Families Without Fathers: Fathers, Marriage and Children in American Society

In this reprint from 1996, Popenoe, a retired professor of sociology at Rutgers U., examines evidence from social sciences, history, and evolutionary psychology to show why fathers are deserting their families and how this is central to social problems in the US like juvenile delinquency, drug and alcohol abuse, teenage pregnancy, welfare dependency, and child poverty. He examines the nature and meaning of fatherhood in history, focuses on how their absence affects children, describes why fathers are important, and contends that as marriage rates decline, fatherhood weakens, and the trend toward greater personal autonomy and the decline in marriage are to blame. He ends with ideas for reclaiming fatherhood and marriage. The volume has a new introduction. Annotation 穢2009 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)