Family Research Council

The Family Research Council (FRC) is one of this nation's largest and most influential social policy [Page 370]organizations. It often dissents from current trends in educational policy and practice. For example, FRC encourages an educational curriculum that promotes the traditional two-parent family, sexual abstinence until marriage, and shielding children from what it believes are efforts to legitimize homosexuality. Depending on one's perspective, FRC can therefore be viewed as a “prominent religious-conservative group,” an “influential think tank and lobbying group,” or a “radical right-wing organization.” Founded in 1983, FRC is an off-shoot of the nonprofit family service organization and radio program, Focus on the Family, founded by James Dobson.

James Dobson served as an Associate Clinical Professor of Pediatrics at the University of Southern California School of Medicine, and on the Attending Staff of Children's Hospital of Los Angeles in the Division of Child Development and Medical Genetics. He has earned a Ph.D. from the University of Southern California (1967), in the field of child development. Through his professional experiences, Dobson developed an increasing concern for the traditional family and began writing and speaking in churches and to various groups around the country. In 1977, Dobson began a weekly radio broadcast devoted to spreading his message related to marriage and the traditional family that has expanded into print and video and has developed into a multifaceted, nonprofit family service organization. At the 1980 White House Conference on Families, Dobson demonstrated an unusual combination of Christian social values and academic and professional credentials, which afforded him increased visibility and credibility and gave birth to the idea of creating an organization devoted to research and public policy. Dobson, along with psychiatrist Armand Nicholoi, Jr., of Harvard University, and psychologist George Rekers of the University of South Carolina, formed FRC in 1983.

Under the slogan “Defending Faith, Family and Freedom,” FRC supports traditional marriage and the nuclear family as the “foundation of civilization, the seedbed of virtue, and the wellspring of society.” FRC shapes public debate and formulates public policy that values human life and upholds the institutions of marriage and the family. It promotes the Judeo-Christian worldview as the basis for a free and stable society.

FRC provides research and public policy advice on the following issues: (a) human sexuality, (b) human life and bioethics, (c) marriage and family, (d) religion and society, (e) media, (f) the courts, and (g) other issues, including education.

The Government Affairs (GA) division is FRC's voice to Congress, to the administration, and to state legislatures, often through state-level family policy councils. The GA staff coordinates strategies relating to actions between the executive and legislative branches, especially within federal agencies. Especially important to FRC are the issues of the sanctity of life, the family, and a culture of faith and freedom. Legislators from both sides of the aisle turn to FRC during debates on stem cell research, marriage, judges, religious liberty, and other family-related issues. Even opponents listen carefully to FRC's arguments, knowing that FRC is a major participant in the battle of ideas and policies.

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