Call for Papers: Special Issue of the Journal of Family Theory & Review

Theorizing Singlehood

Guest Editors: Erin S. Lavender-Stott, Karen Benjamin Guzzo, Susan L. Brown, and Wendy D. Manning

Submissions due: September 1, 2022

Where are all the singles? Singlehood is on the rise yet largely remains at the margins of family science. The share of adults who are married has declined throughout the world, and a growing number of people live alone or outside of co-residential partnerships. Compared to marriage and cohabitation, less is known both theoretically and empirically about singlehood, including reasons for the rise in singlehood, the meaning of singlehood, social norms surrounding singlehood, and the implications of singlehood on the individual, familial, and societal level. Further, family science has not fully considered how singlehood might vary across contexts and groups. Singles are not a monolithic group but instead are heterogeneous along a number of socially significant dimensions.

This special issue invites submissions about singlehood, broadly defined as unmarried individuals (i.e., legally single) who do not live with a romantic partner. Submissions could review published theoretical work on singlehood, consider how existing family theories can be adapted or expanded to incorporate singlehood, or develop new theoretical approaches to understanding singlehood as a family form. Submissions that focus on non-U.S. populations or take a comparative approach are encouraged, as are those that focus on singlehood within specific populations (e.g., sexual and gender minorities or Black, Indigenous, Asian, Latinx, or multiracial populations) and/or adopt an intersectionality approach. Submissions that consider singlehood at specific life course stages are welcome. Papers that consider from a theoretical perspective how singlehood is linked to individual well-being and social relationships and/or how changes in singlehood impact society and social institutions are also appropriate.

The Journal of Family Theory & Review (JFTR) is a multidisciplinary journal with a goal to advance family science as a field. It publishes original contributions in all areas of family theory, including theory development, critical analyses, 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. JFTR encourages integration and growth in the multidisciplinary and international domains of inquiry that define contemporary family science. The journal incorporates a broad range of social science and transdisciplinary fields, including human development and family science, family therapy, sociology, social work, developmental and social psychology, nursing, communication studies, health, demography, gerontology, anthropology, political science, history, philosophy, ethnic studies, gender and sexuality studies, and others.

Manuscripts are due by September 1, 2022, and the special issue will be published in September 2023. Manuscripts 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 or to discuss submission ideas, please contact the special issue editors:

Erin Lavender-Stott (Erin.LavenderStott@sdstate.edu), Karen Benjamin Guzzo (kguzzo@bgsu.edu), Susan L. Brown (brownsl@bgsu.edu), or Wendy D. Manning (wmannin@bgsu.edu)