Decline in the American Family Term Paper

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Another important area of change relates to sexual norms and values in the family. Studies show that there has a definite growth in more permissive attitudes towards sex and particularly premarital sex. The number of people who see sex between an unmarried man and woman as "wrong" dropped from 36% in 1972 to 24% in 1996. (the Emerging 21st Century American Family)

These statistics indicate a change for the earlier view of sex as only being acceptable between married couples; which questioned the established norm and role of sexuality in the traditional family.

Another central area of change since the 1950's is the value associated with child rearing and the family. The more traditional concept of the family has at its core the ideal and value of providing secure and moral child - rearing practices. This aspect has changed and there has been a move away for this central value. There is an "...ambivalence towards children" in contemporary studies of the family. (the Emerging 21st Century American Family) in other words, it is no longer universally agreed that children and child - rearing are the most essential aspects of the family. Another example in contrast to the 1950's model of the family is that many people now feel that it is not necessary to have a mother who stays and home and there is a grater acceptance of the mother and wife who work away form home.

There are many other examples of the way that central values have changed in the family from 1950 to the present.

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For instance, one of the hallmarks of the earlier family structure was its close connection to the community and its intimate link to the neighborhood. This aspect comes through strongly in many films and novels about in the 1950's and early 1960s. However the value of this aspect has declined in recent decades. A further example of change and decline is the care of elderly relatives. This was previously considered to be an intrinsic part of family responsibility. There are many social reasons for his change.

Declining mortality and morbidity, the development of Social Security and other retirement benefits, all meant that older persons could financially live alone and were generally healthier and lived longer than in earlier periods."

Klein)

In conclusion, the decline in traditional family values since 1950 is a fact that is evidenced in many research studies. This decline and the view that there has been a loss of positive values in the modern family are summed up in the following quotation. " it is argued that families have lost functions, power, and authority, that familism as a cultural value has diminished, and that people have become less willing to invest time, money, and energy in family life, turning instead to investments in themselves." (Popenoe, 1993, p. 527)

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