personal life perspective

• criticisms of structural perspectives

  -assuming nuclear family dominant

  -seeing individuals as passive puppets manipulated by structure of society
• Smart

  -studies individuals & takes time to understand own perspective on own family

  -there's multiple definitions & understandings of family
• other important relationships

  -friend relationships

  -fictive kin > close friends treated like family

  -gay / lesbian chosen couples

  -dead relatives

  -pets

  possibly more important than blood & marriage
• donor-conceived children

  -children created via donation of sperm / egg
• view on donating

  -without donor = emotionally connected

  -with donor = creates distance

  = possible attachment issues from donor
• strengths of PLP

  -helps understand how people construct & define their relationships as family
• PLP criticisms

  -too broad a view

  -ignores what's special about relationships