Highlighting the specific as well as common characteristics of different types of parents, this volume, the third of four volumes on parenting specifically deals with parental status and the social conditions of parenting. The volume consists of 17 chapters as follows: (1) "Mothering" (Kathryn E. Barnard and Louise K. Martell); (2) "Fathers and Families" (Ross D. Parke); (3) "Single Parenthood" (Marsha Weinraub and Marcy B. Gringlas); (4) "Grandparenthood" (Peter K. Smith); (5) "Adolescent Parenthood" (Jeanne Brooks-Gunn and P. Lindsay Chase-Lansdale); (6) "Nonparental Caregiving" (K. Allison Clarke-Stewart and others); (7) "Sibling Caregiving" (Patricia Zukow-Goldring); (8) "Parenting Adopted Children" (David M. Brodzinsky and others); (9) "Parenting in Divorced and Remarried Families" (E. Mavis Hetherington and Margaret M. Stanley-Hagan); (10) "Lesbian and Gay Parenthood" (Charlotte J. Patterson); (11) "Determinants of the Transition to Parenting" (Christoph M. Heinicke); (12) "Parents' Knowledge and Expectations" (Jacqueline Goodnow); (13) "Parental Beliefs" (Ann V. McGullicuddy-DeLisi and Irving E. Siegel); (14) "Parental Attitudes toward Childrearing" (George W. Holden); (15) "Parenting and Social Networks" (Moncrieff Cochran and Starr Niego); (16) "Parenting and Public Policy" (James Garbarino and Kathleen Kostelny); and (17) "Parenting and the Law" (Pauline M. Pagliocca and others). Articles include references. (JW)