This fascinating volume focuses on courtship, paying particular attention to the differences between relationship and courtship development and deterioration.

The authors describe factors that affect the later course of marriage, trace historical roots of courtship, discuss models of courtship that have guided research in this area and examine circumstantial factors that discriminate between stable and unstable premarital relationships. They also explore the `dark side′ of courtship - violence between dating partners - and reveal the processes involved in the dissolution phase of premarital relationships. The volume concludes with a look at the future of courtship as an institution and suggestions for further

Dating. Courtship. These words evoke great interest in nearly every reader. In Courtship, the authors explore courtship research, paying particular attention to differences between relationship development and deterioration and courtship development and deterioration. They describe factors that affect the later course of marriage, trace the historical roots of courtship in America, discuss various models of courtship that have guided research in this area for the past 40 years, examine circumstantial factors that discriminate between stable and unstable premarital relationships, explore the "dark side" of courtship--violence between dating partners--and reveal the processes involved in the dissolution phase of premarital relationships. The volume concludes with a look at the future of courtship as an institution and suggestions for further research. Provocative and thoughtfully presented, Courtship is directed to advanced undergraduate students, graduate students and professionals in psychology, communication, sociology, family studies, and social work. "This volume should have broad appeal for both students and professionals. It is clearly and carefully written, and draws on scholarship from several relevant disciplines. The authors do an outstanding job of summarizing extant research in a fashion that is digestible to undergraduate students, yet useful to the interested researcher. Cate and Lloyd have painted a coherent and provocative picture of a broad and difficult phenomenon. Their synthesis should be useful in helping to establish a sound agenda for future research on mating and dating." --ISSPR Bulletin "This volume of the Sage Series on Close Relationships provides a cogent, concise, and highly readable overview of courtship. Given the book′s brevity, one is favorably surprised by the amount and depth of material covered. . . . Many insights are offered. . . . The inclusion of the darker side of dating relationships is a welcome addition. . . . Chapters . . . weave a scholarly narrative with such expertise that the reader may come away with the feeling of having read a well-written and well-documented historical novel. . . . The authors are to be commended for their articulate and insightful coverage of this aspect of relational life. Regardless of discipline, students of personal relationships would benefit greatly from this review." --Journal of Marriage & The Family