Abstract
The growing movement of the gay rights movement in the United States, Canada and elsewhere has raised some sensitive issues. Not the least of these is whether gay couples should be allowed to adopt children. This paper explores this problem.

Tags:gay, couples, adopt

Abstract
The paper examines language cues in couples with a review of the following factors that affect accurate interpretation of cues: emotional expressivity, verbal abuse, listening skills, withdrawal tendencies.

From the Paper
"Research has provided evidence that communication in couples is related to conflict in the relationship. (Fowers) Communication skills are taught to couples to improve their relationships and increase marital satisfaction. According to Flowers, while couples benefit from learning communication skills in a conflict situation, the use of these new skills can be problematic and require additional personal strengths such as courage or self-restraint. Aspects of good communication that lead to positive marital relationships include self-expression and mutual understanding with nurturance..."

Tags:language cues, couples, verbal abuse

Abstract
The paper analyzes how people naturally seek out partners in an effort to be a part of a couple, and so they find other couples fascinating, watching them, observing them, and silently comparing their experiences together with their own. The paper examines how the history of couples on television, especially in America, serves as an intriguing study into American culture and values in general. The paper describes how couples on television have been portrayed differently over the decades as American beliefs and values have changed. The paper proposes that to study the history of couples on television is to study American attitudes toward a variety of social institutions and situations.

From the Paper
"Perhaps the first famous television couple in America was the duo of Desi Arnaz and Lucille Ball. Exploding onto American television screens in the early 1950s, Lucy and Desi were unique in that they not only played a married couple on television, but they were also married in real life (Douglas, 2003). Because of this real life connection, the Lucy and Desi duo was a particular source of fascination to the American public for many years. People wanted to watch Lucy and Desi to see not only what unbelievable exploits they would get into week after week, but to see if any part of their real life relationship was translated onto the television screen."

Tags:Leave, it, to, Beaver, I, Love, Lucy, The, Honeymooners, The, Ozzie, and, Harriet, Show

Abstract
This paper introduces, discusses, and analyzes the novel, "Couples," by John Updike. Specifically, it presents an informative report on the novel, its author, and its reception by the critics. The couples in this novel fear death, and in an attempt to reduce and cover up their fears, they sleep with their married friends, forming a sort of "infidelity cult." The paper shows how "Couples" does not celebrate marriage; it bemoans it. It does not celebrate adultery and infidelity; it shows how they can ruin marriages and lives. This book is about a changing society and how religion has given way to sex and a sense of loss.

From the Paper
"Freddy Thorne, the dentist in town is also the "thorn" in the side of many characters. He is abrasive and annoying, but he is also deceptively sharp and to the point. He says at one point, "The funny fact is, you don't get better, and nobody gives a cruddy crap in hell. You're born to get laid and die, and the sooner the better" (Updike 255). Freddy is the "devil" in the story the anti-hero who makes the other characters think and react, and can read them quite well. He is annoying because he is so critical, but because he is so astute, too. He understands more of what is going on around him more than just about any character, and so, he is the conscience of the book, something that many of the other characters totally lack."

Tags:Piet, Hanema, Foxy, Whitman

Abstract
The paper discusses the arguments against allowing gay and lesbian couples to adopt, that are based primarily on religious reasons and on the contention that growing up under two same sex parents will be damaging to the natural psychological and biological development of the child. The paper then presents research that children can lead normal and healthy lives without the every day influence of both genders working together and they can thrive without a heterosexual environment. The paper also notes the benefits of adoption for the couple to achieve a relatively normal family life. The paper strongly contends that gay and lesbian couples can offer millions of orphaned children the luxury of a happy home and truly caring parents.

From the Paper
"The process and statutes involved in same sex adoption policies vary greatly from state to state as well as within the minds and opinions of Americans across the country. Before a major taboo, the practice has become more common with less state restrictions across the United States. In cases where the states allow legal marriage between same sex partners, adoption laws are easier for same sex couples. Being legally married provides benefits within the adoption process that help the couple beyond the simple civil unions seen in other states where same sex marriage is not yet a legal practice; "The legal definition of marriage does not exist in isolation; changing it alters many areas of the law. For example, the definition of marriage plays an important role in the law of adoption, education, employee benefits, employment discrimination, government contracts and subsidies, taxation, tort law, and trusts and estates," (Severino 2007:941). Thus, states such as Vermont, where gay marriage is a legal practice, allow for an easier process during a gay or lesbian couple's path towards adoption. However, this does not prohibit all gay and lesbian couples living in states with legal restrictions on same sex marriage from adopting as well, the process is just made more complicated."

