Abstract
This chapter focuses on family well-being as a goal of family policy. Family policy is defined as all actions of governments that affect families, directly or indirectly, explicitly or implicitly, intentionally or not. Three frameworks are presented together with their underlying assumptions and concepts for assessing the extent to which such policies meet the family well-being criterion: family systems theory, exchange and choice theories, and family stress theory. The application of such frameworks allows for a more holistic and contextual approach to the conceptualization of family well-being and the implications of policies that governments enact that affect families.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
References
Andrews, F. M., & Withey, S. B. (1976). Social indicators of well-being: Americans’ perceptions of life quality. New York: Plenum.
Blau, P. (1964). Exchange and power in social life. New York: Wiley.
Broderick, C. B. (1993). Understanding family process. Newbury Park: Sage Publications.
Campbell, A., Converse, P. E., & Rodgers, W. L. (1976). The quality of American live: Perceptions, evaluations, and satisfactions. New York: Russell Sage.
Dilworth-Anderson, P., Burton, L., & Johnson, L. (1993). Reframing theories for understanding race, ethnicity, and families. In P. Boss, W. Doherty, R. LaRossa, W. Schumm, & S. Steinmetz (Eds.), Sourcebook of family theories and methods: A contextual approach (pp. 627–646). New York: Plenum.
Ekeh, P. (1974). Social exchange theory. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
Frankel, C. (1976). The impact of changing values on the family. Social Casework, 57, 355–365.
Gouldner, A. W. (1960). The norm of reciprocity. American Sociological Review, 25, 161–178.
Griffin, J. (1986). Well-being: Its meaning, measurement and moral importance. Oxford: Clarendon.
Hall, R. (1972). Organizations: Structure and process. Englewood Cliffs: Prentice Hall.
Herzog, A. R., Rodgers, W. L., & Woodworth, J. (1982). Subjective well-being among different age groups. Ann Arbor: Mi. University of Michigan, Institute for Social Research.
Hill, R. (1949). Families under stress. New York: Harper.
Hill, R. (1958). Generic features of families under stress. Social Casework, 49, 139–150.
Hill, R. (1971). Modern systems theory and the family: A confrontation. Social Science Information, 10, 7–26.
Inglehart, R. (1990). Culture shift in advanced society. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Kamerman, S., & Kahn, A. (1978). Family policy: Families and government in fourteen countries. New York: Columbia University Press.
Kantor, D., & Lahr, W. (1975). Inside the family. New York: Harper and Row.
Koos, E. L. (1946). Families in trouble. New York: Kings Crown Press.
Levi-Strauss, C. (1966). The bear and the barber. The Journal of the Royal Anthropological Institute, 93, 1–11.
Litwak, E. (1985). Helping the elderly: The complementary roles of informal and formal networks. New York: Guilford.
Luo, M. (2010, December 29). Doubling up in recession-strained quarters. New York Times p. A1.
McCubbin, H., & Patterson, J. M. (1981). Systematic assessment of family stress resources and coping: Tools for research, education, and clinical intervention. St. Paul: University of Minnesota, Family Social Science.
Mydans, S. (1994, June 21). Laotians’ arrest in killing bares a generation gap. New York Times p. A8.
Nye, I. (1979). Choice, exchange, and the family. In W. Burr, R. Hill, I. Nye, & I. Reiss (Eds.), Contemporary theories about the family (Vol. 2, pp. 1–41). New York: Free Press.
Olson, D., Sprenkle, D., & Russell, C. (1979). Circumplex model of marital and family systems: Cohesion and adaptability dimensions, family types, and clinical application. Family Process, 18, 3–27.
Read, K. (2011, February 13). Priceless (but with a cost). Star Tribune, p. O p1.
Rettig, K., & Bubolz, M. (1983). Perceptual indicators of family life quality. Social Indicators Research, 12(4), 417–438.
Rettig, K., Danes, S., & Bauer, J. (1991). Family life quality: Theory and assessment in economically stressed families. Social Indicators Research, 24, 269–299.
Roberts, S. (2010, March 22). Facing a financial pinch, and moving in with mom and dad. New York Times, p. A21.
Sabetelli, R., & Shehan, C. (1993). Exchange and resource theories. In P. Boss, W. Doherty, R. LaRossa, W. Schumm, & S. Steinmetz (Eds.), Sourcebook of family theories and methods (pp. 385–411). New York: Plenum.
Sen, A. (1980). Description as choice. Oxford Economic Papers, p. 32.
Sen, A. (1985). Well-being, agency, and freedom. The Dewey lectures 1984. Journal of Philosophy, 82, 169–221.
Terreberry, S. (1972). The evolution of organizational environments. In K. Azumi & J. Hage (Eds.), Organizational systems (pp. 75–91). Lexington: D.C. Heath.
Thibaut, J. W., & Kelley, H. H. (1959). The social psychology of groups. New York: Wiley.
Wallace, C., & Abbott, P. (2012). Social quality, the quality of life and families in Europe. In A. Moreno (Ed.), Family well-being: European perspectives. New York: Springer (In process).
Westendorp, K. (1994, April 30). Aaron needs family, not this cruel policy. Star Tribune, p. 21A.
Zimmerman, S. L. (1988). Understanding family policy: Theoretical approaches. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Zimmerman, S. L. (1995). Understanding family policy: Theories and applications. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Zimmerman, S. L. (2001). Family policy: Constructed solutions to family problems. Thousand Oaks: Sage Publications.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2013 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Zimmerman, S.L. (2013). Conceptualizing Family Well-Being. In: Moreno Minguez, A. (eds) Family Well-Being. Social Indicators Research Series, vol 49. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4354-0_2
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4354-0_2
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-4353-3
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-4354-0
eBook Packages: Humanities, Social Sciences and LawSocial Sciences (R0)