The Hampton Press communication series

"This book applies various social approaches to investigations of real people as they function in a specific context, the family. Of all the social facts we construct, identity is probably the most critical. And of all our identities, cultural identity is one of the most central to who we think we are. We learn our cultural identities first within families. The authors all explore the families they know best, their own. The chapters examine four critical issues: how family members jointly work to construct identity; how parents convey that identity to their children; the conflict between mainstream expectations and the traditions of discrete cultural groups; and the range of possible ways to display identity within and across groups."--Jacket.

The idea for this book originated at NCA's summer institute Catching Ourselves in the Act: A Collaborative Planning Session to Enrich our Discipline through Social Construction Approaches. The conference provided the opportunity to interact with like-minded others to discuss how social construction approaches influence, or should influence, our work. Another goal for the conference and for the book is to promote social construction approaches within the discipline. When we teach, how can we best clarify the social construction principles we believe in, and how can we convey the passion we feel for this approach. This book hopes to extend the conversation about social construction approaches and to invite others to participate in that conversation.