reinforcing Strategies to Aid Couple Formation and MaintenanceSummaryKey termsChapter 8: Singlehood, Coupling, and MarriageBeing SingleThe Act of MarriageThe Transition to Marriage: Why It''s So ToughSatisfying MarriagesFamily Life Education: Identifying Social and Cultural Influences Affecting the Marital ExperienceSummaryKey termsChapter 9: You, Sex, and SexualityLearning Sexuality: Cultural ContributionsOur Sexual SelvesSexually Transmitted InfectionsRelationships and SexCheating: Sex Outside the RelationshipExperiencing Sexual DifficultiesFamily Life Education: Advancing Healthy Sexual Well-Being From a Value-Respectful PositionSummaryKey termsChapter 10: Becoming Parents: Choices and ChallengesChildbearing Trends: Who''s Having Babies?Having Children: Now, Later, or Never?Being Pregnant and Giving BirthUnexpected OutcomesAdoption: By Circumstance or ChoiceContraception and AbortionFamily Life Education: Fostering Healthy Family FormationSummaryKey termsChapter 11: Parenting Life NowChange Over Time: Parenting Is a ProcessFrom Partners to Parents: Making the TransitionToday''s ParentsParenting 101: Best Practices for ParentingFamily Life Education: Guiding and Influencing a Child''s DevelopmentSummaryKey termsChapter 12: Family Life and Work: A Balancing ActWorking Families: The Transformation of American HomesA Portrait of Contemporary Dual-Earner CouplesCouples and Work: Just Trying to Make Ends MeetThe Balancing Act: Juggling Family Life and WorkPolicies for Working FamiliesMarriage and MoneyFamily Life Education: Understanding and Assisting Families'' DecisionsSummaryKey termsChapter 13: Uncoupling: Relationship Deterioration and DivorceUncouplingEmotionally Ending the Marriage/CoupleLegally Ending the Marriage: The Formal DivorceAvoiding Divorce: Getting a Marriage Back on TrackFamily Life Education: Educating and Assisting Families Through Transition and ChangeSummaryKey termsChapter 14: Rebuilding: Family Life Following Couple Dissolution and DivorceThe Aftermath of Divorce: TransitionsHow Divorce Affects Children and AdolescentsChallenges for Single ParentsTransitions to RepartneringFamily Life Education: Protecting Children''s and Adults'' Well-BeingSummaryKey termsChapter 15: Family Change: Stress, Crisis, and TransitionFamily ChangeFamily CrisisFamily Coping and ResilienceThe Crisis of Family ViolenceFamily Life Education: Providing Knowledge and SkillsSummaryKey termsChapter 16: Family Life and AgingAging and the AgedMarriage Experiences Through AgingIntergenerational TiesFamily Changes Toward the End of LifeDying and Death ExperiencesFamily Life Education: Removing Barriers and Assisting in TransitionsSummaryKey termsGLOSSARYREFERENCESINDEX.