Interactionalism

• Interactionists believe we can control the world around us. they people as active agents with free will, who can think freely and choose how to interpret the world around them.
• Smart critisises structural theories for having a narrow view of the family, and assuming that people are puppets that have no choice over what counts as family. she argues that there are many important relationships beyond 'blood and marriage'.
• Smart's approach is called the Personal Life Perspective because the focus isnt on what was traditionally seen as the family, but on every aspect of personal life.
• Smart argues against Giddens, who says that due to individualisation people are free to end a relationship whenever they want. Smart argues her 'connectedness thesis' which states that our relationships dont just end, that we are still connected in some way. e.g. parents who separated will still be linked through their children.
• Smart argues that if we study people's personal lives, we have to think of their past and their web of relationships that influence their choices. for example, women are more likely to have custody over their children after a divorce so are not as free as men to simply start a new relationship.
• evaluation of personal life perspective - use Giddens to critise using individualisation - people are free to end a relationship. further critisism- ignores the special and distinct parts of 'blood and marriage' relationships.