Although most counselors who work with dual-career families are not involved in formal policy analysis and development, their clients are inevitably affected by a broad array of social policies. Values analysis is presented as a tool for counselors to explore the impact of policies on the family. We argue that predominant social values—independence of families, minimal government intervention, separation of home and workplace, and the sex-typed division of labor—lead to policies that create dilemmas for dual-career families. We present and illustrate a counseling process that traces dual-career family dilemmas to discrepancies between family values and the values underlying social policies that affect the family. An alternative set of values based on community and human development is presented as a framework for evaluating current social policies and guiding the formulation of new policies.
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