Tackling issues relevant to family life today, this authoritative Companion shows why studying social change in families is fundamental for understanding the transformations in individual and social life, across the globe.

• Contains original essays by expert contributors on a wide range of topics relating to the sociology of families.
• Includes coverage of social inequality, parenting practices, children's work, the changing patterns of citizenship, and multi-cultural families.
• Gives special attention to European and North American examples.
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Distant Echoes, the voice of one, the watcher, crying in the wilderness of modern life, the stress and strife. Some of the poems in this anthology raise these perennial questions to which we are still searching for answers. Where are we going? Do we really know? And for what purpose? Is there 'something' behind the appearances, the nuances of perceptual differences? Other poems remind us about the beauty and joy of life as the poet skillfully takes on his poetic journey of love, nostalgia, social commentary and miscellaneous topics. Enjoy!

This book is concerned with the regulation of family relationships with particular reference to the issue of contact in the many different contexts in which it may arise. The presumption of contact, or of openness and inclusivity, is evident in a wide range of associated areas of family life. Nonetheless, this shift towards a presumption of contact, and its articulation within diverse fields of family law and practice in the UK, raises a whole series of questions which this book seeks to explore. Among the more important are: Why has the contact presumption emerged? What is meant by...

This is a collection of essays on the subject of law and the human body. As the title suggests, bodies and body parts are not only subject to regulation through formal legal processes, but also the meanings attached to particular bodies and body parts are aspects of broader cultural processes. In short, bodies are subjected to both lore and laws. The contributors, all leading academics in Law, Sociology, Psychology, Feminism, Criminology, Biology and Genetics, offer a range of interdisciplinary papers that critically examine how bodies are constructed and regulated in law. The book is divided...

The book provides an introduction to the language of BCPL, paying particular attention to programming style.

Kinship Matters is the fifth in a series by the Cambridge Socio-Legal Group and is a product of a three day conference held in Cambridge in September 2005. This volume concerns the evolving notions and practices of kinship in contemporary Britain and the interrelationship of kinship, law, and social policy. Assembling contributions from scholars in a range of disciplines, the book examines social, legal, cultural, and psychological questions related to kinship. Rising rates of divorce and of alternative modes of partnership have raised questions about the care and well-being of children,...

Reproductive donation is the most contentious area of assisted reproduction. Even within Europe there are wide variations in what is permitted in each country. This multi-disciplinary book takes a fresh look at the practices of egg, sperm and embryo donation and surrogacy, bringing together ethical analysis and empirical research. New evidence is offered on aspects of assisted reproduction and the families these create, including non-traditional types. One of the key issues addressed is should children be told of their donor origin? If they do learn the identity of their donor, what kinds of...