LEADER 03760nam 2200601 a 450 001 9910457805403321 005 20200520144314.0 010 $a0-674-05625-6 024 7 $a10.4159/9780674056251 035 $a(OCoLC)758390614 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebrary10503304 035 $a(SSID)ssj0000539269 035 $a(PQKBManifestationID)12232420 035 $a(PQKBTitleCode)TC0000539269 035 $a(PQKBWorkID)10568823 035 $a(PQKB)10952246 035 $a(MiAaPQ)EBC3300983 035 $a(DE-B1597)457592 035 $a(OCoLC)979752464 035 $a(DE-B1597)9780674056251 035 $a(Au-PeEL)EBL3300983 035 $a(CaPaEBR)ebr10503304 035 $a(EXLCZ)992550000000056337 100 $a20091001d2010 uy 0 101 0 $aeng 135 $aurcn||||||||| 181 $ctxt 182 $cc 183 $acr 200 10$aMore perfect unions$b[electronic resource] $ethe American search for marital bliss /$fRebecca L. Davis 210 $aCambridge, Mass. $cHarvard University Press$d2010 215 $a1 online resource (329 p.) 300 $aBibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph 311 $a0-674-04796-6 320 $aIncludes bibliographical references (p. 265-302) and index. 327 $aPrologue: the pursuit of marital happiness -- Shaken foundations -- Searching for economic and sexual security -- Counseling prosperity -- Quantifying compatibility -- Sacred partnerships -- Marriage under fire -- The state of marriage -- Epilogue: twenty-first-century battlegrounds. 330 $aThe American fixation with marriage, so prevalent in today's debates over marriage for same-sex couples, owes much of its intensity to a small group of reformers who introduced Americans to marriage counseling in the 1930's. Today, millions of couples seek help to save their marriages each year. Over the intervening decades, marriage counseling has powerfully promoted the idea that successful marriages are essential to both individuals' and the nation's well-being. Rebecca Davis reveals how couples and counselors transformed the ideal of the perfect marriage as they debated sexuality, childcare, mobility, wage earning, and autonomy, exposing both the fissures and aspirations of American society. From the economic dislocations of the Great Depression to more recent debates over government-funded "Healthy Marriage" programs, counselors have responded to the shifting needs and goals of American couples. Tensions among personal fulfillment, career aims, religious identity, and socioeconomic status have coursed through the history of marriage and explain why the stakes in the institution are so fraught for the couples involved and for the communities to which they belong. Americans care deeply about marriages-their own and other people's-because they have made enormous investments of time, money, and emotion to improve their own relationships and because they believe that their personal decisions about whom to marry or whether to divorce extend far beyond themselves. This intriguing book tells the uniquely American story of a culture gripped with the hope that, with enough effort and the right guidance, more perfect marital unions are within our reach. 606 $aMarriage counseling$zUnited States 606 $aMarriage$zUnited States 606 $aDivorce$zUnited States 608 $aElectronic books. 615 0$aMarriage counseling 615 0$aMarriage 615 0$aDivorce 676 $a362.82/86 700 $aDavis$b Rebecca L$g(Rebecca Louise),$f1975-$01026223 801 0$bMiAaPQ 801 1$bMiAaPQ 801 2$bMiAaPQ 906 $aBOOK 912 $a9910457805403321 996 $aMore perfect unions$92441026 997 $aUNINA