TOPIC 1 - PERSONAL LIFE Perspective

Question 1

What does the Personal Life Perspective draw our attention to?

Answer 1

draws our ATTENTION to a range of OTHER personal or intimate RELATIONSHIP that are IMPORTANT to people EVEN THOUGH they may NOT be CONVENTIONALLY define as ‘FAMILY’

a family can be anything that people want it to be

Question 2

What are the 5 Kinds of Relationships Personal Life people see as significant that give them a Sense of Identity and Belonging ?

Answer 2

(1) RELATIONSHIPS WITH FRIENDS who may be ‘like a sister or brother to you’
(2) FICTIVE KIN: close friends who are treated as relatives
(3) GAY AMD LESBIAN ‘ CHOSEN FAMILIES ‘ made up of a supportive network or close friends, not related by blood or marriage
(4) RELATIONSHIPS WITH DEAD RELATIVES who live on people’ memories no continue to shape their identities and affect their actions
(5) EVEN RELATIONSHIPS WITH PETS. Becky Tipper found in her study children frequently saw their pets as ‘part of the family’

Question 3

What type of perspective is the Personal Life perspective?

Answer 3

• BOTTOM UP APPROACH of interactionism

emphasise the meanings that individual family members hold and how these shape their actions and relationships

Question 4

What are 2 EVALUATION points of the personal life perspective
positive and negative

Answer 4

• NORDQVIST and SMART’s study HELPS us UNDERSTAND how people themselves construct and define their relationships as ‘family’ rather than imposing on traditional sociological definitions of the family from the outside
• Personal life perspective can be ACCUSED of taking too broad a view.
  Critics argue, by INCLUDING a wide range of DIFFERENT KINDS of personal relationships, WE IGNORE WHAT’S SPECIAL about relationships that are based on blood and marriage