Family Values
Political and social concept
or term that has been used
in various nations across
the world to describe a set
of moral beliefs in society
specifically in response to
the perception by social or
religious conservatives of
declining morality within
that nation itself.
Concept of “family values” is
rooted in each individual
culture thus making the
values different for different
societies
In addition, cultures change
over time in response to
economic, political, and
cultural developments
Family values vary from
household to household,
from country to country,
and from generation to
generation
Social and religious
conservatives often use the
term “family values” to
promote conservative
ideology that supports
traditional morality or
values
American Christians often
see their religion as the
source of morality and
consider the nuclear family
to be an essential element
in society
Some conservative family
values advocates believe
the government should
endorse Christian morality
(by displaying the Ten
Commandments or allowing
teachers to conduct prayers
in public schools)
 Religious conservatives often
view the United States as a
“Christian nation”
 American Family Association –
exists to motivate and equip
citizens to change the culture
to reflect Biblical truth and
traditional family values
These groups oppose
abortion, pornography, premarital sex, homosexuality,
some aspects of feminism,
cohabitation, and depictions
of sexuality in the media
Liberals have used the
phrase “family values” to
support such values as
family planning, affordable
child care, and maternity
leave
Planned Parenthood,
Parents and Friends of
Lesbians and Gays have
attempted to define the
concept in a way that
promotes the normalization
of single-parent families
Promotes same sex
monogamous relationships
and marriage
They feel that
understanding family values
does not promote
conservative morality,
instead it is a focus on
encouraging and supporting
alternative family structures
Promoting access to
contraception, abortion,
increasing minimum wage,
sex education, childcare,
parent friendly employment
laws (which provide
maternity leave and leave
for medical emergencies)
Use of family values as a
political term became
widespread after 1992
speech Vice President Dan
Quayle made about the Los
Angeles riots stemming
from a breakdown of family
values
He said the violence was
from a decay of moral
values and family structure
in American society
He also said that character
Murphy Brown was an
example of how popular
culture contributes to this
“poverty of values”
“It doesn’t help matters
when primetime TV has
Murphy Brown-a character
who supposedly epitomizes
today’s intelligent, highly
paid, professional woman-
Mocking the importance of
fathers, by bearing a child
alone, and calling it just
another “lifestyle choice.”
http://archives.cnn.com/20
02/ALLPOLITICS/05/09/qua
yle.cnna/
Major amounts of criticism
for this speech from
feminist and liberal
organizations
Widely ridiculed by late
night talk show hosts
Media coverage damaged
Republican ticket in 1992
Republican Party
Opposition to homosexual
marriage
Support for traditional
education and parental
involvement in that
education
Support for policies that
encourage “adoption over
abortion”
Support for behavior
identified as traditional or
moral as respect, discipline,
attentiveness, religious
commitment
Support for healthy choices
such as nutritious diet,
medical screenings, and
physical activity
Support for health
education, including
abstinence, on the risks
associated with early sexual
activity such as teen
pregnancies and sexually
transmitted diseases
Support for policies that
protect children from
obscenity and exploitation
Democratic Party
2004 Democratic National
Convention: John Kerry
said “it is time for those
who talk about family
values to start valuing
families”
Dan Quayle- 10th
anniversary of Murphy
Brown speech- also added
Friends and Sex in the City
to his list of television
shows
The Osbournes: he said he
had seen the show only
once- but “You have to get
beyond this sort of
dysfunctional aspect. You
have a mother and a father
involved with their
children…They are loving
parents.”
He said that at least the
Osbournes are an “intact
family” as compared to
Murphy Brown
“It’s a little bit different than
our household. I’m not
encouraging anybody to live
his life. But…many of the
things he’s trying to say are
positive.”
His speech is considered by
some to be a turning point
in the war to save the
family
Quayle’s comment “was the
first time that the nation as
a whole would seriously
discuss issues like the
dramatic rise of unwed
births and single
parenthood.
For the most part, Murphy
Brown’s behavior was firmly
defended by the mediapartly, or course, because
her nemesis was the
conservative Dan Quayle.”
Liberals- felt it was election
year attacks on Hollywood
Conservatives- thrilled to
hear someone put the issue
of single-parent families
under public scrutiny
Bush: $300 million
initiative to encourage and
promote heterosexual
marriage is at the heart of
his welfare reauthorization
proposal
Since 1996- several states
have incorporated marriageboosting programs into
welfare programs
“Florida has instituted a
mandatory marriage and
relationship class for high
school seniors. Utah…has
designated an annual
“marriage week,”
earmarking $600,000 for
pro-wedlock project,
including a video.
