The Impact of the Family

on Character Formation, Ethical Education, and the Communication of Values in Late Modern Pluralistic Societies

edited by John Witte, Michael Welker and Stephen Pickard

Book cover: The Impact of the Family

Extent: 348 pages

Publisher: Evangelische Verlagsanstalt

Subjects: Religious Studies, Social Sciences 

Language: English

Paperback (Published)

(February 2022)

ISBN: 9783374070527

Price: $39.00

In stock

The family is humanity’s oldest and most basic social institution, but today it is fragile, fractured, and fraught in many liberal lands. This volume gathers scholars from sociology, psychology, history, religion, ethics, law, and medicine from five continents to analyze the complex nature and place of the family in character formation and human flourishing. The chapters study the impact of catechesis, schooling, work, and discipline on the development of individual moral agency and responsibility. They document the critical roles of family love, trust, fidelity, and story-telling in shaping the moral character of all family members from infancy to old age. They describe effective strategies of resistance and resilience for family members who face abuse, divorce, death, chauvinism, racism, and homophobia. And several chapters challenge modern arguments and policies that aim to flatten if not abolish the marital family, even while they call for family law reforms. Contributions by Enola G. Aird, Helen Alvare, Robert N. Bellah, Margaret Jane Brining, Michael J. Broyde, Marcia Bunge, Stephen Carter, Jean Bethke Elshtain, Robyn Fivuush, Patrick Hornbeck, Andreas Kruse, Nadia Marais, Gordon Mikoski, Bonnie Miller-McLemore, Patrick Parkinson, Katja Patzel-Mattern, Sabina Pauen, Stephen G. Post, Eugene C. Roehlkepartain, and Thomas Xutong Qu.

  • Edited by Stephen Pickard
  • Edited by Michael Welker
  • Edited by John Witte