Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

This book presents, for the first time, a full range of perspectives on emotions and the family from the radical behaviorist to the intrapsychic. B.F. Skinner begins the volume by examining the role of feelings in applied behavior analysis, thus laying the groundwork for the reactions of many distinguished contributors. Offering both opposing and favorable comments, contributors also present their own original empirical, theoretical, and clinical perspectives. Finally, the editor integrates the contributors' positions into an expanded behavioral perspective on the study of emotions and suggest a model for effective family communication.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Introduction (p. ix)
• Acknowledgments (p. xi)
• Chapter 1 Outlining a Science of Feeling (p. 1)
• Chapter 2 Emotions: a Trinity (p. 11)
• References (p. 31)
• Chapter 3 Communication and Coping In Families (p. 35)
• References (p. 50)
• Chapter 4 he Development of Emotion Regulation: Effects On Emotional State and Expression (p. 53)
• Acknowledgments (p. 71)
• References (p. 71)
• Chapter 5 Social Support And the Family (p. 75)
• References (p. 94)
• 6 Communication and Negative Affect Regulation in the Family (p. 99)
• References (p. 112)
• Chapter 7 oward a Behavioral Conceptualization Of Adult Intimacy Implications for Marital Therapy (p. 117)
• References (p. 134)
• Chapter 8 Emotional Change Processes In Couples Therapy (p. 137)
• References (p. 151)
• Chapter 9 Contextual Effects In Mother-Child Interaction Beyond an Operant Analysis (p. 155)
• References (p. 174)
• Acknowledgment (p. 174)
• Chapter 10 Influences of Parental Mood On Parent Behavior (p. 181)
• References (p. 197)
• Acknowledgments (p. 197)
• Chapter 11
• References (p. 222)
• Author Index (p. 225)
• Index (p. 237)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

CHOICE Review

As the editor points out in her introduction to this very useful little volume, families "provide a natural laboratory for investigation of emotional experience and expression" (p. ix). Excluding B.F. Skinner's discussion of the conceptual place of feelings in a science of behavior, each of the chapters represents a significant contribution to our understanding of the role that emotions play in familial interaction and the ways in which familial interaction shapes the emotions that we experience. Hatfield and Rapson present an analysis of the tripartite nature of emotions considered as biological, cognitive, and behavioral phenomena and discuss how emotions may be used to understand how to increase intimacy in families and close relationships. Saarni and Crowley present a clear, empirically supported conceptual scheme for understanding emotional regulation in families, particularly the ways in which children learn from their parents to regulate their emotions. (Their concerns are echoed by Lindahl and Markman in their chapter on the regulation in families of negative emotions, particularly anger.) Most of the contributions maintain a focus on emotions within the context of familial relations, but many are concerned more with issues of therapeutic intervention in distressed families or married couples. The book concludes with an excellent integrative overview and theoretical model by the editor of the role that emotions play in family life and the role that the family plays in the development, experience, and expression of emotions. A highly original contribution to the literature on emotions and emotional communication in families. Undergraduates and up. -R. R. Cornelius, Vassar College