Family Ethics

The experience of family harmony, as an individual's subjective evaluation of harmonious family relations, has an important influence on the development of their physical and mental health. This study aimed to develop the College Students' Experience of Family Harmony Questionnaire that is fit for college students in China. On the basis of literature analysis and survey with questionnaires, five pairs of opposite assessment indexes were constructed in this paper, namely, Atmosphere of family, Responsibility to housework, Time-sharing, Seeking help, and Supporting (...) family members. Items of this questionnaire were collected from investigation, relevant scales, and discussion with experts. Here, 562 college students were selected for the pre-test and 696 for the formal test. The results showed that, except for the dimension of refusing housework, which has been deleted, other dimensions remain unchanged, and the final nine dimensions accounted for 66.03% of variance variation. Furthermore, the result of confirmatory factor analysis indicates that the model fit well with the data in construct validity [χ2/df = 2.71, Incremental Fit Index = 0.90, Tucker–Lewis Index = 0.89, Comparative Fit Index = 0.90, root mean square error of approximation = 0.05, standardized root mean square residual = 0.05]. The Cronbach's alpha coefficient of this questionnaire was 0.97. The split-half reliability was 0.92, and the test–retest reliability was 0.75 for the total questionnaire. The total score of the questionnaire was significantly positively correlated with the total score of family function, family cohesion, family adaptability, and well-being, and it had a significant negative correlation with loneliness. The results showed that the final structure was reasonable, and reliability and validity conformed to the requirements of psychometrics. Therefore, the questionnaire developed in this study can be used as a valid instrument for assessing the experience of family harmony among college students in China. (shrink)

ABSTRACT This article situates the recent concept of ‘sharenting’ in relation to the literature on the ‘parenting culture’. Jean Baudrillard’s notion of the ecstatic is then introduced and used as a lens through which to understand and critique this contemporary parenting culture. The discussion that follows covers: ways in which social media contribute to the development of new iterations of the individual subject and their relationship to parenting culture; the congruence between those forms of subjectivity and Baudrillard’s notion of the (...) ecstatic; and the resulting notion of ecstatic parenting. (shrink)

ABSTRACT Much of the previous work on culture and moral reasoning development has focused on the cultural content of moral reasoning, demonstrating how moral autonomy, which emphasizes justice and individual welfare, is culturally structured. This paper investigates cultural processes of autonomous moral reasoning development by analyzing parent-child conversations. To do so, this paper first offers a conceptual analysis that reinterprets previous findings regarding parent-child conversations and moral autonomy through a cultural lens. To illustrate these conceptual claims, it then provides empirical (...) qualitative analyses of parent-child conversations among members of a progressive Protestant church community. Substantively, results identified multiple conversational processes that redundantly enacted autonomy, yet also suggested the limits of parent-child conversations as a context for children’s moral autonomy development in this community. Broadly, this paper highlights the ways in which cultural moral outlooks are implicitly, and selectively, socialized through particular conversational processes, and the active nature of cultural reproduction. (shrink)

El trabajo aborda la relación compleja, dinámica y multidimensional entre los valores y la familia. Se aborda el tema de la crisis de los valores desde la perspectiva familiar. Se destaca el valor que en sí misma tiene la familia, el papel de esta última como factor instituyente de valores y mediador de las influencias valorativas que llegan al individuo desde distintos ámbitos sociales. En función de la relación con los valores se describen tres tipos fundamentales de familia. Por último (...) se aboga a favor de la construcción de un nuevo tipo de relación entre familia y sociedad. (shrink)

El trabajo aborda la relación compleja, dinámica y multidimensional entre los valores y la familia. Se aborda el tema de la crisis de los valores desde la perspectiva familiar. Se destaca el valor que en sí misma tiene la familia, el papel de esta última como factor instituyente de valores y mediador de las influencias valorativas que llegan al individuo desde distintos ámbitos sociales. En función de la relación con los valores se describen tres tipos fundamentales de familia. Por último (...) se aboga a favor de la construcción de un nuevo tipo de relación entre familia y sociedad. (shrink)

