Lesbian Families' Challenges and Means of Resiliency

An inside look at the unique challenges of the lesbian experience Lesbian Families' Challenges and Means of Resiliency: Implications for Feminist Family Therapy is a unique collection of interdisciplinary feminist examinations of the resiliency of lesbian couples and families. Leading feminist researchers and clinicians discuss parenting within lesbian families, with a focus on personal resiliency. These thought-provoking and insightful articles address the challenges of having and raising children in a society that struggles to accept alternative family structures. Lesbian Families' Challenges and Means of Resiliency examines a wide range of issues facing lesbian couples, with a special focus on parenting and couple violence. The book's contributors examine the unique challenges of lesbian and gay parenting; adversities facing lesbian parents and the coping methods they employ; violence among lesbian couples and the lesbian community's response to domestic violence; and the application of feminist theory to validate, strengthen, and promote resiliency in lesbian couples. The book also includes interviews with single or partnered lesbians who had children through adoption, artificial insemination, or a previous relationship. Topics examined in Lesbian Families' Challenges and Means of Resiliency include: - parenting - artificial insemination - lesbian family therapy - family law - couple violence - lesbian community - feminist research - feminist couple therapy - and much more Lesbian Families' Challenges and Means of Resiliency is a vital professional aid for psychotherapists, family therapists, psychologists, social workers, and counselors. It's an equally valuable resource for academics working in family studies, women's studies, queer studies, gender studies, and sociology.

Anne M. Prouty Lyness

- About the Contributors - Editor's Foreword (Anne M. Prouty Lyness) - Living Outside of the Box: Lesbian Couples with Children Conceived Through the Use of Anonymous Donor Insemination (Karen C. Kranz and Judith C. Daniluk) - Redefining the Nuclear Family: An Exploration of Resiliency in Lesbian Parents (A. Cassandra Golding) - Application of Feminist Therapy: Promoting Resiliency Among Lesbian and Gay Families (Charles Negy and Cliff McKinney) - Intimate Violence Among Lesbian Couples: Emerging Data and Critical Needs (Bette Speziale and Cynthia Ring) - Exploring a Community's Response to Lesbian Domestic Violence Through the Voices of Providers: A Qualitative Study (Suzanne R. Merlis and Deanna Linville) - A Feminist Perspective of Resilience in Lesbian Couples (Colleen M. Connolly) - Reflection: Girls Can't Marry Other Girls (Lisa Giddings) - Index - Reference Notes Included