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State and Local Government Law
University of Michigan Law School
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The Myth Of State Intervention In The Family, Frances E. Olsen
The Myth Of State Intervention In The Family, Frances E. Olsen
University of Michigan Journal of Law Reform
Most people concede that there are times when state officials should intervene in the private family. Doctrines of family privacy are no longer thought to justify societal neglect of beaten wives or abused children. Yet society continues to use the ideal of the private family to orient policy. It seems important therefore to examine the concept of state intervention in the private family. In this essay, I argue that the private family is an incoherent ideal and that the rhetoric of nonintervention is more harmful than helpful.