Submissions due: Aug. 15, 2018

The Journal of Family Theory & Review (JFTR) invites articles for a special issue on social justice issues in American families. This special issue is broadly focused on social justice issues at the intersection of race, ethnicity, culture, gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and expression, socioeconomic status, and so forth. The special issue will review both research and practice, with an emphasis on illuminating how societal structures impact family processes and disrupts pathway to families' ability to thrive, particularly as related to power, privilege, oppression. Authors are asked to contribute original reviews that address the call for an enhanced focus on practical strategies (e.g., policy, activism) that provide help to all types of families.

This special issue was inspired by two very well-attended sessions at the 2016 and 2017 NCFR Annual Conferences, entitled “Social Justice Strategies to Address the Elephant in the Classroom or the Family Room: Race and Racism in America.”  Examples of topics from the special sessions over the past two years included:

Racial Discrimination and African American Families' Interactions with Legal Systems; African American Families and Incarceration or Police Brutality; Asian American Families and the Model Minority Myth; Latino(a) Families and Immigration; LGBTQ Latino(a) Families' Experiences of Racism and Sexual Minority Prejudice; Muslim Families and Islamophobia; Native American/Indigenous Families and Historical Trauma; White Families and White Privilege; Experiences of Trauma, Persecution, and Racism by Refugee Families; and Trans-Identified Individuals’ Experiences of Racism.

The Journal of Family Theory & Review is rooted in a firm commitment to developing the family field through innovations in theory and critical reviews leading to the integration and development of a cumulative knowledge base. Families are viewed broadly and inclusively to include individuals of varying ages and genders, sexual orientations, ethnicities, and nationalities. JFTR draws from a broad range of social science and transdisciplinary fields, including Family Science, human development and family studies, family therapy, sociology, social work, developmental and social psychology, close relationships, nursing, communication studies, health, gerontology, anthropology, political science, history, philosophy, ethnic studies, gender studies, and others.

JFTR publishes original contributions in all areas of family theory, including advances in theory development, critical analyses and reviews of existing theories, new applications of theory, essays on theory construction, and analyses of the linkage between theory and methods. JFTR also publishes original integrative reviews of literature in family-related content areas. JFTR does not publish empirical reports, with the exception of meta-analyses.

Manuscripts are due by August 15, 2018, and the special issue will be published in 2019. Manuscripts for the special issue must be submitted via the Manuscript Central submission portal at https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/jftr.  Be sure to note that the submission is for this special issue. Manuscripts should not exceed 35 double-spaced typed pages of text. For detailed manuscript preparation guidelines, please refer to http://www.ncfr.org/jftr/submit-jftr.

For additional information or questions, please contact the special issue's editors:

Anthony James, Miami University ([email protected])  

Christi McGeorge, North Dakota State University ([email protected]).