the personal life perspective on families

Question 1

what does plp criticise?

Answer 1

• functionalism, feminism and Marxism suffer two weaknesses:
  1) assume traditional nuclear family is dominant family type
  2) they’re structural theories - assume families and members are passive puppet

Question 2

what is plp influenced by?

Answer 2

• sociology of personal life is influenced by interactionist ideas
• contrasts with structural theories
• to understand families, start from the point of view of individuals
• focus on the meanings individuals give to their relationships

Question 3

why plp believes we should study meanings

Answer 3

• deeper understanding of these intimate relationships that are not conventionally referred to as “family”
• these relationships are what individuals deem to be significant
• these may provide the individual with a sense of belonging, identity or relatedness

Question 4

relationships with friends

Answer 4

• individuals may view friends as family more so than blood relations

Question 5

fictive kin

Answer 5

• family-like relationships that are not based on blood or marriage but on close friendship ties e.g calling mum’s best friend “aunty”

Question 6

gay & lesbian chosen families

Answer 6

• homosexuals choose who they wish to be a part of their family as it is sometimes likely that their own blood family have abandoned them

Question 7

relationships with dead relatives

Answer 7

• PLP believe that individuals still have strong relationships with relatives who are no longer alive and this therefore influences the family

Question 8

Tipper (2011)

Answer 8

• children regularly see pets as family

Question 9

Roseneil

Answer 9

• those who live outside of conventional relationships are not isolated rather they are involved in many networks of intimacy and care
• friendship matters in individuals lives - in or outside heterosexual couples

Question 10

heath - neo-tribes

Answer 10

• individuals living communally and prioritising friendship
• leading to long-lasting significant ties of intimacy
• friendship gaining a significance that was once reserved only for family members

Question 11

LAT relationships

Answer 11

• living apart together
• if you live with your children and visit your lover then you are living in a “lat” relationship

Question 12

Nordqvist and Smart (2014)

Answer 12

• donor-conceived children
• who is family? it’s more about the time and effort you put in to raising children than biology according to one mother of a donor child (Erin)
• however, difficult feelings could flare up for a non genetic parent if somebody remarked that the child looked like them
  
  • led parents to wonder about doner’s identity, about possible donor siblings and whether they counted as family

Question 13

strengths of PLP

Answer 13

• it shows how people define their own families instead of using traditional sociological definitions (bottom-up approach, other perspectives are top-down)
• the personal life perspective rejects top-down views like functionalism but sees intimate relationships as giving a sense of belonging and relatedness
• the personal life perspective sees people as active in shaping relationships
  
  • this challenges the new right - even if the nuclear family declines, other relationships can still offer emotional support

Question 14

weaknesses of PLP

Answer 14

• the personal life perspective is criticised for being too broad and only describing relationships without assessing their importance
• traditional nuclear families likely offer more financial support than friends and more emotional support than pets, so we shouldn’t overstate the importance of some personal relationships
• the diversity of family types makes it hard to choose a nationally representative sample, limiting our ability to make generalisations
• a 2022 survey on declining friendship in the usa found people have fewer friends and rely on them less for emotional support than in the 1990s, suggesting friendship isn’t replacing family - nothing is