ABSTRACT

In this chapter, we rely primarily on scholarship from researchers who study family relationships. This work occurs in a variety of academic disciplines, including Sociology, Developmental Psychology, Anthropology, and interdisciplinary departments and programs, including human development and Family Studies (HDFS) departments. Three academic branches have come to shape the interdisciplinary area 01' research known as Family Studies today: (a) the legacy 01' "traditional Horne Economics" with its interest in every day lives of women; (b) li1'espan developmental psychology, with its 1'ocus on both the ways development changes over time and the natural ecological contrasts within which individuals and families live out their lives; and (c) family sociology, which has provided a sharp focus on the economic and social contexts of life, incorporating anthropological analysis of comparative cultures. These three areas, with their own theories and preferred methodologies, have combined to form thefamily studies perspective. which ('an be summarized as analyzing development and relationships ova the fife course. in social and other contexts.