1 / 31

Promoting Positive Pathways for Youth and Emerging Adults to Healthy Marriages and Relationships: A Feasible Public Pol

Promoting Positive Pathways for Youth and Emerging Adults to Healthy Marriages and Relationships: A Feasible Public Policy Agenda. Alan J. Hawkins, Ph.D. Brigham Young University Provo, Utah, USA hawkinsa@byu.edu Presentation to Utah FACS Association Conference , Nov. 5, 2011.

dirk
Download Presentation

Promoting Positive Pathways for Youth and Emerging Adults to Healthy Marriages and Relationships: A Feasible Public Pol

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. Promoting Positive Pathways for Youth and Emerging Adults to Healthy Marriages and Relationships:A Feasible Public Policy Agenda Alan J. Hawkins, Ph.D.Brigham Young UniversityProvo, Utah, USAhawkinsa@byu.eduPresentation to Utah FACS Association Conference, Nov. 5, 2011

  2. The Challenging Path to Healthy Marriages and Relationships • “Deinstitutionalization” of marriage • Institutional boundaries have shrunk • Society does not structure pathways to marriage • Fewer models of healthy marriages • Personal development & individual emotions at core of modern marriage • Marriage a diminishing “life script” that orders life for youth & emerging adults

  3. Risk Factors for Forming & Sustaining Healthy Marriages • Many sexual partners • Pre-engagement cohabitation • Pre-marital parenthood • Relationship violence

  4. Should Government Get Involved? • Public costs of marital breakdown & lack of marital formation are substantial • Societies have always helped structure pathways from youth to adulthood • Heartless to let youth & young adults struggle • Free societies  education about choices

  5. A Feasible Public Policy Agenda • School-based relationship literacy education for youth • Positive relationship formation education for emerging adults • Pre-marital education for engaged couples • Marriage enrichment for early married couples (and parenting education) • Divorce orientation education for individuals at the crossroads of divorce • Promote with media campaigns

  6. Feasibility • Build on existing educational infrastructures • Voluntary educational services • Efficient preventative services • Use existing policy tools • Minimize need for legislation

  7. Need to support coterminous economic and social policy Promote a social ecology in which marriages can take root and thrive: • Education policy • Employment policy • Substance abuse policy • Teen/unwanted pregnancy prevention policy • Domestic violence prevention policy • Responsible fatherhood policy

  8. 1. Relationship Literacy Education for Youth: Background • Elongated period of sexual and relationship exploration unconnected to marriage • Experienced high rates of family instability • Diminishing models of healthy marriages • Media saturates with misleading messages

  9. 1. Relationship Literacy Education for Youth: What Is It? • Beyond sex education • Relational and familial contexts of sexuality • Important skills for forming and sustaining healthy romantic relationships and marriages (problem solving/communication) • Knowledge about healthy relationships (including relationship violence) • Sexual partnering/cohabitation and marriage

  10. 1. Relationship Literacy Education for Youth: Is It Effective? • Emerging, early evidence • Decrease faulty relationship beliefs • Improve communication skills • Increase positive relationship skills • Long-term outcome evaluations needed

  11. 1. Relationship Literacy Education for Youth: Delivery Infrastructure • School-based curricula • Oklahoma: “Connections/PREP” (110,000+) • Utah: Financial Literacy + Relationship Literacy • Alabama: diverse students, well studied • Fund within normal educational channels • Enhance with additional, limited government funds

  12. 2. Positive Relationship Formation for Emerging Adults: Background • Decade between high school graduation and marriage • Formation of more serious relationships • Sexual histories • Pre-marital parenthood • Relationship violence • Cohabitation not effective marital preparation

  13. 2. Positive Relationship Formation for Emerging Adults: What Is It? • Positive trajectories to marriage • Commitment education • Sliding vs. Deciding • More healthy relationships skills & knowledge (including relationship violence issues) • Example: “Within My/Our Reach” (PREP-based)

  14. 2. Positive Relationship Formation for Emerging Adults: Is It Effective? • Early evidence • Increased intentionality • Healthy relationship knowledge • Improved communication skills • Long-term outcome evaluations needed

  15. 2. Positive Relationship Formation for Emerging Adults: Delivery Infrastructure • Social service agencies (serving disadvantaged young adults) • Community colleges/Universities • Web-based programs

