This book grapples with a disturbing paradox: the very institutions that are supposed to be helping parents in the difficult enterprise of child rearing are often infected with pronounced anti-family views. Despite the attempt by politicians and social theorists alike to posture as being on the side of 'family values', Dana Mack argues, we live in a culture that is increasingly family -- unfriendly and indeed subtly undermines the efforts of parents when they are working harder than ever to raise their children properly. At once a devastating critique of our muddled status quo and also a clear blueprint for change, this book is bound to have a powerful effect on anyone who is concerned about the fate of the family in contemporary American life.