Marriage In The 20Th Century In Western Civilization

The twentieth century has been a time of immense change in virtually every facet of human life in the West. This edited volume examines how marriage, and how we theorize about marriage, has been transformed. The essays included emphasize the need for new theory, research, and practice to take a more multifaceted and diverse perspective on marriage, divorce, and human pair-bonding in general into the twenty-first century.

• Addresses shifting marital trends, specifically looking at divorce, rather than death, as the endpoint of marriage


• Investigates the process whereby marriage and intimate relations moved into the purview of science and scientific study


• Explores the increasing proliferation of marriage counseling, and makes recommendations and predictions for the practice of couples therapy in the future


• Looks at the impact of feminist beliefs and values on marriage, research, and treatment


• Examines the legacy of slavery and pervasive racism, as well as contemporary social and economic factors, as influences on African American marriage and gender roles

Dr. William Pinsof, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist and a marital and family therapist. He is the President of The Family Institute at Northwestern University, Director of the Center for Applied Psychological and Family Studies at Northwestern and a Clinical Professor in Northwestern's Department of Psychology. He has edited (with Leslie Greenberg) The Psychotherapeutic Process: A Research Handbook, (1986) and a special issue (with Lyman C. Wynne) of the Journal of Marital and Family Therapy (1995) dedicated to reviewing all of the controlled research on the outcomes of couple and family therapy. His work on psychotherapy integration culminated in the publication of Integrative Problem Centered Therapy: A Synthesis of Family, Individual and Biogogical Therapies (1995).