Exploring Family Theories

Offering a diverse variety of perspectives, Exploring Family Theories, Third Edition, is a combined text/reader that integrates theory with research and applications. In each chapter, Suzanne R. Smith and Raeann R. Hamon present the history, scholarship, and critiques of one principal family theory in a concise manner. Numerous examples and illustrations augment and clarify content, while application questions help students relate these theories to the real world. After each chapter, a follow-up journal article exemplifies how that particular theory is used to guide actual research.

New to this edition:
* A new chapter on ecological theory
* Updated research and application sections
* Vignettes throughout each chapter
* Expanded introductions on the history of each theory, its development and function, and the need for theorizing
* An extended epilogue offering a more in-depth look at how we evaluate theories and the projected future of family theories
* New sample readings on contemporary and relevant topics

Suzanne R. Smith is Associate Professor of Human Development at Washington State University Vancouver, where she serves as the Associate Chair and Program Director.

Raeann R. Hamon is Distinguished Professor of Family Science and Gerontology and Chair of the Human Development and Family Science Department at Messiah College in Pennsylvania.