Primary Research Books on Divorce & Stepfamilies


Ahrons, C. (1994).  The good divorce:  Keeping your family together when your marriage comes apart.  New York:  Harper Perennial.

Amato, P. R., Booth, A., Johnson, D. R., & Rogers, S. J. (2007).  Alone together:  How marriage in America is changing.  Cambridge, MA:  Harvard University Press.

Cherlin, A. J. (2009). The marriage-go-round:  The state of marriage and the family in America today.  New York:  Alfred A. Knopf.

Demo, D. H., & Fine, M. A. (2010).  Beyond the average divorce.  Los Angeles:  Sage.

This book provides an excellent overview of the state of the art in regards to research on divorce.  Demo & Fine begin by reminding readers the importance of looking at issues in more complex ways rather than just by comparing the average scores of divorced and intact families.  The authors describe a comprehensive model of divorce that includes the sociohistorical context for divorce, the predispositions of adults and children, risk and protective factors and a range of family transitions during and following divorce.  There are good summaries of the research findings in each of these areas and recommendations for ways to conduct better research.

Emery, R. E. (2012).  Renegotiating family relationships:  Divorce, child custody, and mediation (2nd ed.).  New York:  Guilford Press.

Fine, M. A., & Harvey, J. H.  (Eds.) (2006).  Handbook of divorce and relationship dissolution.  New York:  Routledge.

Ganong, L. H., & Coleman, M.  (1994).  Remarried family relationships.  Thousand Oaks, CA:  Sage.