Tags:gender, same-sex, marriage, religion

Abstract
This paper examines the issues surrounding children who are raised by same-sex couples. It shows that these children are not endangered or compromised in any way by their nontraditional living situation. The paper also discusses whether these children are more likely to be homosexual, simply because their parents are. It then suggests that the only thing that threatens the children of same-sex couples is societal prejudices against their parents, rather than their family situation.

From the Paper
"In conclusion, we have seen that - contrary to popular belief - many same-sex couples raise children. We have also seen that the children they raise do just as well as other children, and that the parenting skills and psychological health of same-sex couples are comparable to those of heterosexual couples. Thus, while these families may not be traditional, they are nevertheless good families. Moreover, children raised by same-sex couples are no more likely than other children to turn out gay themselves - and even if they were, this would not in itself constitute an argument against same-sex parenting, as there is nothing wrong with being lesbian or gay. As we have seen, the only serious problems faced by children of same-sex couples are that other people may discriminate against them, and also that the legal systems of most countries do not protect them, because their parents cannot marry. Thus, all in all, same-sex parenting should be accepted as a viable way to raise children, and social attitudes and laws should be amended to support these families."

Tags:homosexual, gay, lesbian, parent, traditional

Abstract
This paper explains that racial issues can be particularly difficult for the social worker to handle because skin color represents an extremely controversial issue. The author points out that interracial couples are a particular challenge for the social worker because either a black child or a white child will have one parent that is not of the same ethnicity. The paper relates that some people feel that children, placed into homes that are not homogeneous in ethnic or racial makeup and not consistent with the child's own race, can be harmful to the child; however, the paper concludes that transracial couples should be allowed to adopt because otherwise these children, who are left in non-permanent homes while awaiting the availability of same-race adoptive parents, will suffer more severe damage, such as non-attachment disorders. The paper includes several quotations.

From the Paper
"This organization's public announcement of this stance nearly stopped all trans-racial adoptions from taking place in the next few years, and the insistence that foster homes and institutional holdings were better for Black children than being in a White household had a large impact on how children of nonwhite ethnicity would be handled in coming decades. In fact, the Child Welfare League of America revised the 1968 standards in 1973 to actually state that same-race placements for children were always better than interracial placements."

Tags:sensitivity, black, white, position, evidence

Abstract
This paper discusses how prejudice against same-sex parents, preventing them from adopting, is not only unfounded but also transgresses the dignity and human rights of gay couples. It also relates how the issue of adoption is intrinsically linked to the larger social and moral question of the acceptance of gay couples as full and legitimate members of society.

From the Paper
"While society or sectors of society may regard parenting by gay couples with suspicion, there is no convincing scientific evidence to suggest that children raised by same-sex parents suffer any serious deficits or are deviant in any sense. (Hulbert, A. 2004) In truth much of the evidence points to the fact that children raised by gay parents are in some ways more balanced and resilient. There is also no evidence to suggest that children reared by same-sex partners are less intelligent or more likely to have problems than children of straight parents.
However, there are many prejudicial views against same-sex parents and the adoption of children."

Tags:society, homosexual, Non-heterosexual

Abstract
Coaching divorced couples through the difficult process of separation is a fundamental counseling question. This work outlines the opportunities and plans that are currently available to divorced couples for dealing with the stressors of emotional, financial, and social separation. Additionally, the paper addresses issues of shared parenting techniques that have been tried and tested within the coaching field.

From the Paper
"Divorce coaching is the process of attempting to help individuals deal with their personal psychological difficulties, as well as learning to work together to solve post divorce issues, not the least of which is the shared parenting of minor children. Much of the research regarding the difficulties of divorce situations is dated. The dynamics of divorce have changed, as the legal and social systems that deal with the subject of divorce have altered their strategies to better meet the needs of the masses of individuals dealing with legal separation."

Tags:spouse, family, therapy

Abstract
The paper emphasizes that the patriarchal society narrows the parameters within which gay couples' communication can occur, since it socially constructs gender roles and sexual orientation. The essay argues that it is the communication between gay couples that serves as the stepping-stone for society to become more inclusionary toward same-sex orientation.