The study Sociology of Family Life was written primarily for teaching purposes in courses dealing with the family within undergraduate and postgraduate sociology programs. It was developed interactively through the teaching process itself, including lectures and seminar classes in family-focused courses at both undergraduate and postgraduate levels of sociology at the Faculty of Philosophy, University of Belgrade, over the past three years.

The authors opted for the conceptualization of sociology of family life rather than the more commonly used term sociology of the family (in the singular), which they believe carries a form of normativism by implying the existence of a dominant and desirable family type against which all others are measured. The pluralism of family configurations and the diverse ways in which they emerge, as well as the multitude of complex relationships and practices that constitute the reality of contemporary family life, at one point gave rise to theoretical debates about the adequacy of the very concept of the family, which presumes uniformity. Since the authors subscribe to an approach that views families as a plurality, they considered the conceptualization of family life to more appropriately define the field of study to which this work is devoted.