Growing together : personal relationships across the life span /

Lang and Fingerman approach the interesting and important topic of relationships--marital, familial, and friend relationships--by bringing together diverse perspectives from developmental psychology, social psychology, ecology, and sociology. Because the book connects personal relationships to issues of coping, adaptation, and physical health, it will be useful in coursework on a wide variety of subjects--e.g., adult development and aging, lifespan development, health psychology, family dynamics, career development, social work, family and consumer sciences, human services. This reviewer found particularly interesting the chapter titled "Close Relationships across the Lifespan: Toward a Theory of Relationship Types," which provides the beginning of a theoretical framework that should prompt serious research in this area. Faculty attempting to bring an interdisciplinary focus to the study of human development and those who counsel families will be particularly well served. ^BSumming Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, faculty, professionals, and practitioners. R. E. Osborne Texas State University--San Marcos