Abstract
How is the American family doing today? The answer depends upon whom you are talking with and the social/political/cultural lens you are looking through. This article is written by an American professor emeritus of family studies who has studied and taught about families for more than forty years. The author has been married to his wife Nikki for fifty years and they have raised three daughters and are now active in an extended family which included four grandchildren and three sons-in-law. In this article, the author avoids talking about families from a political perspective because in America this kind of talk usually generates more heat than light. Even though the American media tends to focus only on problems and give all of us the impression that families in particular and life on the planet in general are in grave danger, after studying strong families in the U.S. and around the world for more than forty years, the author personally believes that the majority of families in America are doing well and are satisfied with their life together. Some families are just doing okay. And some, of course, are in deep trouble. Truth be told, all American families have problems, just as all families around the world have problems. And, as it is true from a global perspective, not all families in the U.S. are strong families. But all families in the U.S. have strengths and they use these strengths in their efforts to meet the challenges their family inevitably faces. In this article, the author begins looking at American families today from the top-down perspective - the macro-level - and follows that with a discussion from the bottom-up perspective - the micro-level. These two perspectives complement each other and give us a reasonably good answer to the question of how the American family is doing today. And these two perspectives give us a better understanding of the paradox that families and family values are changing in some ways while we stay, deep-down, basically the same in our families.
Highlights
How is the American family doing today? The answer depends upon whom you are talking with and the social/political/cultural lens you are looking through
Some observers are dismayed and angered by the unceasing changes in American society; some channel these emotions into political activity; some welcome many of these changes; and some are too busy caring for their children and elderly parents and paying the bills to spend
Is a selection of statistics focusing on marriage and family issues today in America: ♦ 85% of the U.S population will marry at least once [28]. ♦ Age at marriage has been on the increase for more than four decades
Summary
♦ After 10 years of marriage, it has been predicted that only 25% of couples will still be happily married [24]. From my perspective as a family researcher and counselor, domestic violence, alcohol-related problems, and the abuse of other drugs are especially worrisome. New groundbreaking research on child abuse, spouse abuse, alcohol and other drug problems in families, and, by the early 1980s, studies of sexual abuse in families were appearing regularly in professional journals and the media This came as a shock to many Americans. Among the most troubled families I know are those families in which there are problems related to alcohol and other drug abuse, violence in the family, and sexual abuse of children in the family These are the families that have caused me the most concern over the years. A strong family is a work of art continually in progress, always in the process of growing and changing. ♦ When seeking to unite groups of people, communities, and even nations, uniting around the cause of strengthening families can be a powerful strategy: a worldwide building family strengths movement. ♦ Human beings have the right and responsibility to feel safe, comfortable, happy, and loved
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