1.4 Personal life

Question 1

The Personal Life Perspective: Key Ideas

Answer 1

‘They tend to assume that the traditional nuclear family is the dominant type of family. This ignores the increased diversity of families today. Compared with 50 years ago, many more people now live in other families, such as lone-parent families and so on.

They are all structural theories. That is, they assume that families and their members are simply passive puppets manipulated by the structure of society to perform certain functions – for example, to provide the economy with a mobile labour force, or serve the needs of capitalism or of men.

Question 2

Evaluation of the Personal Life Perspective

Answer 2

‘It helps us to understand how people themselves construct and define their relationships as ‘family’ rather than imposing traditional sociological definitions of the family from the outside.

However, taking the personal life perspective can be accused to taking too broad a view. Critics argue that by including a wide range of personal relationships, we ignore what is special about relationships that are based on blood or marriage.

Question 3

What is the personal life perspectives definition of the family and how does it differ from the structural approaches?

Answer 3

Developed along side the interactionist approaches to the family. The personal life perspective takes the definition of the family beyond the ties of blood and marriage.

For example a person may not feel close to their sibling so would not help in a crisis but may do this for a friend.

Without knowing the meaning behind the relationship we are unable to know how someone would behave.

Question 4

Personal Life Perspective on the family:

Answer 4

By focusing on the meanings behind the relationships PLP suggests that we choose the families that we want and need, but these are based on past experiences rather than an open choice.

Question 5

Web of connectedness

Answer 5

Argues that we have choice but these are always made within a web of connectedness and are linked/influenced by our networks of existing relationships and personal histories

WE DO HAVE CHOICES BUT IN THE CONTEXT OF FAMILY RELATIONSHIPS AND WITHIN OUR OBLIGATIONS AND COMMITMENT TO OUR FAMILIRS.

We have choice but not as much as the individualisation perspective propose

Examples of choices that maybe restricted:

1. Pressure to get marries, arranged
2. marriages -> religion
3. Pressure to have children in an extended family