Family Well-Being and Quality of Life: Humanistic Concerns of the Family Impact Analyst

Abstract

The basic tenets of humanistic sociology are explored to investigate their utility for the developing area of family specialization termed family impact analysis. From humanistic literature, it is demonstrated that family impact analysis has the same basic goals as humanistic social science in terms of assessing the impact or consequences of social policy with regard to family well-being and the quality of family life. Family impact analysis and family policy advocacy are shown to be similar as humanistic enterprises. However, the roles of the family impact analyst and the family policy advocate are considered distinct, though complementary, with family impact analysts functioning to explicate policy consequences for families and family policy advocates focusing upon the advocacy of policy creation, or change to further the humanistic goal of family well-being. The issue of the family impact analyst's responsibility for the purpose to which his/her findings are utilized is discussed. It is further demonstrated that family impact analysis can maintain its objectivity as a scientific endeavor while operating as a humanistic enterprise.