‘I Know we Can’t be a Family, but as Close as You Can Get’: Displaying Families within an Institutional Context
‘I Know we Can’t be a Family, but as Close as You Can Get’: Displaying Families within an Institutional Context
复制标题
“我知道我们不能成为一个家庭，但要尽可能亲密”：在制度背景下展示家庭
DOI：
--
复制
发表时间：
2011
期刊：
影响因子：
--
通讯作者：
Ruth Emond
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Ian McIntosh;N. Dorrer;S. Punch;Ruth Emond
尽管人们经常对其明显的消亡表示担忧，但“家庭”的理念（或理想）仍然在一系列背景下发挥着强大的影响力（McKie et al. 2005）。正如威克斯所说：
在我们的文化中，家庭是一个强大而普遍的词，包含各种社会、文化、经济和象征意义；但传统上它被视为社会的基础。在当代世界，它也是一个非常模糊和有争议的术语，是关于“家庭危机”的持续争论、焦虑和政治关注的主题。 （Weeks 等人，2001 年：9）
当然，我们需要谨慎对待单数“家庭”。 Gittins（1993）建议使用复数术语“家庭”以反映其多样性。虽然这有效地承认了多样性，但考虑“家庭”这个充满活力和复杂的术语的含义也很重要。尽管最近对传统家庭提出了批评，但对于家庭应该是什么样子，仍然有一些集体观点，并且在今天仍然在许多方面占据主导地位：
意识形态提供了关于什么是“正常”家庭、什么是“适当”婚姻以及什么是“好母亲”或“好父亲”的集体定义。家庭意识形态被认为是理想的生活方式。 （切尔 2002：72）
Despite often expressed concerns over its apparent demise, the idea (or ideal) of ‘the family’ continues to exert a powerful presence within a range of contexts (McKie et al. 2005). As Weeks puts it:
Family is a powerful and pervasive word in our culture, embracing a variety of social, cultural, economic and symbolic meanings; but traditionally it is seen as the very foundation of society. It is also a deeply ambiguous and contested term in the contemporary world, the subject of continual polemics, anxiety, and political concern about the ‘crisis of the family’. (Weeks et al. 2001: 9)
We of course need to be wary about referring to ‘the family’ in the singular; Gittins (1993) suggests using the plural term ‘families’ in order to reflect its variety. Whilst this usefully acknowledges diversity, it is also important to consider what is meant by this dynamic and complex term ‘family’. Despite recent critiques of the conventional family, there are still collective views of what families should look like that continue to dominate in many ways today:
An ideology provides collective definitions of what a ‘normal’ family is thought to be, what is a ‘proper’ marriage, and what it means to be a ‘good mother’ or a ‘good father’. Family ideologies are held out as ideal ways of living. (Cheal 2002: 72)