First Readings-Popenoe, Cowan, Stacey

The assigned readings for this week discuss the controversial topic of whether or not the American family is in decline and if so, the causes for the decline. David Popenoe clearly voices his concern about the decline of the family in America as an institution and its harmful effect on children. He uses various statistics to prove that the family has lost its traditional functions, power and authority, and that people have become too interested in themselves and their own interests to invest time, money and energy into family life. Although Popenoe ostensibly backs up his claims about the causes of the decline of the family with statistics, he makes very bold and unsound statements that his critics pounce on. I, along with his critics, agree that the American family is declining. Statistics on the increasing divorce rate, decreasing marriage rate, and decrease in childrearing clearly show that the family is on the decline, leaving his most avid critics no room to disprove the statement. It is however, his explanations for the decline that leave the critics room to disagree. Popenoe turns correlations into causations without enough evidence to soundly prove his claims. Like Cowan says, Popenoe needs to collect more data in order to make such claims.
Stacey points out three flaws in Popenoe's argument. First, Stacey argues that Popenoe's definition of the family as an institution is flawed. Based on anthropological and historical studies, Stacey views the family as an idealogical, symbolic construct rather than an institution. Secondly, Stacey criticizes Pompenoe's use of the 1950s as a baseline for assessing the decline of the family in following decades. Lastly, Stacey claims that Popenoe does not offer a complete consideration of the alternative beliefs about the decline of the family as an institution. He insists that the opposition must believe either that the family has strengthened or has just remained the same.
Like Stacey, Cowan also agrees that the family is in decline. Cowan, however, rejects his causal analysis of the decline. He believes Popenoe focuses too much attention on the increasing "me-generation" and not enough on the societal forces that affect the family. Cowan also believes that Popenoe only focuses on the flawed families who succumb to the outside pressures instead of trying to learn from those who manage to overcome adversity.
Like all three authors, I completely agree that the American family is in decline, creating a cause for concern. In the debate, I would have to support Cowan's claims that Popenoe's causal analysis is flawed. Popenoe ignores many crucial factors that can cause the family to decline and he fails to provide enough sound evidence to back up his claims on how the various factors cause the decline.