Family and intimate relationships a review of the sociological research. Intimacy 2022-10-30

Family and Intimate Relationships: A Review of the Sociological Research

Political systems and power relations have penetrated the self, 14 16 constituting, sustaining and governing individuals and social relationships at the level of the personal. It will specifically focus on whether casual sex types, such as Friends-with-Benefits, are slowly outdating romantic exclusivity. They point to the extensive evidence refuting the periodisation of Western history in terms of a clean break with the traditional Heelas et al. Women were portrayed as increasingly placing their own needs above those of their children and husbands, facilitated by the availability of welfare support enabling them to live independently. Such theorists argue that values of fidelity, commitment and duty are being usurped by an ideology of authenticity, autonomy and personal freedom.

Family And Intimate Relationships: Sociological Research

From this viewpoint the detraditionalisation of social life has freed people from the fixed, constrained social roles of the past, allowing them to create new, more fulfilling relationships based on mutual satisfaction rather than contractual obligation. Family and kinship relations were perceived as the primary structuring features of small scale, pre-industrial society, producing basic goods and services and ordering roles and obligations. Models of Family, Kinship and Change As Tamara Hareven 1994 points out, in the absence of systematic historical analysis, myths and grand theories about change and continuity directed early social scientific studies of family and kinship. In addition, simplistic understandings of family as an objectively knowable entity were increasingly undermined by analyses which emphasised the complex, contingent lived reality of family to its members Morgan 1996; Gubrium and Holstein 1990; Bernardes 1997. The notion that industrialisation weakened a working class sense of responsibility for their own was explored in the work of another prominent functionalist theorist. Men s contribution to their children s lives, in A. .

Essay About Family, Marriage And Intimate Relationships

Instead she highlights how experiences of intimacy are wider and more variable than the ideal of the pure relationship. Many theorists argue that increased self reflexivity leads to a democratisation of personhood Skolnick 1992 that has an impact on wider political and ethical frameworks. Giddens describes a post traditional society in which men and women, progressively freed from the roles and constraints associated with traditional social ties, are compelled reflexively to create their selves through day-to-day decisions Giddens 1991, 1992. Although notions of change may be set against assertions of continuity, these contrasting poles of understanding are contained within distinct theoretical boundaries that delineate the grounds upon which research is conducted. Risebourough eds , Youth and Inequality, Buckingham: Open University.

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This article makes a contribution to this field, drawing on data from nineteen qualitative interviews with a group of middle class divorcing women in Ireland. The gendered aspects of household management were also explored in terms of financial organisation Pahl 1989 , food consumption Charles and Kerr 1988 and the division of labour within the household Yeandle 1984. In contrast, theorists hailing the increasing democratisation of personal relationships view social capital in terms of transformation rather than demise. William Goode applied the principles of bargaining and reciprocity to family relationships, suggesting that individual members would moderate the extent of their family obligations in line with the perceived returns on emotional and practical investments Goode 1963. Rose takes an alternative, Foucauldian approach, arguing that a critical understanding of self and others must focus on the practices through which human beings are made subjects 1989, 1996. The premise of detraditionalisation has also been widely critiqued, with writers questioning the extent to which expectations and certainties characterised the past, while simultaneously contesting the extent to which traditions and long standing beliefs have been shed Heelas et al. Nevertheless, feminist and Marxist theory also generated new analyses of household labour highlighting the economic significance of women s unpaid work, and problematising traditional formulations of home versus work.

Appalachian State University / Sociology (BS)

In terms of intimate relationships such writers have emphasised the emotional costs of contemporary sexual relationships in an individualised, detraditionalised world. Some feminists, such as Margaret Benston 1972 , applied a Marxist analysis of family as crucial to the maintenance of capitalism, demonstrating how women are exploited as a source of unpaid labour in the home. This would require the replacement of a before and after approach with a contextualised, embedded focus on the multilayered complexity of every day life. For Giddens 1991, 1992 the emergence of pure relationships and plastic sexuality brings greater equality between individuals, undermining traditional gender divisions and challenging notions of appropriateness and convention. However, the idea of marriage and creation of families has undergone tremendous change in the past few decades to the point where it is almost unrecognizable. As with earlier commentaries hailing the demise of family and kinship, the consequences of family breakdown were seen as disastrous for society, threatening civilisation and social order. The ideological underpinnings of narratives of social change are clearly identifiable.

