The family and its members

by Anna Garlin Spencer

CONTENTS

			PAGE
	[Introduction]		5
		A Threefold Aim. Basic Principles Underlying All Socially Useful Changes. The Sense of Kind and the Sense of Difference. Vital Changes in All the Basic Institutions of Society. Coveted Uses of This Book.
I.	[The Family]		19
		The Experience of the Past. New Ideals Affecting the Family. The Headship of the Father. Is It Possible to Democratize the Family? What Is the Modern Ideal in Child-care? Modern Ideals of Sex-relationship. Ellen Key and Her Gospel. What is Meant by the Demand that Illegitimacy be Abolished? The Legitimation of Children Born Out of Wedlock. Philanthropic Tendencies Respect Legal Marriage. Illicit Unions of Men and Women in Divergent Social Position. Shall We Return to Polygamy? All Children Entitled to Best Development Possible. The Work of the Children's Bureau. The Suggested Uniform Laws. Have Unmarried Women a Social Right to Motherhood? Ellen Key's Estimate of Motherhood. Monogamic Marriage Does Not Work Inerrantly. New Demand that Motherhood Have Social Support. The Increasing Tendency of Women Toward Celibate Life. Women Cannot be Forced Back to Compulsory Marriage. A Few Believe in a Third Sex. Most Social Students Believe in Marriage. Dangers of Extreme Specialization. Industrial Exploitation of Children and Youth. Social Measures Needed to Prevent These Evils. The Attack upon the Family by Reactionaries. The Prevalence of Divorce. Old Institutions Need New Sanctions. The Monogamic Family Justifies Itself by Social Usefulness. The Inherited Family Order Demands New Social Adjustments. The Family as an Aid to Spiritual Democracy. The Family the Nursery of Personality. Life, Not Theory About Life, Teaches Us. The Moral Elite in the Modern Family. Questions.
II.	[The Mother]		46
		Antiquity of the Mother-instinct. Recognized Essentials in Child-care. The Protective Function. Social Elements in Modern Protection of Children. Women's Leadership in Social Protection. The Provision of Food, Clothing and Shelter. The Woman in Rural Life. Modern Demand for Standardization. The Apartment House and the Family. New Uses of Electric Power. Certain Duties the Mother Cannot Delegate. The Mother's Compensation for Personal Service. Early Drill in Personal Habits. Early Practice in Talking, Walking, Obedience, and Imitation. Special Responsibility of the Average Mother. Women's Relation to More Formal Education. Women's Relation to Educational Agencies. The Social Value of Parental Affection. What Women Need Most. Questions.
III.	[The Father]		69
		Historic Background of Fatherhood. Purchase and Capture of Wives. The Patriarchal Family. The Three Chief Sources of Influence. Ancient Military Training of Youth. Ancestor-worship. The Double Standard of Morals. Basic Needs for Equality of Human Rights. Special Protection of Women Needed in Ancient Times. The Social Value of the Patriarchal Family. The Responsibilities of the Ancient Father Commensurate with His Power. Moral Qualities in Women Developed by Masculine Selection. The Highest Ideal of Fatherhood. Incomplete Adjustment to Equality of Rights in the Family. The Marriage Question To-day the "Husband-problem." Women Cannot Have All the New Freedom and Also All the Old Privileges. New Social Advantages for Fathers. Questions.
IV.	[The Grandparents]		90
		Relative Increase of the Aged in Modern Life. Savage Treatment of the Aged. The Relation of Ancestor-worship to Respect for Aged Men. The Position of Chief-mother in the Ancient Family. Memory of the Aged Valued in Primitive Life. Old Women and the Witchcraft Delusion. Older Women in Religious Vocations Honored in Middle Ages. To-day Comparatively Few Really Old at Seventy. Is Any House Large Enough for Two Families? Reasons Why Husbands Desert Their Families. The Financial Provision for Old Age. Needed Ways of Preparing for Old Age. Pension Laws. Old age Home Insurance. To Prevent Premature Old Age. Check Extreme Requirements for Youth in Labor. Need of Experience in Many Fields of Work. Prepare Vocationally for Old-age Needs. The Attitude of Mind Toward Old Age. The Special Gifts of the Old to the Home and the World. Questions.
V.	[Brothers, Sisters and Next of Kin]		116
		The Ancient Kinship Bond. Present Demands of Kinship. Special Burden of Women in Family Obligation. Disadvantages of the Only Child. Permanent Value of the Family Bond. Questions.
VI.	[Friends and the Chosen One]		124
		The Power of Friendship. The Newly-wed and Old Friends. Some Advantages in Choices of Marriage by the Elders. New Demands for Social Control of Marriage Choices. The Young Should be Helped to Make Wise Choices. The Revolt of Youth. The Wisdom of the Ages Must be the Guide of Youth. Personal Choice in Marriage Has Now Widest Range. The Value of the Church in Social Life. Easy Divorce Does Not Lessen Marriage Responsibility. New and Finer Marriage Unions. Questions.
VII.	[Husbands and Wives]		141
		Not Fancied but Genuine Happiness in Marriage Now Demanded. Social Restraints on Marriage Choices. Shall the Wife Take the Husband's Name? Shall the Wife Take the Husband's Nationality? Who Shall Choose the Domicile? Shall the Married Woman Earn Outside the Home? Economic Considerations Involved. Is It Bad Form to Earn After Marriage? Shall Parenthood be Chosen? Some People Have a Right to Marry and Remain Childless. What is the Just Financial Basis of the Household? What Shall be the Accepted Standard of Living? The Need for Full and Mutual Understanding Before Marriage. The Supreme Satisfactions of Successful Marriage. Questions.
