PLP takes the bottom up They argue that Functionalism, Marxism and Feminism tend to
approach to understand families, assume that the nuclear family is the dominant family type, and
looking at the meaning individual therefore ignore the increase in family diversity we now have
family members give to their
relationships
Case study: Nordqvist and Smart’s study of donor conceived children
Found that parents often emphasised the importance of social relationships
Because they are all structural theories, they assume
over genetic ones in defining ‘family’
that family members are passive puppets being
o Where couples knew their donor, they had to resolve questions about manipulated by the structure of society
whether he or she counted as family
o Lesbian couples were concerned the sperm donor might be treated as
By focusing on people’s meanings, PLP draws attention to a range of
Evaluations of the Personal Life Perspective:
other personal relationships that are important to people even though
they may not be conventionally defined as (blood or marriage) ‘family’ Personal life perspective can be accused to taking
too broad a view. Critics argue that by including a
These include all kinds of relationships that individuals see as significant
wide range of personal relationships, we ignore
and give them a sense of relatedness
what is special about relationships that are based
- Friends on blood or marriage.
approach to understand families, assume that the nuclear family is the dominant family type, and
looking at the meaning individual therefore ignore the increase in family diversity we now have
family members give to their
relationships
Case study: Nordqvist and Smart’s study of donor conceived children
Found that parents often emphasised the importance of social relationships
Because they are all structural theories, they assume
over genetic ones in defining ‘family’
that family members are passive puppets being
o Where couples knew their donor, they had to resolve questions about manipulated by the structure of society
whether he or she counted as family
o Lesbian couples were concerned the sperm donor might be treated as
By focusing on people’s meanings, PLP draws attention to a range of
Evaluations of the Personal Life Perspective:
other personal relationships that are important to people even though
they may not be conventionally defined as (blood or marriage) ‘family’ Personal life perspective can be accused to taking
too broad a view. Critics argue that by including a
These include all kinds of relationships that individuals see as significant
wide range of personal relationships, we ignore
and give them a sense of relatedness
what is special about relationships that are based
- Friends on blood or marriage.
