The family is viewed both as the bulwark of western civilization and as so imperiled as to threaten that very civilization.

This central significance of the family reflects both its importance in maintaining the current socio-economic and political system and its importance in the ideological framework of society.

In the wake of the International Year of the Family this article explores the development the use of the family as ideology and the implications of this ideology for family and for social well-being policy.

The family in the United States, for example, continues to incorporate the social belief that individual responsibility is paramount ; the family that is working « right » has no need for state intervention or familial policies.

The irony is that the family is under danger in the United States precisely because there are not sufficient supportive policies in place to allow families to fulfill their functions.