Marriage, the family and moral values in the USA

David Blankenhorn is a leading figure in the American ‘marriage movement’ and president of the New York-based Institute for American Values. Although his thinking contributed to the Bush administration’s Healthy Marriage Initiative, it has also provoked widespread and often intense controversy.

Blankenhorn has been accused of attempting to keep women tied to unhappy and oppressive marriages. At the same time, his calls for ‘responsible fatherhood’ have attracted bitter criticisms from a number of men’s organizations who claim that he is imposing a ‘feminist agenda’ upon them.