The Family, Politics, and Religion in the 1980s

Abstract

The major objective of this article is to examine the process of the politicization of the family and to provide a sociological interpretation. Major social changes have led to the definition of the family as a social problem. Because old patterns have been disrupted, a “normative reaction to normlessness” has set in providing the motivation for the profamily social movement on both the religious and the political level. New Right familism can be viewed as a reaction to what are actually worldwide changes in family patterns that force a reevaluation of the “old individualism” (centered on male prerogatives) and encourage the acceptance of the “new individualism,” which respects the developing extrafamilial prerogatives of females, the young, and the elderly. Various developments may provide further success or failure for the profamily movement, but the ultimate impact of the movement on society will depend upon the interaction of social organizational and normative dynamics. To the extent that liberal views on family matters prevail, advocates must respond to the need to develop a greater vision for America as a society along with their increased options for personal expression.

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