Marcus William Hunt argues that when co-parents disagree over whether to raise their child (or children) as a vegan, they should reach a compromise as a gift given by one parent to the other out of respect for his or her authority. Josh Millburn contends that Hunt’s proposal of parental compromise over veganism is unacceptable on the ground that it overlooks respect for animal rights, which bars compromising. However, he contemplates the possibility of parental compromise over ‘unusual eating,’ of animal-based (...) foods obtained without the violation of animal rights. I argue for zero parental compromise, rejecting a rights-oriented approach, and propose a policy that an ethical vegan parent and a non-vegan co-parent should follow to determine how to raise their children. (shrink)

Governments often aim to improve children’s wellbeing by targeting the decision-making of their parents. In this paper, I explore this phenomenon, providing an ethical evaluation of the ways in which governments target parental decision-making in the context of anti-poverty policies. I first introduce and motivate the concept of parent-targeted paternalism to categorize such policies. I then investigate whether parent-targeted paternalism is ever pro tanto wrong, arguing that it is when directed at parents who meet a threshold of parental competency. I (...) next explore the factors that affect the degree of pro tanto wrongness of paternalistic anti-poverty policies targeting parents, and provide an account of the conditions under which such policies are on balance permissible, and when they are not. Finally, I illustrate the plausibility and usefulness of my framework by considering a case. (shrink)

In the last few decades there has been no more controversial a papal document than that of 'Amoris Laetitia'. The controversy revolves around divorce, in particular allowing the divorced and remarried, with no annulment, to communicate at the Eucharist.1 The critics of 'Amoris' argue that Pope Francis, under the claim to be exercising mercy, is effectively undermining the truths of the faith. The defence of 'Amoris', however, is that in answer to the exigencies of the time mercy is being applied (...) in such a way that it develops the truths of the faith and expands their reach and pastoral application. It is clear from the New Testament itself that from the very beginning of the church the issue of how grace operates to extend the reach and application of God's mercy is one that has given rise to much dispute and even division. It is a process that prompts reflection upon theological givens, and the disputes that arise are occasioned by the question: Is the development that flows from this reflection one of an organic continuity, or is it instead a corrupt imposition? It is no exaggeration to say that this is exactly what is at issue today in respect of 'Amoris'. (shrink)

In this brief text we look at one instance of how gender norms continue to inform institutional treatment of parents regarding care for children: specifically, at how the exercise of fathers’ responsibilities for their children can be discouraged or altogether blocked.

Las relaciones familiares tienen una cualidad única que no se producen en otros entornos y cada familia vive diferentes prácticas que la hacen ser irrepetible; esto permite un aprender–aprender como padres e hijos, además estás relaciones tienen correspondencia con el desarrollo de los valores que se manifiesta en familia y que finalmente son transmitidos en la sociedad. La investigación se realizó a nivel nacional a 1200 niños y niñas en edades comprendidas entre 8 a 11 años, pudiendo observar con más (...) influencia de valores a la responsabilidad, amistad, orden, religiosidad y naturaleza. (shrink)

This article aims to answer a core normative question concerning child poverty: What types of responsibilities should be assumed by the state and caregivers as the main agents of justice involved in the problem? By approaching this question, I aim to explore the complex triangulation between children, caregivers, and the state, as well as the paradox of the double role of caregivers as former victims and current agents of justice. In order to accomplish this, I will first present the internal (...) and external issues that arise when the focus is placed on the victims, and, secondly, when attention shifts to the perpetrators. Finally, I will advocate for the need to fundamentally reframe the debates, centering attention on the damage, on investing the construction of a culture of care that includes preventive measures to dismantle common prejudices about poverty and neglect, and on introducing measures to care for the caregivers as a necessary step to break the perpetuation of poverty. (shrink)

Health-care providers frequently face clinical ethical dilemmas when working with transgender youth who require hormone therapy but lack parental support for this intervention. Through semi-structured interviews and grounded theory analysis, we explored ethical and clinical decision-making processes of health-care providers, as well as the health care experiences of trans youth with family discordance. We analyzed responses in relation to North American bioethics principles, best interests standard, and the harm principle, exploring issues of autonomy, evidence, and anti-trans bias. We propose an (...) ethically acceptable clinical approach termed parallel process hormone therapy initiation to address the needs of transgender youth with complex family situations. (shrink)

When immigrant children are separated from their parents, inexorable medical and legal harms result. Family separation violates a fundamental right of parents to participate in medical decisions involving their children. This paper reviews and contributes to evolving analyses of the public health, legal, and ethical consequences of immigration policy.

