The Personal Life Perspective On Families

According to the personal life perspective, what weaknesses do the functionalist, marxist and feminist theories suffer from?

1. They tend to assume that the traditional nuclear family is the dominant family type.

2. They are all structural theories.

Why is the tendency to assume the traditional nuclear family is the dominant type a weakness?

This ignores the increased diversity of families today.

Why are structural theories a weakness?

They assume that families and their members are simply passive puppets manipulated by the structure of society to perform functions.

What Sociologists reject the structural view?

.Sociologists influenced by interactionist and postmodernist perspectives. They argue that structural theoris ignore the fact that we have some choice in creating our family relationships.

What do Sociologists influenced by interactionist and postmodernist perspectives argue?

That to understand the family today, we must focus on the meanings its members give to their relationships and situations, rather than on the family’s supposed ‘functions‘.

What is the sociology of personal life perspective?

A new perspective; it is strongly influenced by interactionalist ideas and argues that to understand families, we must start from the POV of the individuals concerned and the maning they give to their relationships.

What does the personal life perspective do as well as taking a bottom up approach to relationships?

It also takes a wider view of relationships than just traditional ‘family‘ relationships based on blood or mariiage ties.

By focusing on people’s meanings, what does the personal life do?

Draws attention to a range of other personal or intimate relationships that are important to people though they may not be conventionally defined as ‘family’.

What might thhese intimate or personal or intimate relationships include?

All kinds of relationships see as significant and can give them a sense of identity, belonging or relatedness.

What are examples of these personl or intimate relationships?

• Relationships with friends.

• Fictive Kin.

• Gay and lesbian ‘chosen families‘

• Relationships with dead relatives.

• Relationships with pets.

How might relationships with friends be significant?

Friends may be ‘like a brother or sister‘ to you.

What is meant by fictive kin?

Close friends who are treatedvas relatives.

What are gay and lesbian ‘chosen families‘?

These are families made up of a supportive network of close friends, ex partners and others, who are not related by blood or marriage.

What are relationships with dead relatives?

Relationships that live on in people’s memories and continue to shape their identities and affect their actions.

What did Nordqvist and Smart find in their research?

That the issue of blood and genes raised a range of feelings: some parents emphasised the importance of social relationships over genetic ones in forming family bonds.

For example, a mother if an egg donor-conceived child, defined being a mum in terms of the time and effort she put into raising her daughter.

What issues are there with donor-conceived children?

Difficult feelings could flare up for a non-genetic parent if somebody remarked that the child looked like them, Differences in appearance also led parents to wonder about the donor’s identity, about possible ‘donor siblings‘ and whether these counted as family for the child.

Where couples knew their donor, they had to resolve other questions about who counted as family.

What additional problems are there for lesbian couples with donor-conceived children?

These include concerns bout quality between the genetic and non-genetic mothers and that the donor might be treated as the ‘real‘ second parent.

What does the personal life perspective see intimate relationships as performing?

The important function of providing with a sense of belonging and relatednes.

Unlike Functionalism, what does the personal life perspective recognise?

That relatedness is not always positive; for example, people may be trapped in violent, abusive relationships or simply ones where they suffer everyday unhappiness, hurt or lack of respect.