This book is a constant work in progress; as a digital book, I am constantly updating it as things change in our history. The American family is a constant source of change and has been one for over four hundred years. This book will continue to update readers on current events, but will also continue to add events from the past that have affected the American family. As a first edition, it can only get better. As a history book, this book has an extensive two chapter look at same-sex families in America—which are often left out of most history books—even American family history books. It is also an interactive text with lots of spaces for students to journal and take polls while they are reading so they can retain more of what they are reading. My hope is students will enjoy learning from this text and instructor will enjoy teaching from it.
I received my B.S. in Law Enforcement from W.I.U. in 1997. It was my dream at the time to be a police officer. What I found working as a police officer was an institution full of systemic values and norms already put in place, one of which was strongly against women. It was this truth that encouraged me to go back to school and pursue a Master's Degree at Illinois State University in Sociology with an emphasis on Women's Studies, Gender Studies and Sexuality. Due to health issues, I was forced to leave the police department, but luckily I was asked to teach a course of Sociology at Heartland Community College and shortly thereafter I was teaching at Illinois State University too. Today I teach full-time tenure-track at Heartland Community College and am a Part-Time Permanent Assistant Professor at Illinois State University. My primary areas of focus are Gender, Queer Studies, and the History of the American Family. I have been teaching about the American Family and its wide and broad history for over fourteen years now and am so excited to be working with Great River Learning to publish a book about the changes that have occurred within the family. Every generation I teach, teaches me a little bit more about where we are going in the future while I tell them about the past. It really is a course in constant change and motion with a textbook that does the same.
Currently, I live in Illinois with my family - my husband and 14 year-old daughter. We are living through the COVID-19 Pandemic just like the rest of the world so I am working from home currently teaching eight online classes from my home office. My daughter is starting her first year of high school as a Freshman with all of her classes online. My husband runs one of the local police departments, so he does have to go in to work. I enjoy taking my dog for walks, I love Halloween and everything about it. Our family is very much into Disney. Thank you for taking the time to read my Biography. I really do hope you enjoy this textbook as much as I enjoy writing it.
Welcome
Chapter 1: The American Family: An Introduction
Chapter 2: The Family As A Social Institution
Chapter 3: The Family Transition
Chapter 4: Changes in Demography
Chapter 5: Native American Families and the Intrusion of White Europeans
Chapter 6: Slavery in America
Chapter 7: Understanding Gender
Chapter 8: Changing Values and Behaviors in Sex and Sexuality
Chapter 9: A History of Birth Control and Abortion
Chapter 10: Birth Control and Abortion Today
Chapter 11: Women’s Participation in the Labor Market
Chapter 12: Domestic Violence and Sexual Assault
Chapter 13: Queer Relationships, Marriages, and Families
Chapter 14: Queer Relationships, Marriages, and Families—Part Two
Chapter 15: Changes in the Economy
Chapter 16: The Modern American Family
Chapter 17: Pandemics and the Family