Volume 21, Issue 2, December 2018, Page 163-166.

RESUMEN La Estrategia socioeducativa para la familia en el uso de la tecnología sanitaria del lente de contacto, proyecto de investigación del cual derivan los resultados que se exponen en el presente texto; se instituye a partir de un nuevo algoritmo de trabajo por el optometrista, atendiendo a que con la terapéutica encaminada a contrarrestar las complicaciones que ocasiona el uso indebido de la tecnología se ha intentado minimizar las anomalías de enfermedades oculares. Su objetivo general se dirige a un (...) estudio social sobre la innovación, desde la perspectiva de las relaciones ciencia, tecnología y sociedad. El proyecto tiene carácter de innovación tecnológica de tipo Investigación aplicada. Sus resultados validan, desde un enfoque interdisciplinario, las influencias que cada contexto sociocultural ejerce sobre el desarrollo de la ciencia y la tecnología y los impactos sociales. ABSTRACT La The socio-educative strategy for the family in the use of the sanitary technology of the contact lens, research project from which derive the results that are exhibited in the present text; it is instituted from a new work algorithm by the optometrist, attending to that with the therapeutics directed to resist the complications that the undue use of the technology causes, it has tried to minimize the anomalies of ocular illnesses. Its general objectiv goes to a social study on the innovation, from the perspective of the relations science, technology and society. The project has character of technological innovation of type Applied Investigation. Its results validate, from an interdisciplinary approach, the influences that every sociocultural context exercises on the development of the science and the technology and the social impacts. (shrink)

To help eliminate perinatal HIV transmission, the US Department of Health and Human Services recommends against breastfeeding for women living with HIV, regardless of viral load or combined antiretroviral therapy status. However, cART radically improves HIV prognosis and virtually eliminates perinatal transmission, and breastfeeding's health benefits are well-established. In this setting, pregnancy is increasing among American women with HIV, and a harm reduction approach to those who breastfeed despite extensive counseling is suggested. We assess the evidence and ethical justification for (...) current policy, with attention to pertinent racial and health disparities. We first review perinatal transmission and breastfeeding data relevant to US infants. We compare hypothetical risk of HIV transmission from breastmilk to increased mortality from sudden infant death syndrome, necrotizing enterocolitis and sepsis from avoiding breastfeeding, finding that benefits may outweigh risks if mothers maintain undetectable viral load on cART. We then review maternal health considerations. We conclude that avoidance of breastfeeding by women living with HIV may not maximize health outcomes and discuss our recommendation for revising national guidelines in light of autonomy, harm reduction and health inequities. (shrink)

Although liberal political philosophers have long recognised the tension between equal opportunity and the family, most have assumed there is little society can do to mitigate it. Brighouse and Swift argue, by contrast, that an analysis of the value of the family reveals limits on the rights of parents to benefit their children and hence points to a way to reconcile the family with equal opportunity. Their solution for resolving the tension between equal opportunity and the family, however, leads to (...) some untenable conclusions. A better solution for promoting equal opportunity in the family is to level up the opportunities that less advantaged parents have to promote the development and wellbeing of their children so that they are on par with the opportunities of the most advantaged parents. Five strategies are outlined for achieving this goal. Once society has provided all parents with real opportunities to fulfil their fiduciary duties, Brighouse and Swift's argument for limited parental partiality can be applied without contradiction. The result is an alternate solution for mitigating the conflict between equal opportunity and the family in liberal political philosophy. (shrink)

Ethics & Behavior, Volume 21, Issue 3, Page 260-261, May-June 2011.