VIII.	[The Children of the Family]		164
		Conditions to be Secured for Every Child. The Need for Two Parents. Equal Guardianship of Both Parents. Every Child Should Have a Competent Mother. Every Child Should Have a Competent Father. Economic Aspects of the Father's Competency. The French Plan of Extra-wage. The Endowment of Mothers. Does this Plan Make Too Little of Fathers? Just Limits to Number of Children in Subsidized Families. The Right of a Child to be Officially Counted. Every Child Should Have Social Protection. Child-labor. Children Must be Protected in Recreation. Standards of and Aids to Health. Health Boards Should Help All Alike. Items of Work in Child Hygiene. The Educational Rights of Children. The Use of Married Women as Teachers. Individual Sharing in the Social Inheritance. Questions.
IX.	[The Flower of the Family]		189
		The Proportions of Genius to the Mediocre. Eugenics. Euthenics and Eudemics. Only Men in Lists of Geniuses. Social Need to Learn What Children Are. "Charting Parents." New "Observation Records" for Children. What to Do with the Specially Gifted Child. Genius Universal in Nature. Genius Its Own School-master. Varieties of the Gifted. Questions.
X.	[The Children That Never Grow Up]		205
		The Defective Children. Custodial Care of the Defective. Heredity. Difficulties in Care of Morons. The Colony Plan. Mental Hygiene. Special Rooms in Public Schools. Training the Nervous System. Responsibility of Women in Marriage. The Call for Preventive Work. Questions.
XI.	[Prodigal Sons and Daughters]		219
		Who Should Hear Sermons on the Prodigal Son? Distinction Between the Mentally Competent and the Defective in Criminal Classes. Moral Invalids. Rehabilitation of the Competent. The Right Use of Leisure Time. The Moving Picture. The Automobile and Its Influence. Parents Need Social Help in Moral Training of Children. Parental Love for the Black Sheep. Children's Courts. Domestic Relations Courts. Dangerous Rebound from Ancient Family Discipline. Do Modern Youth Need New Community Disciplines? Questions.
XII.	[The Broken Family]		233
		The Problems of Divorce. Frequency of Divorce in the United States. Cannot Now Make Family an Autocracy. New Standards of Marriage Success. Dangers of Extreme Individualism in Marriage. Free Love Not Admissible. Must Work Toward Desired Permanency in Marriage. Needed Changes in Legal and Social Approach to Divorce. Prohibition of Paid Attorneys in Divorce. Divorce Proceedings Should be Heard in Secret. Earlier and Better Use of the Domestic Relations Court. The Children to be Affected Society's Chief Care. A Uniform or Federal Divorce Law. Education Our Chief Reliance. Helps Toward Family Stability. Shall Society Favor the Remarriage of Divorced Persons? Turning from Compulsory to Attractive Methods of Reform. Questions.
XIII.	[The Family and the Workers]		246
		Changes from Ancient to Modern Forms of Labor. The Old Household a Work-place. Welfare Managers in Modern Times. Child-labor. Increase in Women Wage-earners. Social Pressure on the Individual Worker. Demands of Family Life Should be Considered in Industry and in Labor Legislation. The Code for Women in Industry. Should Adult Women and Children be Listed Together in Labor Laws? Women in War Work. Minimum Wage for Fathers of Families the Vital Need. The Attitude of Women Toward Labor Problems. Necessary Protection of Children and Youth in Labor. Women and the Cost of Living. The Family Demand upon Unmarried Women. Farming and the Farmer's Wife. Domestic Help and Family Life. The Application of Democratic Principles to Life. Women Must be More Democratic. The Social Effect of Trade Unions. Women in Trade Unions. The New Solidarity of Women. Questions.
XIV.	[The Family and the School]		269
		New Forms of Education Demanded by Modern Industry. Education a Social Process. The Three Learned Professions. New Calls for Trained Leadership. The Special Education of Girls. Formal School Training of Women New. Modern Training for Social Service. Departments of Household Economics in Colleges. Society Now Based upon Man's Economic Leadership. Women Socially Drafted for Motherhood. Father-office and Mother-office Still Differ. Should the Education of Girls Include Special Attention to Family Claims? Adjustment of Family Service and Vocational Work. Dangers of Specialization in Professional Work. The New Training in Sex-education. Heroes Held Up for Admiration. Moral Training at the Heart of Education. Drill to Avert Economic Tragedies. A Graduated Scale of Virtues. Dr. Lester Ward's Types of Education. Questions.
XV.	[The Father and the Mother State]		290
		The Socialization of the Modern State. The Interest and Work of Women in This Process of Political Change. Health a Social Enterprise. General and Vocational Training for All. Women's Work in Philanthropy. Culture Aids to the Common Life. Many Languages in One Country. The Children's Bureau. A Women's Lobby at the National Capitol. Women's Interest in Public Life a Social Asset. Social Service in Peace. Problems Voters Must Solve. Confusion Between National and Local Effort. Preferential Voting. Proportional Representation. What Shall Public and What Shall Private Social Service Attempt? Difficulty in Being a Good American Citizen. Our Country a Member of the Family of Nations. Vows of Civic Consecration. Questions.
	[Bibliography]		314

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THE FAMILY AND ITS MEMBERS

CHAPTER I[ToC]

THE FAMILY

"The family is the heart's fatherland; the fatherland is the cradle of humanity."—Mazzini.