Family Transitions and Families in Transition.

The volume presents psychological and sociological essays on family transitions as emerged during the 5th Congress of the European Society on Family Relations “Family transitions and Families in transition”, hosted by the Athenaeum Centre for Family Studies and Research of the Catholic University in 2010 in Milano. The major topics depicted in the present volume concern the transitions that the family faces during the course of life, such as transition to adulthood, marriage and parenthood, the identification of resources and risks associated with such transitions and the processes undergone by the family whenever a transition occurs. Moreover, families are always in transition, as they are involved into the social and cultural events characterizing the contemporary world, and thus have to manage the challenges prompted by setbacks like financial problems, work and family conflict, immigration and so on. All the transitions that the family experiences may either point to a difficulty to cope with change, or represent valuable opportunities to transform relationships. The volume is divided into two parts: the first one portrays different theoretical contributions by outstanding family scholars like Pierpaolo Donati, Johannes Huinink, Kurt Luescher, Froma Walsh, and Eugenia Scabini, while the second set of chapters presents a number of empirical studies concerning specific transitions and challenges.