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Family Policy Matters

Activities

  • Activity 1 (Word Download) : “How Demographic Changes in Families Affect One’s Political Views: Three Thought Experiments for Introducing Family Policy” illustrates the three worldviews through a reaction to a movie plot, a 1950s photograph of a family, and a scenario comparing the quality of life of infants born in the 1950s versus today.
  • Activity 2 (Word Download) : “Why Family Policy Is So Controversial and Difficult to Move Forward” introduces why it is important to study family policy and how controversial it can be. See matching handout below.
  • Activity 3 (Word Download) : “How Much Have Families Changed in Your Lifetime?” helps students understand the changes that have occurred in family life over the last generation.
  • Activity 4 (Word Download) : “What Is a Family and What Is Family Policy?” helps students think through the importance of what is and is not included in definitions. See matching handout below.
  • Activity 5 (Word Download) : “Identifying the Trade-Offs Policymakers Face” is an exercise that never fails to generate spirited debate as students experience how policy choices are resolved through debate and compromise among diverse interests with divergent values. See matching handout below.
  • Activity 6 (Word Download) : “Which Country Is This: The Influence of Values in Family Policy” asks students to figure out the country based on a national family code. See matching handout below.
  • Activity 7 (Word Download) : “How Family-Friendly Is the National Organization for Women?” assesses the family friendliness of the organization’s national resolutions. See matching handout below.
  • Activity 8 (Word Download) : “Constructing a Family Policy Map Based on Walljasper’s American Political Landscape” identifies prominent political philosophies and charts their relationship to one another. Visit http://utne.com for permission to reprint “The American Political Landscape” by Jay Walljasper. Instructors will usually receive same-day permission.
  • Activity 9 (Word Download) : “Communicating Effectively with Policymakers: Secrets for Success” by Heidi Normandin engages students in analyzing two testimonies to identify how they are less effective than they could be and what strategies could make them more effective. See matching handouts below.
  • Activity 10 (Word Download) : “Flinchbaugh’s Worm Exercise: The Role of Facts, Myths, and Values in Public Policy” illustrates that public policy is influenced, not only by facts and their absence, but also by values; the instructor needs to create a visual for this activity.
  • Activity 11 (Word Download) : “The Ecology of Family Policy: How It Affects Human Development” provides one of the theoretical frameworks that undergirds the course. See matching handout below.
  • Activity 12 (Word Download) : “Critique of the Family Impact Analysis Case Studies” provides an analysis of the strengths and shortcoming of some real-world family impact analyses.
  • Activity 13 (Word Download) : “Getting the Question Right: The Role of Professionals in Reframing Policy Debate” illustrates the fundamental importance of how policy questions are framed and of framing issues from a family impact perspective.
  • Activity 14 (Word Download) : “The Diversity of the Poor Requires Different Policy Responses” visually portrays how a range of policy responses can respond to different subgroups of the poverty population.
  • Activity 15 (Word Download) : “Literary Circles” by Deborah Gentry provides a formal process for students to teach each other about hot-button family policy issues by reading relevant books and discussing them in class.
  • Activity 16 (Word Download) : “Understanding Disparate Impact” by Nancy Wicklund Gonzalez illustrates how policies can have intended or unintended impacts on families.
  • Activity 17 (Word Download) : “Grandparent Visitation Rights Debate” by Tammy Henderson illustrates the controversy involved in family policy issues when the rights of different individual members of a family conflict with each other.
  • Activity 18 (Word Download) : “Theory of Paradox” by Mark Lederer applies the theory of paradox to retirement security and the federal deficit. See matching handout below.
  • Activity 19 (Word Download) : “Family Policy Definitions” by Denise Skinner helps students grasp what is within and outside the parameters of the field.
  • Activity 20 (Word Download) : “Family Policy Dimensions” by Denise Skinner illustrates the broad-ranging dimensions of family policy.
  • Activity 21 (Word Download) : “Culture Clash” by Steven Wisensale illustrates a cultural clash based on an incident that actually occurred in New York City in the 1990s.
  • Activity 22 (Word Download) : “Elections, Candidates, and Family Issues” by Steven Wisensale assesses how students can research the records of members of Congress including their political views, funding sources, and the priority they place on family issues.
  • Activity 23 (Word Download) : “Intergenerational Relations and Policy” by Steven Wisensale illustrates the different perspectives of stakeholders on two public policy issues—issuing fishing licenses and distributing Grandma’s assets.
  • Activity 24 (Word Download) : “Legislators and Family Values”by Steven Wisensale illustrates the role that personal values and beliefs play in a range of family policies.
  • Activity 25 (Word Download) : “News Analysis: Policy Values” by Shirley Zimmerman breaks students into groups to analyze a news article related to problems affecting families.
  • Activity 26 (Word Download) : “News Analysis: Problems Experienced by Families in Relation to Society” by Shirley Zimmerman provides a procedure for classroom discussion of news stories.
  • Activity 27 (Word Download) : “Discerning Among the Concerned, Satisfied, and Impatient Perspectives” helps students differentiate among the three worldviews.
  • Activity 28 (Word Download) : “Linking Political Involvement to the AAMFT Code of Ethics” by Julie A. Zaloudek discusses the ethical obligation to engage in political activism.
  • Activity 29 (Word Download) : “My Political Compass” by Julie A. Zaloudek introduces students to political ideologies and personal beliefs/biases.
  • Activity 30 (Word Download) : “Moving Course Concepts from the Ivory Tower to the Real World” helps students see how researchers and organizations have grappled with decisions about education or advocacy, often with different conclusions.
  • Activity 31 (Word Download) : “Applying the Family Impact Lens to the 14th Amendment” by Jill Steinberg helps students see the value of the family impact perspective on a current, hot-button issue.
  • Activity 32 (Word Download) : “An Elevator Speech for Family Policy” helps students clearly and concisely state why family policy is important for families and for society. See matching handout below.
  • Activity 33 (Word Download) : “Belgium’s League of Families: The Bond,” presents an overview of Belgium’s grass-roots family advocacy organization.
  • Handout for Activity 2 (Word Download) : Why Family Policy Is so Controversial and Difficult to Move Forward
  • Handout for Activity 4 (Word Download) : What Is a Family and What Is Family Policy?
  • Handout for Activity 5 (Word Download) : Policy Implications for Addressing Single Parenthood and Children’s Well-Being: Identifying the Trade-Offs Policymakers Face
  • Handout for Activity 6 (Word Download) : Which Country Is This? The Influence of Values in Family Policy
  • Handout for Activity 7 (Word Download) : How Family-Friendly Is the National Organization for Women?
  • Handout for Activity 9a (Word Download) : Communicating Effectively with Policymakers: Secrets for Success
  • Handout for Activity 9 2b (Word Download) : Getting Your Point Across to Policymakers
  • Handout for Activity 11 (Word Download) : Do Local Policies Affect Families?
  • Handout for Activity 18 (Word Download) : Theory of Paradox Diagrams
  • Handout for Activity 32 (Word Download) : Elevator Speeches for Family Policy