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The Personal Life Perspective - Coggle Diagram
The Personal Life Perspective
Key Terms
Personal Life Perspective
A "bottom up" interactionist approach. Starts with the meanings individuals give to their own relationships.
Top-Down (Structural) Approach
Functionalism, Feminism and Marxism. All start with society's structure and explain the family from there.
Bottom Up Approach
Starts with individuals and their relationships, then builds up a picture of "family from their point of view.
Relatedness
A sense of connection and belonging with others. Not necessarily based on blood or marriage
Donor Conception
Having a child using donated eggs or sperm. Raises questions about who counts as "family"
Significant Relationships
Relationships individuals see as important to their identity. Could include friends, ex-partners, pets or donors.
Top-Down (Structural)
Functionalism . Feminism . Marxism
All start with society's structure. They explain how the family fits into it (consensus, patriarchy, capitalism)
The family is explained from the "outside in"
Bottom-Up (Interactionist)
The Personal Life Perspective
Starts with the meanings individuals give to their relationships. And how these shape their actions.
The family is explained from the inside out
Core ideas Of The Personal Life Perspective
PLP (Personal Life Perspective) is influences by interactionist sociology. It focuses on meanings people give to their own lives and relationships.
It looks at a wider range of relationships than just blood or marriage ties
PLP draws attention to relationships that can't conventionally be defined as "family"
PLP focuses on relationships individuals see as significant. Giving a sense of identity, belonging and relatedness.
Examples could include: close friends, ex-partners who remain co-parents, pets, donors or "chosen family"
This contrasts sharply with functionalism, Feminism, and Marxism. Which all assume "the family" has a fixed structure.
PLP In Action
The Big PLP Idea
A functionalist, Feminist or Marxist would start by asking: "Does this family fit the nuclear model? Does it perform the right functions? Does it supports capitalism or patriarchy?
The Personal Life Perspective asks something different: "What does this relationship mean to the people in it? Who do they consider to be family?
A donor might be a stranger, a co-parent, a "favourite uncle" figure, or somewhere in between. And that meaning can change over time, and differ between the people involved.