Family and intimate relationships a review of the sociological research. Family And Intimate Relationships: Sociological Research 2023-01-07

(PDF) Family and intimate relationships: a review of the sociological research

Social breakdown is the predicted outcome. In a number of classic studies, the experience of schizophrenia was explored and theorised within the context of everyday family interactions Laing and Esterson 1970; Cooper 1972; Laing 1971. Although many theorists argue there have been radical shifts in social relations, others see change in terms of a slow, uneven but cumulative influence on the way individuals live their lives. Studying how people generate and sustain intimacy leaves open the issue of what types of intimate relationships sexual relationships, couple, kin, specific family relationships, friend ship are significant to people in different times and places. In order to maintain progress in this degree, students must receive a grade of C 2. The bonds of biology and marriage were seen as generating particular relationships characterised by responsibility, moral rights and trust, but there was little explanation of why this might be the case. Sexual intimacy may play a part, but for some advocates of this type of intimacy it is neither a necessary nor a sufficient condition, as an intimacy of inner selves is conceived as possible without an intimacy of bodies.

Family And Intimate Relationships: Sociological Research

These skills are useful in a range of jobs, such as business, teaching and government. 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. Men and women are depicted as casualties in the quest for love and intimacy on their own terms, suffering frustration, disillusionment and insecurity. Waehrer eds , Women in a Man-made World, Chicago: Rand McNally. Over the decades, intimacy has been moving out of the marriage and into relationships. Theorists focus on the couple as the core of the family Giddens 1999 , claiming that intimacy and love have become a new lynch pin as the economic role of the family has declined. 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.

Intimacy

Such pure relationships are entered into for their own sake and are sustained only on the grounds that each party continues to derive sufficient personal satisfaction. Creuter eds Men in Families: When Do They Get Involved? At the forefront of this critique was a rejection of the notion that family structures are in any way natural, inevitable or necessary, and an alternative emphasis on the central role of the family in reproducing patriarchy and capitalism. The more negative account of social change appeals to a traditionalist argument which calls for a renewed respect for normative structures and values. Like Coleman, Bourdieu also sees families as motors of social capital, but focuses instead on enduring family practices that perpetuate inequity. Theorists writing from this perspective employ an alternative understanding of trust and reciprocity, showing how individualisation has altered rather than destroyed their practice.

Family and Intimate Relationships: A Review of the Sociological Research

Other research lent weight to this re-discovery of working class solidarity, such as Raymond Firth s study of a poor district of South London, Peter Townsend s focus on the family life of older people, and Colin Rosser and Christopher Harris study of family and social change in Swansea Firth 1956; Townsend 1957; Rosser and Harris 1965. This view is supported by a number of empirical studies demonstrating an enduring attachment to ideals of family and commitment Jorden et al. In contrast, working class networks were seen as offering few incentives to sustain their existence. The ideological underpinnings of narratives of social change are clearly identifiable. 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.

Essay About Family, Marriage And Intimate Relationships

Putnam has concentrated his work in the main on localised communities, but along with other theorists Newton 1997; Fukuyama 1999 , he identifies family as a crucial foundation for social capital. Meanwhile, intimacy theorists are busy documenting positive gains for those engaged in less conventional personal relationships, stressing their potential for greater egalitarianism. Overall, the findings of this assignment were very much as expected. Others such as Shulamith Firestone 1972 went further, arguing that sexual division of labour predates the economic class system and as such points to an enduring class struggle between men and women. He interpreted this rise in average household size in terms of the pressures of industrialisation, highlighting the dominance of the cotton industry in Preston and the associated hardships and struggles endured by those who worked in the mills.

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Such theorists argue that values of fidelity, commitment and duty are being usurped by an ideology of authenticity, autonomy and personal freedom. The pressures and disappointments that individualisation generates are recognised as provoking longings for old, traditional certainties, evident in campaigns to preserve family values. According to Giddens, people are increasingly seeking intimate connections with others that are sustained on the basis of mutual knowledge and understanding. Name of Professor Name of Course Family and marriage are, in many respects, two sides of the same coin. Such debates shaped a more critical approach to the study of family, adding new theoretical dimensions.

Consequently the family was perceived as the lynchpin of social cohesion, civilisation and order, and as a structure embodying the moral health of society. The author is focuses on how intimate relationships have changed over time by referring to three sociological themes. Many theorists have expressed concern about the impact of individualisation on personal morality and society as a whole Bellah et al. Older ones, however, look to find a working match as quickly as possible. Conclusion: Researching Intimate Relationships Reviewing the available literature on families and other intimate relationships reveals the way accounts are contained and shaped by distinct conceptual frameworks. For Parsons, this 3 5 nuclear structure was ideally matched to meet the requirements of modern society, and as such was not feasibly replaceable.

Feminist writers such as Carol Gilligan 1982 and Seyla Benhabib 1986 have long critiqued the concept of the autonomous ego that has underpinned Western approaches to social theory, questioning the premise of the individuated, disembodied subject. About Sociologists observe, describe, explain and predict human social behavior. As David Morgan 1975 pointed out, these early sociological debates around the structure and function of family and kinship were contained within an implicit ideological framework which at best deflected critical attention away from family as a concept, and at worst sanctioned and promoted particular ways of living. Although this view is largely marginalised within current sociological research, it represents an important counterbalance to dominant but unsubstantiated claims of atomisation or democratisation. The sociological research on intimate relationships during the 1980s focused heavily on the interpersonal relations between married couples, marking a move away from a previous preoccupation with the functions and structures of family and kinship Finch and Morgan 1991. This paper identifies some links between the macro- and micro-levels.

This dissertation explores the current forms of intimacy and their position within society. Privileged knowledge gained through close physical association is not a sufficient condition to ensure this type of intimacy. . It also attempts to unpack historical and more recent tacit gendered stereotypes often conveyed by mainstream portrayals of singleness by examining lived experiences narrated by single people. Instead she highlights how experiences of intimacy are wider and more variable than the ideal of the pure relationship. From this radical phenomenological perspective, the close knit intimacy of the nuclear family is comprised of tension, fear and conflict, such that the symptoms of schizophrenia represent intelligible, adaptive behaviour. From this point of view, contemporary experiences of family as fluid and unstable are compensated by the greater respect and autonomy accorded to individual members.