Polygamous Families in Contemporary Society

This groundbreaking book examines marital relationships in contemporary Mormon polygamous families.

Irwin Altman (Author), Joseph Ginat (Author), Sterling M. McMurrin (Foreword by)

9780521567312, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 26 July 1996

532 pages, 12 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 3 cm, 0.77 kg

'An exhaustive, fine piece of scholarship; it is timely and should be read with great interest - not just by scholars but by the wider educated public as well.' Philip Kilbride, author of Plural Marriage for Our Times

In this intriguing book, social psychologist Irwin Altman and anthropologist Joseph Ginat examine husband-wife and wife-wife relationships in contemporary Mormon polygamous families. They describe how husbands and wives in plural families cope with their complex lifestyle in various facets of everyday life, including courtship, weddings, honeymoons, adjustments to a new life, living arrangements, and the husband's rotation among his wives. Other important topics include budget and resource management, psychological attachments to homes, and the social-emotional relationships between family members. This pioneering, comprehensive analysis of life in modern day Mormon polygamous families uses first-hand interviews and observations to describe this unusual family lifestyle. It adds to our understanding of close relationships and complements knowledge on other modern relationship forms, such as single-parent families, blended families, and cohabiting partners.

1. Introduction
Part I. Historical Background: 2. Mormon history 1830–1890: the early years
3. Contemporary fundamentalist movements
4. The people and their communities
Part II. Early Stages of Relationships: 5. Deciding to add a new wife to a family
6. Courtship
7. Wedding and marriage ceremonies
8. Honeymoons
9. Adjusting to a new marriage
Part III. Home Environments of Plural Families: 10. Living arrangements
11. Wives and homes
12. Husbands and homes
Part IV. Managing Everyday Life: 13. The rotation process: husbands and wives alone together
14. Budget and resource management
15. Celebrations
Part V. Social-Emotional Relationships: 16. Social-emotional relationships of husbands and wives
17. Relationships between wives
18. Family structure
19. Parents and children
20. Summing up
Appendices.

Subject Areas: Social, group or collective psychology [JMH]