Teaching Sociology of the Family from a Catholic Perspective.” Catholic Social Science Review 10:97104

In today’s post-marriage culture, young people can benefit from the Church’s teachings on marriage and the family. In this paper, I discuss how to teach a college-level sociology of the family from a Catholic perspective. Cynical attitudes toward marriage and their behavioral outcomes (i.e., “hook ups ” or short, sexual liaisons) make teaching challenging. However, students still express a desire for long-term, happy marriages and want to hear a hopeful message about marriage. The benefits of drawing on current theological and social scientific research while still adhering to magisterial teaching on the family is emphasized. The state of the family has been a central focus of the pontificate of John Paul II. Many Catholic scholars have expressed alarm regarding the state of the family, noting increasing rates of cohabitation, divorce, and pre-marital childbearing, etc. – all signs that the family is in decline. While social scientists have noted the economic and material costs of family breakdown (National Marriage Project, 2004; Waite & Gallagher, 2000; Whitehead, 1996), the pope has discussed the spiritual costs of government intrusion into – and lack of support for – the family, which he calls a “community of life and love ” (1998/1981: 163). Furthermore, he points to the breakdown of the family as a main factor behind the culture of death (2001/1995). Importantly, social scientific research indicates that family decline extends beyond the structural breakdown of the traditional nuclear family, to the level of attitudes regarding what constitutes a normative marriage and family life. Thus, some social scientists assert that our society has entered a “post-marriage ” culture, in which many people consider marriage to be irrelevant, or even harmful, to individual well-being and happiness (Glenn, 1996; Waite & Gallagher, 2000). These considerations underline the importance of spreading the Church’s teachings on marriage and the family. In this paper, I’m going to talk about how to teach a college-level sociology of the family class. The challenges of teaching today’s students A couple of factors make teaching a Catholic sociology of the family especially challenging. The first is that the average college matthews 9