Postmodernism View

Postsrtucturalists:

AO1- Postructuralists like Donzelot argue that we should look at the family in terms of how it is controlled and monitored by the state.

AO2- IE. The family is monitored by the state through:

• Health visitors- They visit families homes proceeding the first few weeks after birth. They monitor the baby’s weight and can provide critiques to the parents habits and routines: feeding.

• Educational professionals- Attendance officers monitor a student’s attendance and can invite parents into schools for meetings or even carry out home visits for those students not attending school.

AO3- These agents are important in meeting the needs of family members.

• Health visitors ensure the baby has a good start in life.

• Educational professionals- ensure that pupils can achieve the highest grades to help them enter high status and paying jobs.

Post Modernism AO1:

• Sociologists influenced by interactionists and postmodernists reject the structural view, they argue instead:

• Structural theories ignore the fact that we have some choice in creating our family relationships.

• We must focus on the meanings its members give to their relationships and situations.

• We must not take for granted the structural functions of the family.

Postmodernism AO2:

• Individuals have free will (agency) allowing to choose the types of families they create. We live on an increasingly “pic’n’mix” society.

• For example; a mother can choose to be a single mother by divorcing her husband as it will be more beneficial for the family (ie. Herself and her children). She is empowered and able to escape a toxic household.

• This is identified as a micro, bottom up, social action approach.

Post Modernism AO3:

• This would be criticised by the New Right as they believe that single parents are “Everything wrong with society” believing that only those in a nuclear family can reach their full potential of happiness, discouraging this.

The Personal Life perspective:

AO1- The personal life perspective also takes a wider view of relationships than just traditional ‘family’ relationships based on blood and marriage ties.

• Relationships with friends- People you may deem to be like a sister or brother to you. AO2- Provides a bond that you may not already have from a blood relative. Support network and trust.

• Relationships with pets- Tipper found that children frequently saw their pets as a part of their family. AO2- Pets provide loyalty, comfort, dependence and responsibility.

• Gay and Lesbian chosen couples- Made up of a supportive network of close friends and others who are not related but blood or marriage. AO2- Support system. Self expression and comfort provided.

The personal perspective AO3:

By focusing on people’s meanings, the personal life perspective draws attention to a range of other personal or intimate relationships that are important to people although not conventionally defined as family.

Donor received children (Smart and Nordqvist)

AO1- Focus on how social relationships are often more significant than genetic ties in defining family life. They argue that family structures are increasingly diverse and fluid, aligning with postmodern views that reject fixed definitions of family. Emphasising individual choice and negotiated relationships, which is evident in donor- conceived families where parts and children construct their own meaning of kinship.

A02- Postmodernist theory suggests that traditional family structures are breaking down, replaced by personalised relationships.

Smart argues that family life is shaped by social connections rather than biological determinism, reinforcing postmodernism ideas.

AO3- May overlook structural factors like class, ethnicity and gender which still shape family experiences.

Postmodernism Strengths:

• It shows how people construct or create their families and relationships within (The personal life perspective )

• The variety of personal life perspectives shows that rebelling against structural norms helps to change society and people’s lives for the netter.

• Challenges the functionalist assumption that all members benefit from the family and the relationship within.

Postmodernism Weakness:

• It takes too wide a view to be able to establish social facts/laws of human behaviour.

• It overlooks the very real impacts of structure on families e.g. poverty.

• It neglects that many people in diverse family types want to live in a nuclear family or recreate it.

• Blood or DNA are still important- If the technology allowed for both couples in a same relation to parent a child biologically, most would take it.