Reading Commentary and Questions Week 1

In “ American Family Decline: 1960-1990: A Review and Appraisal” Popenoe, in my opinion, falls short in making his argument stick. To begin with, his definition of the ‘family’ is not at all inclusive of the different family types that exist in the modern world. Popenoe does try to include different types of families (single-parent families, stepfamilies, non-married and homosexual couples) but he does not include group of kin that consist of an adult and a non-dependent person (for example, co-habitors who both have jobs but with no child). I agree with Stacey in that the term ‘family’ is an ideological, symbolic construct that has a history and politics rather than an institution (Stacey, 545). There is no universal definition and because of this, there are bound to be numerous disagreements.

In addition to this, throughout his article, Popenoe mentions the detrimental effects that this “decline” of family has on children but he falls short in providing conclusive evidence in backing up his argument. Just as Glenn argues, Popenoe is over-generalizing and making assumptions, which result in ambiguousness. Rather than looking at the present state of the family in the eyes of modern times, Popenoe looks at it through the 1950s perspective (which he admits himself is an abnormal period of family stability). In order to fully understand the state of the family, we must look at the societal, economic, and political changes that happened in relation to the changes in the family structure. As the societal norms and expectations change over time, it is no surprise that the family is changing in order to meet these new expectations. In relation to this, the term “decline” (which Popenoe uses throughout his article) has a negative connotation while the current changes in family does not necessarily equate to disadvantages.

Discussion questions:

1. Is it truly impossible to come up with a universal definition of the family? Is this because we tend to see this term more as a social construct rather than as an institution?

2. In your opinion, are children from broken families (non-traditional nuclear families) more prone to disadvantages? In addition, is there any conclusive (official) data in which this statement can be supported?

3. In his response to the other responses on his article, Popenoe mentions the issue of political correctness. Is political correctness relevant to the “decline” of the family?