American Family Decline, 1/22/07

1. David Popenoe. 1993. "American Family Decline, 1960-1990: A Review and Appraisal." Journal of Marriage and the Family, v.55: 527-542.
2. Judith Stacey. 1993. "Good Riddance to 'The Family': A Response to David Popenoe." Journal of Marriage and the Family, v.55: 545-547.
3. Philip A. Cowan. 1993. "The Sky Is Falling, But Popenoe's Analysis Won't Help Us Do Anything About It." Journal of Marriage and the Family, v.55: 548-553.

Explain the debate surrounding the contemporary changes in American families ("American Family Decline" debate). According to Popenoe, what indicates that the American family is in decline? What are Stacey and Cowan's cirtiques of his arguement? What position do you take on this debate, and why?

These three articles by Popenoe, Stacey, and Cowan help to illuminate three distinct positions on the current status of the American Family. Popenoe takes it upon himself to define the term family as "a relatively small domestic group of kin (or people in a kin-like relationship) consisting of at least one adult and one dependent person" (Popenoe, 529). He in turn claims that the American family is in essence dying, and has been since the 1950's. The reason for this demise is an unwillingness of family members to invest time, money, and energy into the support of the unit.
In reading Popenoe's article, one cannot help but feel a sense of hopelessness; the research presented claims that there is no one left who believes in the necessity of a family. Parents supposedly do not care about the well-being of their children and will divorce no matter what the psychological effects on their offspring; women will refuse to get married or have children in general out of selfish desires to advance their own careers, and those who do choose to create a family will not spend enough time nurturing and providing for their children. It is as if Popenoe is saying that every family in the U.S. is falling apart, and there is nothing to be done about it because the causes are the demise of character and feelings of duty among adults.
In his article, "The Sky is Falling, but Popenoe's Analysis Won't Help Us Do Anything About It", Philip Cowan takes a similar stance saying that it is true that the dynamic of the American family is changing, but to correctly examine it one must look at the causes of the changes, evaluate if the changes are in fact bad, and what can be done if they are. He agrees that there has been a decrease in the number of children born to couples today, but the reasoning could be different than an unwillingness to provide for them; it could be the increase in knowledge about birth control, and the desire to have less children in order to provide a better life(Cowan, 549). Likewise it could be a responsible person who disappointingly decides not to have children because they would not be an adequate parent (Cowan, 550).
Also, some of the changing dynamics of the family that in theory would be harmful are actually having the opposite effect; mothers who have steady jobs show a lower rate of depression than those without, and many lives of children coming from divorced parents could actually improve, because of the reduced tension within the household(Cowan, 550-551).
As opposed to finding more positive alternative for the changes in family dynamics, as Cowan did in his article, Stacey takes it upon herself to go against Popenoe altogether, and challenge the existence of his so-called family anywhere in our nations history. Stacey believes that "there is no positivist definition of the family, however revisionist, is viable" (Stacey, 545). I agree with her in this respect; I feel it is wrong to categorize what it is to be in a family, because there are so many working definitions of them that provide a safe and nurturing atmosphere for children. And in saying that there is only one group that can make up a family, I believe that it does do more damage for children today, because they are accused of having families that "aren't real".
I do agree with Popenoe that certain family values are changing, and not for the better; the numbers of children who are living without fathers is startling. And though it does feel like sometimes that the sky is falling, one needs to look at the situation through eyes like Philip Cowan; yes the situation is bad, but there are still families out there that are getting the job done. The idea of what "family" is may have changed over time, and indeed I think that it may have never been a solid idea; but this does not mean that the family as a unit means anything less, whether it is made up of two people, or ten.