Personal Life perspective and family diversity: Flashcards
What do PLP sociologists, Smart and May believe about family diversity?
Personal life perspective sociologists Carol Smart (2007) and Vanessa May (2013) agree with Beck and Giddens that there is now more family diversity. HOWEVER, they make several criticisms of the individualisation thesis.
What critisisms do PLP sociologists make on the individualization thesis?
- It exaggerates how much choice people have about family relationships.
- It ignores the fact that decisions and choices about family relationships are made within a social context (social environments) i.e. the consequences the decision may have for other family members – people aren’t as independent as the individualisation theses makes out!
- It ignores the importance of structural factors such as social class and gender inequalities. Vanessa May (2013) argues that Beck and Gidden’s view of the individual is simply an ‘idealised version of a white middle class man’. They ignore that not everybody has the same ability as this privileged group to exercise choice.
extra:
We live in networks of personal relationships. Interwoven histories
Web of relationships that shape their choices and family patterns.
Gender norms – if divorced women get children men free to find new partners.
Men are better paid
Smarts Connectedness Thesis:
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
Unlike the individualisation thesis, Vanessa May argues that the connectedness thesis is better at understanding family diversity as it focuses on how social structures such as gender and class still limit our choice despite social change and progression.
How does gender limit our relationships?
LIMIT our choices about the kind of relationships, identities and families we can create for ourselves
i.e. a mum is likely to get custody
