SINGLE PARENTING IN THE 21ST CENTURY

The fundamental shifts in American society over the last century or so have created a number of challenges for family therapist. According to Skolnick, “As gender and family roles have shifted, so have ideas about sexual norms and behavior. Despite all the changes,” however, “one tradition persists: . . . most people find partners for love and marriage in the old-fashioned way, through their own social networks of friends, family, and acquaintances. Though some couples meet as strangers ‘across a crowded room,’ surprisingly few lasting relationships begin that way” (p. 95). People today may live together, sometimes in perpetuity, consummating children and living lives as married folk without ever formalizing the relationship. Just a few years ago, such behavior would be considered shocking, and would be considered “living in sin.” Why the change? The old saying, “If enough people call you a horse, you’d better buy a saddle,” comes into play here in America all the time. Enough people have begun to simply live their lives outside the customary norm of the marital contract that the customary norm has changed to reflect the tim...