FAMILY+HOUSEHOLDS - Personal life and the family

Question 1

What type of perspective does personal life and the family take

Answer 1

Bottom up - focuses on the individuals instead of the institutions

Question 2

What are some examples of families that may not be considered ‘conventional’

Answer 2

• Friends
• Fictive kin
• Chosen families (gay/lesbian)
• Relationships with pets
• Dwiblings

Question 3

What is a similarity of personal life and other perspectives like functionalism
- What are 2 differences

Answer 3

SIMILARITY: Both focus on the role of the family

DIFFERENCES: Structural take top down approaches, focusing on the institutions and macro factors
- Structural assumes the nuclear family is dominant while personal life has a range of families (more diverse)

Question 4

Evaluation

• What are some positives of the personal life theory (3)
• What are some negatives (3)

Answer 4

+ Understand meanings and significance of relationships instead of imposing traditional sociological interpretations of the family
+ Not deterministic - open to all individuals
+ Recognises all relationships aren’t positive = more realistic

• Too broad, focuses on all the different types of relationships = ignoring the meaning of them
• Not precise enough
• Neglects the impact of social forces

Question 5

What criticisms does personal life have on structural theories of the family

Answer 5

• Assumes the nuclear family is dominant = ignoring the increasing diversity
• Assume families are just puppets who passively accept control

Question 6

Smart - importance of relationships

• What does she reject that sociologists like Beck and Giddens suggest
• Why does she look at the significance of peoples bonds

Answer 6

WHAT: Assumptions about the decline of family life
WHY: Focusing on meanings = we can see the range of relationships that are important to people

Question 7

What is the key factor in personal life and families perspectives

Answer 7

• They look at the family beyond ties of blood and marriage

Question 8

Tripper

• What study did she conduct
• What did she conclude as a result

Answer 8

STUDY: Children and their relationship with their pets
CONCLUSION: Children often consider pets as part of the family

Question 9

Contemporary example 
Chopik
- What was his thesis
- What study did he conduct 
- What did he find 
- Why is this finding significance 
- Compare these relationships to relationships with the family

Answer 9

THESIS: Relationships with friends had a similar effect as with the family - and some even surpassed the family
STUDY: Surveyed over 7000 older people
WHAT: to have friends was one thing, but the quality of the friendship also mattered
SIGNIFICANCE: When friends were strenuous, they reported having more chronic illnesses and vise versa = friendship has a lot of power on mental and physical health
FAMILY: Providing for elderly can create a sense of obligation and may not provide as much joy as long-time friends do