Personal life perspective and diversity
Personal life perspective
Uses interactionist ideas and interpretivist methods to look at interactions between people in relationships and the networks that connect individuals
In contemporary society, people have meaningful relationships with others apart from marriage, blood family, and kinship networks
By focusing on the personal meanings people give to their relationship, it draws attention to meaningful and important relationships outside of the family
May
Individuals often draw support from members outside the family unit
Traditional functions of the family are often performed by others, especially with an increase in family diversity
For example, a friend helping with child support or emotional support
People construct their own networks of individuals
Weeks and Smart - chosen families
People who are not necessarily related by blood or marriage but who feel a sense of belonging and who choose to define themselves as a family
Gay and lesbian couples choose a network of friends to become their family, due to a lack of acceptance
Smart
Sociology of family is ethnocentric
History of research is focused on white M/C families
Seen through expectation of male breadwinner and female housewife
May - white, straight, M/C man has the most choice
'You can choose your friends but not your family'
Smart - connectedness thesis
Argues that we are not disembedded, isolated individuals with limitless choice
We live in a network of interwoven personal histories that influence our range of options
Instead, we are social beings whose choices are always being made within a web of connectedness
The individualisation thesis exaggerates how much choice we have about family relationships today
Traditional forms of control still shape relationships to some extent (class, gender, ethnicity)
Men have more personal freedom (but less emotional freedom as they struggle to express themselves)
Men aren't given custody of children, no dual burden, have more financial freedom
Women are not experiencing limitless choice as they are constrained by society
Evaluation (AO3)
Methodologically small scale
Used interpretivist methods
Each individual's personal life perspective takes long to record
Too broad
Hard to measure
Different for each individual
Underplays importance of blood / marriage
Modernist theories
Feminists argue that is exaggerates the amount of freedom women have
Underplays importance of structures in society
Marxists argue that W/C individuals don't have as much freedom as M/C individuals
Gender / social class
Traditional gender roles dictate our choices and decisions
Laws are influenced by gender and social class
Child benefit goes to mother
Child benefit capped at 2 children, financially constraining women so they don't have complete freedom and choice
In 90% of custody cases, the child goes to the mother
W/C women might work more
Lack of freedom
If they are not working, then financial decisions are limited
Unable to leave abusive relationships
5 key concepts of connectedness
Embeddedness
Relationality
Biography
Imaginary
Memory
Shared emotional memories build relationships
For example, through joy or trauma
Shared life history of individuals
For example, friends of a similar age, university friends with the same experiences
Extent to which individuals are connected to each other
For example, if you see someone everyday, you are more likely to be closer to them
How well we interact with individuals
Health of a relationship
Dark side of family - less strong relationships
How individuals remember a relationship
For example, remember old friendships as positive, even if you don't see them a lot
Power of structures
May
Structures control certain individuals more than others
For example, the government and laws control women more than men
Traditional masculine and feminine pursuits - norms for man and woman to assume in society
Einasdottir
Argues that we are still living in a heteronormative world
Many lesbians are still closeted by their sexuality
Still have to follow society's expectations
Society's structures still influence individual's decisions and choices
Nordgvist and Smart - Donor conceived children
Issues of blood and genes when researching donor conceived children
Some parents emphasised being a parent in terms of time and effort put into raising children, not necessarily blood related
Differences in appearance led parents to wonder about donor's identity and if donor siblings counted as family for their own children, so blood might still matter
For lesbian couples, there were additional problems between genetic and non genetic mother and that the donor would be treated as the 'real' second parent