American families are changing
There’s no one who needs to understand demographics and the changing dynamics of the American family than law enforcement officers. After all they are the ones who enforce the laws on the people who are breaking them and are sent to mediate and ameliorate disputes mostly among family members who have gone off the rails.
The typical American family, if it ever lived anywhere but on Norman Rockwell’s Thanksgiving canvas, has become multilayered and full of surprises. Researchers say families are becoming more diverse. In increasing numbers, blacks marry whites, atheists marry Baptists, men marry men and women women, Democrats marry Republicans and start talk shows. Good friends join forces as part of the “voluntary kin” movement, sharing medical directives, wills, even adopting one another legally. Single people live alone and proudly consider themselves families of one — more generous and civic-minded than so-called “greedy marrieds.” The list goes on. Read more.