The concept of family values
Family values, sometimes called family values, are traditional or cultural values that relate to the structure, functions, roles, beliefs, attitudes and ideals of the family. The concept of family values can also refer to the extent to which family relationships are valued in people's lives. In social sciences and political discourse, the generally accepted term "traditional family" describes a nuclear family – a child-rearing environment consisting of a business-leading father, a household-leading mother and their nominally biological children. A family deviating from this model is considered an unconventional family. However, in most cultures, in most cases the extended family model was the most common, rather than the nuclear family, and the "nuclear family" became the most common form in the United States in the 1960s and 1970s.
"Family values" are defined as follows:
• Moral and ethical principles traditionally supported and transmitted within the family, such as loyalty, honesty, truth and faith.
• Values, especially of a traditional or conservative nature, which are designed to promote the healthy functioning of the family and strengthen the structure of society.
• Values that are traditionally taught or reinforced in the family, such as high moral standards and discipline.
This is an ideology that puts family and family values at the forefront. Nepotism advocates a social security system in which families, not the government, take responsibility for taking care of their members.
In the United States, social conservatives have used the slogan "family values" to express opposition to abortion, birth control, environmental protection, feminism, pornography, comprehensive sex education, divorce, homosexuality, same-sex marriage, civil unions, secularism and atheism.
According to the federal law of the Russian Federation "On the Protection of Children from Information Harmful to their Health and Development", which entered into force on September 1, 2012 (Article 5, paragraph 5), information prohibited for distribution to children includes, among other things, information that denies family values and forms a disrespectful attitude to parents and (or) other family members. The law does not define family values.
In July 2022, State Duma deputies, expressing their concern that there is no ban on "propaganda of denial of family values" in Russia, introduced a bill where an explanatory note says: "Denial of the family as a social value, propaganda of the so-called "childfree" lifestyle (without children) and popularization of non-traditional sexual relations have an equally high degree of danger to the development of Russian society" ("A draft was submitted to the State Duma banning the "propaganda of non-traditional relations." July 18, 2022).
On July 14, 2023, the State Duma at the plenary session adopted in the third reading a law banning gender reassignment. The law proposes to annul a marriage if one of the spouses has changed their gender. Amendments are being made to the Family Code, article 16, which describes the conditions for termination of marriage. It is also envisaged that if there is a certificate that a sex change has occurred, then a person will be prohibited from adopting children. It is noted that persons who changed their gender before the date of entry into force of the law on the prohibition of sex change, its norms will not apply. The norm is also introduced that the conclusion on making corrections or changes to the record of the act of civil status is drawn up by the registry office if "a medical report is submitted to the medical commission of a medical organization subordinate to the federal executive authority for the development and implementation of state policy and regulatory legal regulation in the field of healthcare." It is also prohibited to carry out medical interventions, including the use of drugs aimed at gender reassignment. The initiative was submitted to the State Duma of the Russian Federation in May by deputies of all five Duma factions headed by State Duma Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin. The State Duma also adopted in the second and third readings a law that obliges banks to reimburse customers for funds stolen from their accounts.
The Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation supported the idea of introducing a family module into schools. It will be conducted within the framework of the subject "Social Studies". Students will be taught about family values and the legal aspects of the family as a social institution. Earlier, Nina Ostanina, Chairman of the State Duma Committee on Family, Women and Children (KPRF), proposed to consolidate traditional values in the foundations of family legislation. The deputy believes that the changes provided for by the bill will have a positive impact on family relations, strengthen human rights and freedoms, patriotism, motivate to serve the Fatherland, to mutual assistance and mutual respect in the family, to preserve historical memory, continuity of generations and unity of the peoples of Russia. In 2022, hearings held in the State Duma on the initiative of Speaker Vyacheslav Volodin on the prohibition of information promoting non-traditional sexual values gathered public figures and politicians who unequivocally approved both initiatives submitted to the lower house. "The first bill was submitted to the State Duma by a group of deputies headed by Nina Ostanina, Chairman of the Committee on Family, Women and Children Affairs. It is about a ban on the public denial of family values among citizens of any age (the corresponding conceptual range is prescribed in the laws on information protection, on the protection of children from harmful information, on state support for cinematography). The author of the second document was United Russia, the head of the Information Policy Committee, Alexander Khinshtein: he proposed to establish sanctions in the Administrative Code for the promotion of non-traditional sexual values among citizens of any age. This bill has received positive feedback from the Government. The State Duma adopted in the first reading a bill banning the propaganda of non-traditional sexual relations in Russia, including in the media, the Internet, advertising, literature and cinema" (Tikhomirov A.E., Confrontation with the "collective West": chronicle of 2022. "LitRes", Moscow, 2023, p. 223).
The year 2024 in Russia will be the Year of the Family. The decree on its holding was signed by Russian President Vladimir Putin. The document was signed "in order to popularize state policy in the field of family protection, preservation of traditional family values." The Government has been instructed to form an appropriate organizing committee and approve an action plan by the end of December. The President appointed Deputy Prime Minister Tatyana Golikova as Chairman of the organizing committee.