  16. 3. Pre-marital Education for Engaged Couples: Background • Timing: openness to relationship education • Only about 1/3 couples invest in formal pre-marital education • Half of marriages are remarriages • Cohabitation not effective preparation

  17. 3. Pre-marital Education for Engaged Couples: What Is It? • Problem-solving & communication skills • Knowledge (e.g., finances, in-laws, household labor, etc.) • Personalized inventories of relationship • Religious doctrine on marriage (in religious settings)

  18. 3. Pre-marital Education for Engaged Couples: Is It Effective? • Long tradition of research • Increased communication skills • Short-term divorce reduction • 10-15% engagement termination • Long-term outcome evaluations needed

  19. 3. Pre-marital Education for Engaged Couples: Delivery Infrastructure • Religious organizations • U.S. Cooperative Extension System • Promote with reduced marriage license fees • FL, GA, MD, MN, OK, SC, TN, TX • coming soon to Utah??

  20. 4. Marital Enrichment for Early-Marriage Couples: Background • First 5 years highest risk for divorce • Higher risk for remarried couples • Transition to parenthood hard for some

  21. 4. Marital Enrichment for Early-Marriage Couples: What Is It? • More problem-solving & communication skills • Remarriage issues/ special curricula • From partners to parents • Parenting education • Develop more emotional intelligence in children • Give them better foundation for future relationships

  22. 4. Marital Enrichment for Early-Marriage Couples: Is It Effective? • Long tradition of research • Increased communication skills • Increased relationship quality/satisfaction • Some evidence of divorce reduction • Stabilize relationship across transition to parenthood • Increased parenting skills • Increased father involvement

  23. 4. Marital Enrichment for Early-Marriage Couples: Delivery Infrastructure • Religious organizations • U.S. Cooperative Extension System • U.S. Head Start programs

  24. 5. Divorce Orientation Education for Couples on the Brink: Background Unnecessary divorce • Half of divorces come from low-conflict marriages; adults and children from these divorces do worse • Divorce often increases conflict • Divorce not reliable path to happiness • Unhappy marriages usually become happy • 10% couples (30% individuals) indicate desire for reconciliation at last legal stage of divorce

  25. 5. Divorce Orientation Education for Couples on the Brink: What Is It? • Research-based impacts of divorce for children and adults • Reconciliation possibility • Reconciliation resources • Divorce resources • Legal options (value of mediation, collaborative law) • Co-parenting education, plans • Utah: mandated divorce orientation education (but implementation problems)

  26. 5. Divorce Orientation Education for Couples on the Brink: Is It Effective? • No research yet on divorce orientation education • Quickly recover costs • Evidence for divorcing parenting education • Reduced co-parenting conflict • Positive parental discipline • Child well-being (parental reports) • Positive effects even for court-mandated programs

  27. 5. Divorce Orientation Education for Couples on the Brink: Delivery Infrastructure • Mandated divorcing parents education (modify to include reconciliation considerations) • Faith-based organizations

  28. 6. Promote with Media Campaigns • Increase awareness and openness to educational services • California Healthy Marriage Coalition • Utah Healthy Marriage Initiative • National Healthy Marriage Resource Center • First Things First (Chattanooga, Tennessee)

  29. Recommended Resources • Christian Smith and colleagues. (2011). Lost in Transition. • Mark Regnerus & Jeremy Uecker (2010). Premarital Sex in America. • Andrew Cherlin. (2009). The Marriage-Go-Round. • Dibble Institute: Resources for Teaching Relationship Skills to Teens (www.dibbleinstitute.org) • National Marriage Project (www.virginia.edu/marriageproject)

  30. Conclusion • Evidence that programmatic MRE can help . . . • Imagine: a series of MRE experiences from . . . • Parenting that builds children’s emotional intelligence • Adolescence . . . • Emerging adulthood . . . • Engagement . . . • Early marriage and transition to parenthood . . . • Crossroads of divorce “safety net” • Creating cultural change to counter strong historical forces towards the deinstitutionalization of marriage

  31. Thank You!Promoting Positive Pathways for Youth and Emerging Adults to Healthy Marriages and Relationships:A Feasible Public Policy Agenda Alan J. Hawkins, Ph.D.hawkinsa@byu.edu

More Related