Policy and Change

1
Policy and Change

• The Family at the Turn of the Millennium

2
Understanding Todays Families

• Diversity
• Adapting to the Post-Industrial Economy
• Post-womens movement

3
Understanding Parenting

• What do we know about parenting?
• How do we convey that information to people in a
  culturally sensitive manner?
• What are societys obligations to each member?

4
Coontzs Three Parenting Styles

• Authoritarian- restrictive, controlling, and
  more concerned with the adults needs for order
  and obedience than with the childrens
  developmental tasks. Lines of communication run
  from the top down, with little give-and-take in
  family discussions or decisions. Negotiation
  with children is seen as a violation of correct
  parent-child boundaries. Discipline takes the
  form of punishment rather than figuring out ways
  to ensure that the child accepts the logical
  consequences of his or her acts. Parents hold
  the child to high standards, but they are not
  responsive to the childs needs and desires.
  p.157-8)

5
Coontzs Three Parenting Styles

• Permissive- are responsive but undemanding,
  indulgent of their childrens impulsive behaviors
  and almost always willing to negotiate or
  renegotiate a decision. They are often highly
  affectionate, but such parents are sometimes hard
  for a child to read because its never clear when
  no really means no- or when yes will be
  regretted.

6
Coontzs Three Parenting Styles

• Mid-way Authoritative- who are responsive and
  demanding at the same time. They set limits
  based on an understanding of what
  age-appropriate boundaries their child needs, but
  they also take their childs point of view into
  account when making decisions and are willing to
  negotiate new rules. Parents remain warm and
  emotionally supportive even when they are
  enforcing consequences. As their children age,
  they increasingly hold them accountable for their
  acts rather than restricting their behavior in
  advance. As one researcher describes such
  parents, they are accepting, democratic but
  firm. (p. 158)

7
Parenting Extremes

• If ones family falls at either extreme of
  authoritarian or permissive, one is at greater
  risk of anti-social behavior and poor school
  performance.

8
Understanding the Second Shift

• We know inequitable divisions of household labor
  are damaging to marriages.
• Families that share household labor report
  improved marriages.

9
The Time Crunch

• Families today suffer from a severe time crunch.
• View Film.

10
Changing Policy and the Family

• Domestic Partnership-
• Wisensale and Heckart find positive results with
  the regards to the extension of benefits
• Addressing problems
• Single Mothers
• Teen Mothers
• Welfare Mothers

11
Reconceptualizing Problems

• Are we confusing causes and correlations?
• Poor women tend to be poor regardless of
  marital/parental status

12
Integrating the Matrix

• Families need to be understood in the context of
  a complex web of social relations. Race, class,
  gender, sexuality, legal status and so forth all
  interact to structure the experiences of families.

13
Discussion Question 1

• Discuss the problems faced by the Rivers family
  in There are No Children Here
• At a basic level, what were their problems?
• What structural/policy changes could be made to
  improve the quality of their lives?

14
Discussion Question 2

• What problems do you personally face?
• What structural/policy changes would
  alleviate/mitigate your problems?

15
Discussion Question 3

• How could the changes you see as necessary be
  implemented?
• Be sure to consider changes in ideologies
  (beliefs), material conditions, and social
  relations.