James Dobson

James Dobson

Birth Name	James Clayton Dobson Jr.
Birth Date	April 21, 1936
Birth Place	Shreveport, Louisiana
Death Date	August 21, 2025 (aged 89)
Death Place	Colorado Springs, Colorado
Theology	Evangelical Christian
Education	Point Loma Nazarene University (BA) University of Southern California (MA, PhD)
Spouse(s)	Shirley Deere (m. 1960)
Children	2
Website	drjamesdobson.org

Dr. James (Jim) Clayton Dobson Jr. (April 21, 1936 – August 21, 2025) was an American evangelical Christian author, psychologist and founder of Focus on the Family (FotF), which he led from 1977 until 2010. In the 1980s, he was ranked as one of the most influential spokesmen for conservative social positions in American public life. Although never an ordained minister, he was called "the nation's most influential evangelical leader" by The New York Times while Slate portrayed him as a successor to evangelical leaders Jerry Falwell and Pat Robertson.

As part of his former role in the organization he produced the daily radio program Focus on the Family, which the organization has said was broadcast in more than a dozen languages and on over 7,000 stations worldwide, and reportedly heard daily by more than 220 million people in 164 countries. Focus on the Family was also carried by about 60 U.S. television stations daily. In 2010, he launched the radio broadcast Family Talk with Dr. James Dobson.

Dobson advocated for family values, the instruction of children in heterosexuality and traditional gender roles, which he believed are mandated by the Christian Bible. The goal of this was to promote heterosexual marriage, which he viewed as a cornerstone of civilization that was to be protected from his perceived dangers of feminism and the LGBT rights movement. Dobson sought to equip his audience to fight in the American culture war, which he calls the "Civil War of Values".

His writing career started as an assistant to Paul Popenoe. After Dobson's rise to prominence through promoting corporal punishment of disobedient children in the 1970s, he became a founder of purity culture in the 1990s. He promoted his ideas via his various Focus on the Family affiliated organizations, the Family Research Council which he founded in 1981, Family Policy Alliance which he founded in 2004, the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute which he founded in 2010, and a network of US state-based lobbying organizations called "Family Policy Councils".

Early life and education

James Clayton Dobson Jr. was born to Myrtle Georgia (née Dillingham) and James C. Dobson Sr. on April 21, 1936, in Shreveport, Louisiana. From his earliest childhood, religion played a central part in his life. He once told a reporter that he learned to pray before he learned to talk, and says he gave his life to Jesus at the age of three, in response to an altar call by his father. He was the son, grandson, and great-grandson of Church of the Nazarene ministers.

His parents were traveling evangelists; as a child, Dobson often stayed with family members while his parents were out traveling. Like most Nazarenes, they forbade dancing and going to movies. Young Jimmie Lee, as he was called, concentrated on his studies. As a teenager, he was rebellious, though he eventually found a close relationship with his father.

Dobson's mother was intolerant of "sassiness" and would strike her child with whatever object came to hand, including a shoe or belt; she once gave Dobson a "massive blow" with a girdle outfitted with straps and buckles.

Dobson studied academic psychology and came to believe that he was being called to become a Christian counselor or perhaps a Christian psychologist. He attended Pasadena College (Point Loma Nazarene University) as an undergraduate, where he met his wife, Shirley, and served as captain of the school's tennis team. Dobson graduated in 1958, served in the National Guard for six months, and began working at Children's Hospital of Los Angeles. In 1967, Dobson received his doctorate in psychology from the University of Southern California.

Dr. James Dobson Family Institute

In 2010, Dobson founded the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute, a non-profit organization that produces his radio program, Dr. James Dobson's Family Talk. On this program, he speaks about his views, such as attributing mass shootings to "the LGBTQ movement" destroying the family. He stepped away from leadership of the Dr. James Dobson Family Institute in 2022, naming Joe Waresak the new president. He continues to broadcast his radio show.

Dobson frequently appeared as a guest on the Fox News Channel.

Personal life

Dobson married Shirley Deere on August 26, 1960. The couple had two children.

Dobson turned control of some of Focus on the Family's youth-oriented magazine titles over to his son Ryan Dobson in 2009. He gave his daughter a golden key necklace as a gift when she voiced her commitment to sexual purity at age ten. James Dobson encouraged other parents to give similar gifts.

Dobson died at his home in Colorado Springs on August 21, 2025, at the age of 89.