And Oklahoma’s program
(which is being called “the
Governor and Mrs. Keating’s
marriage initiative”) has
used $10 million of welfare
money to fund rallies and a
year long tour of public
Appearances by a husband
and wife team of evangelical
Christian “marriage
ambassadors.”
Traditional families hit by
declining morals, say mothers
Survey of mothers:
traditional family unit is in
meltdown
Demise of family meal,
popularity of video games
Some of the mothers
surveyed said that
unmarried couples, single
parents, and same sex
parents were causing
traditional family structure
to break down
What do you think?
Many families are in debtleading to problems because
they are having to work
more to try to make ends
meet
Half of mothers surveyed
said that low moral
standards, higher levels of
sexual imagery, drug use,
violence and bad language
is to be blamed
According to survey- most
important factor for
disintegration of parentchild relationship is failure
of families to eat a proper
meal together
Many working parents
resorting to ready meals
and fast food
Children spending long
hours playing video games,
computers, watching
television
Half of children now have a
television set in their
bedroom by age of 10
Spend an average of 25
hours a week in front of
television or game console
screens
This amount of time rises to
42 hours during the
holidays, the mothers who
were surveyed reported
The mothers also reported:
a growth in consumerism,
with longer shopping hours
and Sunday trading was
also to blame- parents too
busy shopping to spend
quality time
GOP: 2006, party platform:
“America is a Christian
nation.” and that “God is
undeniable in our history
and is vital to our freedom.”
Of the people who attend
church more than once a
week, 2/3 vote GOP
Among those who seldom or
never attend church- 2/3
vote Democratic
For Better, For Worse
Marriage means something
different now
Marriage is no longer the
main way in which societies
regulate sexuality and
parenting or organize the
division of labor between
men and women
Some people want to make
divorce harder or outlawing
gay marriage
Marriage: providing love,
intimacy, fidelity and mutual
fulfillment
For centuries, marriage was
stable because it was not
expected to provide such
benefits
As soon as love became the
driving force behind
marriage, people began to
demand the right to remain
single if they had not found
love or to divorce if they fell
out of love
1960’s: 2/3 of all college
women in the United States
said they would marry a
man they didn’t love if he
met all their other, often
economic, criteria
Men also felt compelled to
marry if they hoped for
promotions at work or for
political credibility
Divorce rates went to a high
number in 1970’s
No fault divorce laws were
thought to be the cause of
the “erosion of marriage”
In U.S. and Britain: divorce
rates have fallen slightly
during 1990’s, but
cohabitation and unmarried
child-raising continues to
rise, as well as % of singles
in population
40% of cohabiting couples
in the U.S. have children in
the household
45% of married couple of
kids
By 1970’s- women could
support themselves if they
needed to
1980’s- international
increase in unmarried
women having babies
Women’s greater
participation in education
has raised the marriage age
and the incidence of nonmarriage
Fertility rates have been cut
in half as more wives and
mothers work outside the
home
President Bush: “We will
not stand for judges who
undermine democracy by
legislating from the bench
and try to remake America
by court order.”
Teaching Values to Children
We teach values by the
discussion topics we
emphasize
some families it is a
tradition to invite family
members to weekend
dinners
Teach values by the
traditions we institute as a
family
Having a tradition helping
neighbors teaches caring
Family members helping
each other also teaches
values
Establish regular family fun
time
Set aside a regular time for
reading or sharing
How do we deal with family
problems? Do we unite and
support and help that
person?
What are some of the
values that are most
important to your family?
Traditions
Freedom:
History, Flag, Declaration,
Constitution, Bill of Rights,
American Eagle, Ceremonies
Family:
Weddings, Anniversaries,
Family Meals, Children,
Values
American Culture:
Holidays, Craftmanship,
Entrepreneurship,
Leadership, Competition,
Cost of Living, Citizenship,
Careers
7 Habits of Highly Effective
People
7 Habits of Highly Effective
Families
What about life should we
teach our children?
What makes them good
people and what makes
them good citizens?
What are the American
Family Values we teach our
children?
What is the difference
between a Principle and a
Value?
Value: established ideal of
life, objects, customs, ways
of acting
Principle: fundamental
belief, a rule of action or
conduct, a truth that is a
foundation for other truths;
fundamental, primary, or
general truth
Values are building blocks of
Principles, while Principles
show how Values are
related to each other
Integrity: honest and
sincere with others, keep
our word, Credit Rating is
important, The Golden Rule
Self-discipline: choose
wisely, accept responsibility
for the consequences of our
choices if we are to remain
free to choose
Proactivity: to go after our
goals and visions
Opportunity to make our
dreams come true
Empathy: “put ourselves in
the other’s shoes”
Humility: worth of each
Free Individual, including
ourselves, in our Free
Society
We respect each other and
treat each other with dignity
 http://pewresearch.org/