Download or read book The New Family ? written by Elizabeth Bortolaia Silva and published by SAGE. This book was released on 1999-02-08 with total page 189 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Concern and debate over changes to family life have increased in the last decade, as a result of evolving employment patterns, shifting gender relations and more openness about sexual orientation. Most politicians and researchers have viewed these changes as harmful, suggesting that the family as an institution should not alter. The `New' Family? challenges these dominant views. Leading academics in the field consider current diverse practices in families, and reveal the lack of balance between policies based on how families should be and how they actually are, illustrating the need for a broader definition of family. This book shows the need to take fluidity and change in family arrangements seriously, rather