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From this perspective contemporary society is witnessing neither the erosion nor the transformation of social capital, but rather its consistent deployment in the reproduction of privilege and inequality. University of Chicago Press, Chicago, pp. This is characterised by the creation of, and investment in contingent social relationships in which trust is actively earned. He suggests that as relationships are no longer grounded in obligation and necessity there is greater opportunity to negotiate and create more egalitarian, fulfilling associations. There was a shift from a neo-liberal stance of blaming over-involvement by the state for the decline in traditional values, to a social democratic critique of the corroding influence of a market-based philosophy, competition and a me first mentality, which were was seen as undermining the co-operation and reciprocity necessary to sustain families and communities.

They would argue that such positions reflect and reinforce politically grounded versions of the truth that distort or obscure the real workings of power. Although theorists may sometimes draw on more than one perspective, accounts of family life and social relationships emphasise the key themes of breakdown and demoralisation, democratisation and egalitarianism, or continuity and enduring power relations. With roles and identities no longer fixed, individuals generate their own relationship rules, leading to a wide diversity in the way intimate associations are expressed and lived. Young and Willmott s conclusions were devised in the context of various other studies highlighting the emergence of strongly held values of intimate, shared domestic life Bott 1957; Rosser and Harris 1965; Gorer 1971 , projecting a theme of social progress that sharply contrasted with more critical accounts of family. As David Morgan 1985 notes, this shift towards viewing marriage as a personal relationship rather than part of the social institution of family coincided with the emergence of a new medical model of family, characterised by the notion that marital problems can be assessed, diagnosed and treated. Social Policy and Society 2: 339 48.

As Michele Barrett and Mary McIntosh 1982 pointed out, the recognition of violence and abuse as common features of family life demonstrated the vulnerability of those within the home and the very different ways in which men and women might experience family. About Sociologists observe, describe, explain and predict human social behavior. This self-disclosing or self-expressing intimacy is characterized by knowledge and understanding of inner selves. In terms of social theory, the three differing interpretations of the status of family life and intimate relations converge around the currently popular but loosely defined concept of social capital. In an attempt to explore the attitudes, expectations and experiences of married couples, a number of studies highlighted the significance that individuals accorded to their partnerships and how they associated the concept of successful marriage with effort. The dominance of these two views within sociology and the ideological force driving them leaves limited room to recognise continuity in the experience of intimacy and family life.

In contrast, theorists who describe an emerging democratisation of personal relationships perceive social change in a positive light, emphasising a progressive move towards more egalitarian associations. Name of Professor Name of Course Family and marriage are, in many respects, two sides of the same coin. Love for a child is perceived as offering a tie which is more elemental, profound and durable than any other in this society, Beck and Beck-Gernsheim 1995: 73. For Coleman it is strong families and strong communities 1988: 118 that generate social capital, features of social life that he argues are becoming increasingly less common. The most systematic and comprehensive challenge to the ideology of family emerged from the early second wave feminist movement. This conceptualisation of what she terms disclosing intimacy enabled a consideration of the quality rather than the structure or status of relationships, and as such provided a new direction for sociological research.

A more detailed consideration of the relationship between families and social capital is offered by James Coleman 1988 , who has specifically analysed parent-child relationships as a feature of family social capital. Sociology 33: 477 94. Beck and Beck-Gernsheim s individualisation thesis articulates a similar picture, suggesting that a new age of modernity has replaced the old predictabilities and certainties of industrial society, bringing with it new risks and opportunities Beck and Beck-Gernsheim 1995, 2002. Thus, he concludes we have not seen a detraditionalisation of the self, merely the ever evolving modification of methods of regulation and subjectification. Unrestrained market forces and mass consumer cultures are accused of promoting a self-obsessive, self-isolating, or competitive individualism which renders people incapable of sustaining meaningful intimate relationships. Drawing on the work of Anthony Giddens and communitarian philosophers such as Amitai Etzioni 1994 , the successive New Labour governments sought to address the perceived threat that individualisation poses to family ties and social cohesion. Jeffrey Weeks 1995 also adopts a broader view, exploring the potential for radical humanism, a position built on a respect and validation of difference that he argues has become more possible in the light of shifts in the sexual landscape.