Federal guidelines require that informed consent be obtained from participants when they are enrolled in a research study. When conducting research with children, the guidelines utilize the term permission to describe parents' agreement to enroll their children in a study. The basic components of consent and permission are well described and identical, with the exception of the person for whom the decision to participate is being made. Beyond permission, when enrolling minor participants in research, affirmative agreement to participate in research (...) or assent must be obtained from the child participants themselves. The concept of children's assent to research, however, is poorly defined, resulting in inconsistency in its pursuit and, consequently, in its utility. The interface between cognitive development, emotional, and social development must be examined as it pertains to this special situation of decision making. For this process to meaningfully protect minors, the assent process must be clarified, decisions regarding parental veto power must be more convincingly justified, and researchers must be better educated and held accountable for the valid execution of this process. Strategies for implementing the assent process more effectively are presented. (shrink)

This article considers the impact of laws and policies that determine who experiences unplanned pregnancy, who has abortions, and how economic status shapes one's response to unplanned pregnancy. There is a well-documented correlation between abortion and poverty: poor women have more abortions than do their richer sisters. Equally well-documented is the correlation between unplanned pregnancy and poverty. Finally, the high cost of motherhood for poor women and their offspring manifests in disproportionately high lifelong rates of poverty, ill-health and mortality for (...) offspring and mothers, alike. Read together, these factors offer a vivid illustration of the medicalization of poverty. (shrink)

The United States relies on uncompensated family caregivers to provide most of the long-term care required by older adults as they age. But such care comes at a significant financial cost to these caregivers in the form of lower lifetime earnings and diminished Social Security retirement benefits, ineligibility for Medicare coverage of their healthcare costs, and minimal retirement savings. To reduce the impact of uncompensated caregiving on the intergenerational transmission of poverty, this paper discusses three possible mechanisms of compensating family (...) caregivers: public payments, deemed wage credits under Social Security, and income tax incentives. (shrink)

This article teases out the relationship between family form and the state's social safety nets around healthcare, showing the deep unfairness of measuring social safety nets by whether a couple marries. By continuing to tie healthcare benefits to specific family structures, we perpetuate the “galloping” inequality marking America today.This article concludes that, whatever happens with the thousands of benefits given to married couples in other domains, social policy should move beyond marriage with respect to healthcare. Delinking support for healthcare coverage (...) and services from family form is just, better assists struggling families, and is in our collective self-interest. (shrink)

Scholars are beginning to use the concept medicalization of poverty to theorize how the United States spends large amounts of money on illnesses related to poverty but invests much less in preventing these illnesses and the conditions that create them. This study examines the connection between poverty, disease burden and health-related costs through the in-depth interviews of 86 Black mothers living in neighborhoods with high levels of violence on the South Side of Chicago. The rippling costs of poverty and violence (...) include 56 percent of the mothers reporting post-traumatic stress disorder symptoms and 48 percent reporting mild to severe depressive symptoms. Mothers also report poor housing quality such as “toxic mold.” The physical costs include reports of back pains, stomach aches, hair falling out, panic attacks, hands shaking, insomnia, fainting from exhaustion and lack of sexual desire, and children with asthma and osteomyelitis reportedly from the exposure to mold. Transformative solutions are explored that build upon the cultural resources of Black mothers and engage policy levers. (shrink)

Human immunodeficiency virus and other sexually transmitted infections significantly burden youth 13–24 years of age in the United States. Directly engaging youth in sexual health research is a public health priority and urgently needed to develop targeted, youth-friendly, and culturally relevant HIV/sti prevention interventions. Controversies arise, however, regarding informed assent and consent, parental permission or consent, and the definition of “child”/“minor” as it relates to medical, legal, and ethical issues. In this article, we describe challenges in the human subjects review (...) processes that were undertaken before beginning an HIV/sti prevention research project with sexually active youth in an urban setting. These findings provide important contextual information to facilitate youth sexual health research and care, and Institutional Review Board approval processes with fewer delays. (shrink)

Parents play an integral role in the mental health service provision of children and adolescents, and they can have significant effects on the outcomes of youth. A growing body of research has linked parents’ own mental health status to numerous outcomes for their children, and recent guidelines have emerged recommending the assessment of parent psychopathology when treating child patients. However, these recommendations present a range of ethical considerations. Mental health professionals must determine if the assessment of a parent is empirically (...) supported and that an assessment procedure appropriate for parents can be feasibly implemented. They must also respect the autonomy and confidentiality of parents while ensuring that assessment findings can be translated to meaningful benefits for child patients. This article details and discusses each of these concerns within the context of the relevant principles and standards of the 2016 American Psychological Association’s Code of Ethics. Further, it provides guidelines, relevant clinical examples, and an applied model for mental health professionals to consider the ethical implications of assessing parent mental health when serving child patients. (shrink)

