• '...a clear, concise, and detailed summary of modern developments in family law that combines legal analysis with social science research. Practitioners and social scientists will find this work a valuable supplement to the technical approach taken by most legal textbooks.' -The Law and Politics Book Review

In this volume, Professor Katz analyses family law in America as a process by which governmental decisions about the family are made. He perceives the cycle of state and family interaction in terms of three basic areas of decision: establishment, maintenance, and termination. Within this structure he discusses the complexities of family law which arise as a consequence of the legal recognition of alternative models to conventional family and family-like relationships.

Readership: Lawyers, judges, scholars and some students

Introduction I. Friendship and Courtship II. Marriage III. Divorce IV. Child Protection V. Adoption

Sanford N. Katz , Darald and Juliet Libby Professor of Law, Boston College Law School