the personal life perspective Flashcards
why does personal life criticise other approaches
for assuming that nuclear family most dominant
-traditional theories often focus on family and vlood relations, change over time
what do personal life look at?
interactions between people in relationships within = outside of family
-people construct their own network of people
what type of approach does personal life perspective take?
bottom-up - give meaning to individuals and focus on people on people rather than society
difference of top-down approach
top down focuses on how society and the structures within it influence individuals
according to personal life perspective what must we look at in order to understand families
we must look at the view of the individuals and the meanings they give to their relationship, not by the structures they are determined by
who are personal life influenced by?
interactionalist sociologists
what perspectives are personal life critical of and why
structural perspectives(functionalists,marxists,feminists)
-they assume that the nuclear family is dominant
-ignores the increased family diversity today
-ignore free will and individual choice
who is the main sociologist for personal life?
Carol Smart
what does Carol Smart’s approach prioritise ?
the bonds between people
importance of memory and cultural heritage
significance of emotions ( both positive + negayive)
importance of things e.g shared possesions or homes in the maintenance + memory of relationships
by focusing on people’s meanings Carol Smart draws attention to how
there are a range of other personal or intimate relationships, that are more important to people even if it may not be conventionally defined as family
Smart looks at 5 types of relationships
What are they?
-friends
-fictive kin
-dead relatives
-pets
-chosen families of queer and transgender individuals
friends
-sasha rosneil and shelley budgeon also examine how friends are becoming the new family
-friends from school, travel or personal living arrangements meaningful as siblings
fictive kin
close friends sometimes appear as relatives to some people
e.g calling mum’s friend aunt
chosen families of queer and transgender individuals
-blood family not as supportive to gay,lesbian,bisexual or trans indivudals as a tight network of friends + ex partners
pets, which sociologist examined this?
Becky Tipper (2011)
studied children’s evaluation of family relationships found children counted pets as part of family
