Selections in this volume discuss the ways in which various "deviations" from traditional family styles affect childrearing practices and child development. Contributors attempt to illustrate the dynamic developmental processes that characterize parenting in nontraditional contexts. The collection contains the following chapters: (1) "Parental Behavior, Family Processes, and Child Development in Nontraditional and Traditionally Understudied Families" (Michael E. Lamb); (2) "Maternal and Dual-Earner Employment: Family Environment, Adaptations, and the Developmental Impingement Perspective" (Adele Eskeles Gottfried, Allen W. Gottfried, Kay Bathurst, and Colleen Killian); (3) "Nonparental Child Care" (Michael E. Lamb); (4) "Primary Caregiving Fathers" (Graeme Russell); (5) "The Consequences of Father Absence" (Sara McLanahan and Julien Teitler); (6) "Noncustodial Parents" (Ross A. Thompson and Deborah J. Laible); (7) "The Effects of Divorce and Custody Arrangements on Children's Behavior, Development, and Adjustment" (Michael E. Lamb, Kathleen J. Sternberg, and Ross A. Thompson); (8) "Stepfamilies" (E. Mavis Hetherington and Margaret M. Stanley-Hagan); (9) "Adoptive Families" (Harold D. Grotevant and Julie K. Kohler); (10) "Families Headed by Lesbian and Gay Parents" (Charlotte J. Patterson and Raymond W. Chan); (11) "Black Families in Intergenerational and Cultural Perspective" (Vivian L. Gadsden); (12) "Latino Families" (Birgit Leyendecker and Michael E. Lamb); (13) "Multiracial Families" (Paul C. Rosenblatt); (14) "Struggling To Make Ends Meet: Poverty and Child Development" (Jeanne Brooks-Gunn, Pia Rebello Britto, and Christy Brady); (15) "Violent Families" (Kathleen J. Sternberg and Michael E. Lamb); and (16) "The Families of Neglected Children" (Howard Dubowitz). Each chapter contains references. (SLD)