This article asks whether being a child is, all things considered, good or bad for children. I defend a predicament view of childhood, which regards childhood as bad overall for children. I argue that four features of childhood make it regrettable: impaired capacity for practical reasoning, lack of an established practical identity, a need to be dominated, and profound and asymmetric vulnerability. I consider recent claims in the literature that childhood is good for children since it allows them to enjoy (...) special goods that aren't available in adulthood, or which are harder to access in adulthood. I raise some difficulties for these claims. Then I argue that whatever version of these views survives my criticism will not establish that childhood is overall good for children. This is because the goods of childhood aren't significant enough to outweigh the bad features associated with being a child. I conclude by suggesting that the badness of childhood for children means that we are likely to owe more to children than to adults. (shrink)

El artículo constituye un acercamiento a las razones que sustentan la necesidad de elevar la calidad de la orientación a las familias de niños en la primera infancia y su objetivo consistió en capacitar al personal de la salud para desarrollar la orientación familiar en función de la prevención de desviaciones en el desarrollo en esta etapa. En él se aborda el rol que tiene la familia en la formación de los niños y la incidencia de los médicos y enfermeras (...) en su orientación; se encuentran reflexiones y comentarios sobre cómo elevar la calidad de la orientación para que la familia pueda desarrollar, en las condiciones de convivencia familiar, la prevención de desviaciones en el desarrollo mediante la realización de un proceso educativo de calidad. The article is an approach to the reasons that support the need to improve the quality of the guidance given to families of early childhood children and its objective consisted on training health staff to develop family guidance according to the prevention of deviations in development during this stage. It deals with the role family plays in children's education and the impact of doctors and nurses on its guidance. Thoughts and comments on how to improve the quality of guidance can also be found so that the family can develop, on family living conditions, the prevention of deviations in development through a quality educational process. (shrink)

Fundamento: Los adolescentes constituyen un grupo vulnerable y la maternidad en esta etapa, una problemática de actualidad. Objetivo: exponer particularidades sociodemográficas y de la maternidad en madres adolescentes del municipio de Cumanayagua, en el período septiembre a mayo del año 2014. Método: estudio descriptivo, corte transversal. Se trabajó con el universo conformado por 35 madres adolescentes y sus hijos. Se operó con un formulario de datos sociodemográficos, el análisis de documentos y la entrevista semiestructurada. Los resultados fueron procesados por el (...) paquete estadístico SPSS 15.0 para Windows y se utilizaron tablas de frecuencia y porcientos. Resultados: predominaron madres adolescentes de la etapa tardía con una media de edad 17,89; deserción escolar, más del 50% conviven con los padres con pareja o sin ella; embarazos deseados ; ocurrencia de nacimiento a términos, partos eutócicos, estados buenos de salud física y psicológica percibidos ; percepción de apoyo familiar. Conclusiones: las madres adolescentes de la etapa tardía que se caracterizaron por una maternidad percibida de manera satisfactoria contaron con apoyo familiar, vínculo de pareja, baja percepción de riesgos para su salud física y psicológica. Basis: Teenagers constitute a vulnerable group and motherhood during this period is a topical problem. Objective: Setting out socio-demographic and motherhood characteristics in teenage mothers from Cumanayagua municipality from September to May 2014. Method: Descriptive study, cross section. The population consisted of 35 teenage mothers and their children. A socio-demographic data form, document analysis as well as semi-structured interview were used. The results were processed by the SPSS statistical package for Windows and frequency and percentage tables were used. Results: Late stage teenage mothers with the average ages of 17, 18 and 19 prevailed; school dropouts ; more than 50 % of them live with their parents with or without a partner; planned pregnancies ; occurrence of full-term births ; ectopic childbirths ; good physical health states ; good psychological states ; family support perception. Conclusions: Those late stage teenage mothers who were characterized by motherhood perceived in a satisfactory way, counted on family support, romantic ties, low physical and psychological health risk perception. (shrink)

