Family Policy and Family Function in the German Democratic Republic

Bibliographic Data

ID23249059
AuthorsMike Dennis (0009-0001-5810-561X, corresponding author)
Year1998
Pages37-56
Publication date1998-01-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeCHAPTER
VenueSocial Transformation and the Family in Post-Communist Germany (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherPalgrave Macmillan UK (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1057/9780333995334_3
OpenAlexW2495894581
ISBN9780333995334
LanguageEN
Citations received10
References cited10

Although the family was by no means terra incognita before the collapse of the GDR (see, Helwig, 1987, and Obertreis, 1986), the publication of key statistical data and research results was subject to strict political control in order to prevent any damage to the SED regime's claim that its family policy demonstrated the superiority of 'real socialism' over exploitative capitalism. Research was also impeded by financial constraints and by methodological problems arising from the lack of standard indicators (these issues are reviewed by Gysi and Schubert, 1989, pp. 277–9, and Häder, 1991, p. 58). Despite these obstacles, much valuable research was conducted by East German demographers, legal scientists, criminologists, women's studies centres and social scientists connected with bodies such as the Leipzig Central Institute for Youth Research and the GDR Academy of Sciences' Institute for Sociology and Social Policy. Much ideologically sensitive material could not, of course, be published until after the Wende. In addition, novels and diaries, especially by women writers, and Church publications also provided insights into family issues. On the basis of these materials, as well as of investigations conducted since the collapse of SED rule, this chapter examines family policy and structures since the mid-1960s with particular reference to the increasing diversification of family forms, the penetration by state and party bodies of the family's socialization, reproduction and economic functions, and finally, the degree of congruence between official and private perceptions of the family's role in GDR society.KeywordsFamily FormGerman Democratic RepublicSocial TransformationFamily PolicyLone ParentThese keywords were added by machine and not by the authors. This process is experimental and the keywords may be updated as the learning algorithm improves.

Communism · Democracy · Geography · German · Ideology · Political science · Politics · Social science · Sociology · European history and politics · Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes · Law · Medical History and Research

Tools

Open DOILibgen