Relations with Roman Catholicism and Eastern Orthodoxy

Dobson and Charles Colson participated in a 2000 conference at the Vatican on the global economy's impact on families. During the conference, the two Protestants met with Pope John Paul II. Dobson later told Catholic News Service that though he has theological differences with Roman Catholicism, "when it comes to the family, there is far more agreement than disagreement, and with regard to moral issues from abortion to premarital sex, safe-sex ideology and homosexuality, I find more in common with Catholics than with some of my evangelical brothers and sisters."

In November 2009, Dobson signed an ecumenical statement known as the Manhattan Declaration calling on evangelicals, Catholics and Eastern Orthodox Christians not to comply with rules and laws permitting abortion, same-sex marriage and other matters that go against their religious consciences.

Criticism

U.S. Surgeon General C. Everett Koop, a fellow evangelical Christian who wanted Dobson as an ally in his battle against the AIDS crisis, was deeply disappointed when Dobson embraced pseudoscientific and homophobic claims about AIDS. "The Christian activity in reference to AIDS of both D. James Kennedy and Jim Dobson is reprehensible," Koop said in 1989. He viewed the AIDS crisis as "an opportunity for Christian service" that Dobson was squandering.

In her 2020 book Jesus and John Wayne, Calvin University professor Kristin Kobes Du Mez criticizes the ideal of Christian masculinity created by Dobson, Mark Driscoll and others: "It was a vision that promised protection for women but left women without defense, one that worshiped power and turned a blind eye to justice, and one that transformed the Jesus of the Gospels into an image of their own making."

Gil Alexander-Moegerle, a former Focus on the Family executive and radio show co-host, wrote the highly critical book James Dobson's War on America in 1997. In it, he says that Dobson's loving, caring public persona is a sham; the real Dobson is racist, sexist, homophobic, materialistic, power-hungry, and shameless. He says that the Nazarene religious concept of entire sanctification is key to understanding Dobson's views: "James Dobson believes that he has been entirely sanctified, morally perfected, that he does not and cannot sin. Now you know why he and moralists like him make a life of condemning what he believes to be the sins of others. He is perfect."

Some fundamentalist Christians consider Dobson a heretic for presenting secular concepts from psychology and self-help literature as though they are justified by the Bible.

Theologian Donald Eric Capps contends that Dobson's corporal punishment techniques exploit children by turning their natural need to be loved against them. Dobson's advice to "break the will" of the child is a recipe for child abuse, according to Capps, and is antithetical to loving one's child. He also argues that corporal punishment may sexualize children. For evidence of this, he points to Dobson's vivid childhood recollection of being beaten with his mother's girdle. Capps believed that using physical pain to heighten a child's relationship to God is "perverted".

Publications

Dobson authored or co-authored 36 books, including:

Books as sole author

• Dobson, James C. (1970). Dare to Discipline. Tyndale House. ISBN 0-842-3063-0-7.
• Dobson, James C. (1975). What Wives Wish Their Husbands Knew About Women. Tyndale House. ISBN 0-84237-8960.
• Dobson, James (1980). Preparing for Adolescence. Vision House. ISBN 0-88449-112-9.
• Dobson, James (1982). Dr. Dobson Answers Your Questions About Raising Children. Tyndale House. ISBN 0-8423-0620-X.
• Dobson, James C. (1984). Emotions: Can You Trust Them?. Bantam Books. ISBN 0-553-25751-X.
• Dobson, James C. (1986). Dr. Dobson Answers Your Questions about Feelings and Self-Esteem. Tyndale House. ISBN 0-8423-0621-8.
• Dobson, James C. (1986). Temper Your Child's Tantrums. Tyndale House. ISBN 0-8423-6994-5.
• Dobson, James (1987). Parenting Isn't for Cowards: Dealing Confidently With the Frustrations of Child-Rearing. Word. ISBN 0-8499-0630-X.
• Dobson, James C. (1992). The Strong-Willed Child. Living Books. ISBN 0-8423-2335-X.
• Dobson, James (1995). Straight Talk: What Men Should Know, What Women Need to Understand —Rev.and exp.ed. Thomas Nelson. ISBN 0-8499-3858-9.
• Dobson, James C. (1996). The New Dare to Discipline. Tyndale House. ISBN 0-8423-0506-8.
• Dobson, James C. (1997). Solid Answers. Tyndale House. ISBN 0-8423-0623-4.
• Dobson, James C. (2000). The Complete Marriage and Family Home Reference Guide. Tyndale House. ISBN 0-8423-5267-8.
• Dobson, James (2000). Straight Talk to Men. Thomas Nelson. ISBN 0-8499-4210-1.
• Dobson, James (2000). Life on the Edge. Thomas Nelson. ISBN 0-8499-0927-9.
• Dobson, James (2001). The New Hide or Seek: Building Confidence in Your Child. Revell. ISBN 0-8007-5680-0.
• Dobson, James C. (2001). When God Doesn't Make Sense. Living Books. ISBN 0-8423-7062-5.
• Dobson, James C. (2002). Bringing Up Boys: Practical Advice and Encouragement for Those Shaping the Next Generation of Men. Tyndale House. ISBN 0-8423-5266-X.
• Dobson, James C. (2003). Parents' Answer Book. Living Books. ISBN 0-8423-8716-1.
• Dobson, James C. (2004). Romantic Love: How to Be Head Over Heels and Still Land on Your Feet. Regal Books. ISBN 0-8307-3238-1.
• Dobson, James (2004). Dr. James Dobson on Parenting. World Publishing. ISBN 0-88486-339-5.
• Dobson, James (2004). Love for a Lifetime: Building a Marriage That Will Go the Distance. Multnomah Books. ISBN 1-59052-087-4.
• Dobson, James C. (2007). Love Must Be Tough: New Hope for Families in Crisis. Tyndale House. ISBN 978-1-4143-1745-8.
• Dobson, James C. (2007). The New Strong-Willed Child. Tyndale House. ISBN 978-1-4143-1363-4.
• Dobson, James C. (2007). Stories of Heart and Home. Tyndale House. ISBN 978-1-4143-1747-2.
• Dobson, James C. (2010). Bringing Up Girls: Practical Advice and Encouragement for Those Shaping the Next Generation of Women. Tyndale House. ISBN 978-1-77036-544-5.

Books with others:

• Paul C. Reisser (October 1, 1999). Melissa R. Cox; Vinita Hampton Wright (eds.). The Focus on the Family Complete Book of Baby and Child Care. Tyndale House. ISBN 0-8423-3512-9. (Foreword)
• Sutherland, Mark I.; William J. Federer; Roy Moore; James Dobson; Alan Keyes; Ed Meese; Phyllis Schlafly; Matthew D. Staver; Alan Sears (July 4, 2005). Judicial Tyranny The New Kings of America. Amerisearch. ISBN 0-9753455-6-7.
• Dobson, James C.; Shirley Dobson (April 16, 2007). Marriage Under Fire: Why We Must Win This Battle. Tyndale House. ISBN 978-1-4143-1756-4.
• Dobson, James C.; Shirley Dobson (April 16, 2007). Night Light A Devotional for Couples. Tyndale House. ISBN 978-1-4143-1749-6.
• Dobson, James C.; Shirley Dobson (April 20, 2007). Night Light for Parents A Devotional. Tyndale House. ISBN 978-1-4143-1751-9.
• Dobson, James C; Kurt Bruner (January 15, 2013). Fatherless. FaithWords. ISBN 978-1-4555-1311-6.
• Dobson, James C; Kurt Bruner (October 1, 2013). Childless. FaithWords. ISBN 978-1-4555-1315-4.
• Dobson, James C; Kurt Bruner (May 6, 2014). Godless. FaithWords. ISBN 978-1-4555-1316-1.

Notable articles and reports

• Dobson served on the committee that wrote the Meese Report on pornography.
• Two Mommies Is One Too Many

Further reading

• Apostolidis, Paul. Stations of the Cross: Adorno and Christian Right Radio (2000). excerpt and text search, analysis of Dobson's radio programs
• Alexander-Moegerle, Gil (1997). James Dobson's War on America. Amherst, NY: Prometheus Books. ISBN 1-57392-122-X.
• Gilgoff, Dan (April 29, 2008). The Jesus Machine How James Dobson, Focus on the Family, and Evangelical America are Winning the Culture War. St. Martin's Press. ISBN 978-0-312-37844-8.
• Løvdal, Hilde, Family Matters: James Dobson and the Focus on the Family's Message to American Evangelicals, 1970–2010 (PhD dissertation, University of Oslo, Norway, 2012).