This article examines the issue of justification of government's intervention in the parental acts of child naming, a neglected topic in the recent philosophical literature. It questions the ability of some of the current theories in family ethics to respond to this problem, and argues that both permissive and restrictive theories fail to provide a plausible argument about the proper limits of government regulation of child naming practices. The article outlines an alternative solution that focuses on the child's right to (...) authenticity and suggests that only those names that infringe upon this right invite justified state intervention. (shrink)

This article argues for separating the institutions of marriage and parenting, conceptually and legally. Marriage is neither necessary nor adequate for fostering cooperative and stable co-parenting. Because promoting marriage fails to protect all children, the state should develop a more suitable formal mechanism whereby co-parents can commit to cooperate in good faith in order to best serve the interests of their children. Like civil marriage, many of the terms of these contracts are aspirational and not enforceable, though they can guide (...) arrangements for custody and financial support. Co-parenting agreements need not be limited to two parents, nor need they be limited to legal parents, but can include de facto parents, such as stepparents, foster parents, and other support parents. One important aim of these agreements is to recognise and support the valuable work that married or unmarried co-parents perform, and to protect the parental rights of caregivers in different kinds of situations. (shrink)

This article examines past and present moral education practices in Chinese families. It begins with a brief overview of Confucian thought on moral education and its lasting influence on Chinese moral ethos. It then identifies the types of moral values emphasised by Chinese parents, as well as the kinds of moral education literature they use for teaching. It proceeds to analyse the methods employed by Chinese parents to instil moral values in everyday contexts. Using evidence from research and recent news (...) reports on Chinese moral conduct, the author argues that the moral socialisation practices in Chinese families may be problematic, despite their best intentions. The article concludes by suggesting alternative family moral education approaches for future consideration. (shrink)

It is often claimed that adultery can be morally permissible in cases where those engaged in adulterous behavior are part of an open marriage. Yet this only follows if the institution of open marriage itself can be justified. This problem has been generally overlooked, but it deserves attention, as it is far from evident that open marriage has sterling moral credentials. I argue that the most promising general justification of the institution of open marriage is not based on consequentialist or (...) aretaic principles, but rather on the principle of respect for autonomy. Yet while this principle justifies the institution of open marriage in the most general sense, it does not justify every case of adultery involving an open marriage. Whether a given case of adultery is rendered morally permissible by the presence of an open marriage will depend on whether the open marriage in question satisfies several other moral desiderata. (shrink)

Prior studies have demonstrated that social-cognitive factors such as children’s false-belief understanding and parenting style are related to children’s lie-telling behaviors. The present study aimed to investigate how earlier forms of theory-of-mind understanding contribute to children’s lie-telling as well as how parenting practices are related to children’s antisocial lie-telling behaviors. Seventy-three three-year-olds from Hangzhou, P. R. China were asked not to peek at a toy in the experimenter’s absence. The majority of children who peeked, lied about it. Children’s lies were (...) positively related to performance on the knowledge-ignorance theory-of-mind task. Additionally, Control parenting, characterized by high levels of monitoring and demanding, unquestioning obedience, was negatively related to three-year-olds’ lying. The relation between Control parenting and lie-telling was partially mediated by children’s theory-of-mind understanding. These findings suggest that children’s early lie-telling behaviors are influenced by social and social-cognitive factors. (shrink)

In State v. McKnight, the Supreme Court of South Carolina decided 3-2 to affirm McKnight’s conviction for homicide by child abuse based on the finding that her cocaine use during pregnancy caused her daughter to be stillborn. Under South Carolina law, a person is guilty of homicide by child abuse if he or she “causes the death of a child under the age of eleven while committing child abuse or neglect, and the death occurs under circumstances manifesting extreme indifference to (...) human life.” During the trial, the pathologist who conducted the autopsy testified that the only way for the infant to have cocaine byproducts present in her system was ifthe mother had ingested cocaine, and the cause of death was intrauterine fetal demise. Another pathologist testified that there was a reasonable degree of medical certainty that the cause of death was intrauterine cocaine exposure. (shrink)