This Article Full Text (PDF) All Versions of this Article: 0363199008330733v1 34/2/206    most recent References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Chancey, L. Articles by Dumais, S. A. Search for Related Content Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Voluntary Childlessness in Marriage and Family Textbooks, 1950—2000

sociology at Louisiana State University

Susan A. Dumais

sociology at Louisiana State University

We perform a content analysis of twenty marriage and family textbooks published between 1950 and 2000 to study how the voluntarily childless are presented in undergraduate courses. Throughout the time period studied, independence, pursuit of a career, and romance were prominent themes in the representation of voluntary childlessness. Other themes emerged specific to each decade—the 1950s portrayed parenthood as a challenge, while the 1990s concentrated on alleviating negative stereotypes of the voluntarily childless.

Key Words: voluntary childlessness • family • content analysis • stereotypes • textbooks • undergraduates

This version was published on April 1, 2009

Journal of Family History, Vol. 34, No. 2, 206-223 (2009)
DOI: 10.1177/0363199008330733


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?