Personal Life Perspective

• The personal life perspective takes a ’bottom up’ approach. This focus’ on the individual and their experiences.
• The personal life perspective defines family in a wider context, including the role of family in the lives of individuals.
• An example of a family member not related by blood is adoptees.
• Relationships with friends who you may consider a ‘sister’ or ‘brother.’
• Fictive Kin refers to people that you’re are close to you like a family friend you call ‘aunt.’
• Gay and lesbIan ‘chosen families’ made up of a network of family friends, ex-partners and others who are not related by blood.
• Relationships to dead relatives who live on in peoples memories and continue to shape the person’s identity.
• Pets are also another type of family member not related by blood.
• Smart et al held research on donor-conseved children to find what people considered family despite blood relation.
• Erin, the mother of a donor-conceived child, defined a mother as someone who puts time and effort into raising a child.
• A lot of parents worried or wondered about ’doner-siblings’ and if they would be considered family.
• Critiques say that if sociologists broaden what people consider family, important relationships through blood will lose meaning.