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The Fragmenting Family (Hardcover)

by Brenda Almond (Author) "It would be difficult to understand the decline and fragmentation of the family without first taking a broad look at the way conceptions of the..." (more)
3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
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Product details

  • Hardcover: 272 pages
  • Publisher: OUP Oxford (23 Nov 2006)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0199267952
  • ISBN-13: 978-0199267958
  • Product Dimensions: 21.6 x 14.2 x 2.4 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 3.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 523,336 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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    #79 in  Books > Health, Family & Lifestyle > Families & Parents > Reference

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Product Description

Product Description

Brenda Almond throws down a timely challenge to the liberal consensus about personal relationships. She maintains that the traditional family is fragmenting in Western societies, and that this fragmentation is a cause of serious social problems. Behind this phenomenon Almond finds a new ideology according to which the family is seen no longer as a natural procreative unit, but rather as a social construction, a set of legal and social relationships. She gives an urgent warning about the danger of legal changes which weaken the contractual status of marriage and discount genetic and biological parenthood. These changes threaten the parent-child link which is fundamental to human life. The Fragmenting Family challenges widespread beliefs about commitment and freedom in partnerships and parenthood. Almond urges that we reconsider our attitudes to sex and reproduction in order to strengthen our most important social institution, the family, which is the key to ensuring healthy relationships between parents and children and a secure upbringing for the citizens of the future. Anyone who is concerned about how the framework of society is changing, anyone who has to face difficult personal decisions about parenthood or family relationships, will find this book compelling. It may disturb deep convictions, or offer an unwelcome message; but it is compassionate as well as controversial.

About the Author

Brenda Almond is Emeritus Professor of Moral and Social Philosophy of the University of Hull and Vice-President of the Society for Applied Philosophy. She has served on the Human Genetics Commission and with the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority in the United Kingdom and her books include The Philosophical Quest (Penguin, 1990) and Exploring Ethics: A Traveller's Tale (Blackwell, 1998).
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It would be difficult to understand the decline and fragmentation of the family without first taking a broad look at the way conceptions of the family have changed. Read the first page
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Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars Support for the traditional family, 19 April 2007
By Bernard Harrison - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
Almond is clear-sighted in her examination of the profound changes taking place in our concept of the traditional family. She points to the consequences of these changes in society, some of them dire. Her book is acutely argued and thought-provoking, while avoiding the trap of easy solutions. This is an important book, which should be required reading for everyone interested in the future of the family.
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2.0 out of 5 stars academic philosophy ; not suited to the layman, 3 Jun 2009
By Mr. J. Hudson - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: The Fragmenting Family (Paperback)
This book is written by a woman with a target audience of women. The book has nothing to offer men readers since it barely acknowledges their existence. The majority of the book is about the effects of feminism on the family. The front cover of the book shows a woman and a child; no sign of the father. This just about sums up the book; the father gets little or no mention. This is an academic , theoretical , philosophical study and like any modern political philosophy books; barely acknowledges the everyday problems of the real world. Most of the philosophical background to the discussion is based on rich , well educated non-conformists who did not have to worry about the financial effects of their unconventional lifestyles. The transfer of these lifestyles to ordinary working people today has been totally catastrophic with regards to family. There are too many important points made in the book which are buried in the text like throwaway lines where the significance is not discussed properly. An excellent example of this is with regards to adoption by same-sex couples. The author makes the statement that adoption by same-sex couples is not desirable because the couple is more likely to beak up before a different-sex married couple. The author then quickly drops the subject. Having previously made the statement that married couples stay together longer than co-habiting or same-sex couples and that marriage is on the decline ; you would expect remarks that adoption by co-habiting couples in future is likely to be little different to same-sex. The controversy of religious opposition to same-sex adoption is brushed aside in a very offhand manner; strange attitude since virtually all opposition to same-sex marriage and adoption is religious. Like most modern political philosophers , the author seems afraid of the flak which will result if she gets into the real-life problems. The disastrous effect of the CSA on the lives of absent fathers is not discussed. The modern liberated women with numerous children by numerous fathers is discussed superficially. The stereotype of women taking in an unemployed partner , get pregnant and throw out the father because she can get more money from the CSA than the father; vaguely hinted at , but not discussed. The author does try to show an even-handed middle-of-the-road attitude to each chosen subject but it becomes increasingly clear that she lives in an ivory tower and shows no understanding of real-life problems or how to get out of the minefield created by the aloof theoretical philosophers and lawmakers. The book also demonstrates how decisions affecting the family are taken by the university educated upper-classes and imposed without consultation on the peasants with little regards to the disastrous effect they have on their lives. Reading between the lines of this book would suggest that the current unmarried mother with numerous children to numerous fathers will continue to increase. The CSA will continue to criminalise the fathers and ruin any hope these men have to repairing their lives. As unemployment rises and future generations of children are fathered by the unemployed; who is going to pay for this fiasco: not discussed. The current law changes are feminist driven; the lawmakers intend to promote the mother/child family and discourage the mother/father/child family. This would have to be state supported as the father is on the run from the CSA. The existing family is ideal for a low government interference strategy; the new feminist structure requires a high government interference strategy. This may account for it's favoured status by the current ruling classes. Being an academic orientated book, there are references to future reading ; this would be essential as the book is not stand-alone and has virtually no results of studies to back up any comments made in the book. To suit a layman reader this book needs to be able to function as a stand-alone. At the moment this book reads from cover to cover as a series of opinions by various philosophers but there is no indication whether these opinions are backed up with any facts. Long-winded and boring with great distances between the useful scraps of information.
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