Date: Wed, 4 Nov 1998 16:02:44 +1300 To: psn@csf.colorado.edu From: Maxine Campbell Subject: parent/child relationship Hi folks Apologies for any cross-postings but I'm hoping someone out there might be interested in discussing the nature of the relationship between parents and children. I am having great difficulty in coming up with a sociological definition of the relationship - the only unarguable characteristic that I have come up with to date is "change". My problem arises from a paper I am preparing for an up-coming conference. The paper takes as its starting point an analysis of 150 years of our history, which has been periodised by the author. Each period is assigned a particular view of children. For instance, the earliest period characterises children as chattels of their parents - "tools in the business of survival". My aim in the paper is to revisit these periods and give a corresponding characterisation of parents. For this early period, parents might be viewed as owners, for instance. In order to be consistent however, it would seem necessary to develop an understanding of the parent/child relationship. So far, I've been unsuccessful in coming up with any adequate definition, and the issue is confounded by a propensity towards the psychological rather than the sociological. Because the relationship is so open to change any and all of the following characterisitcs might be relevant to varying degrees at different stages of the relationship, but none would qualify as necessary or sufficient at all stages or in all p/c relationships: dependency, support, responsibility, inequality, recipricosity, legalism, emotion, biology, interaction, reaction ... Is it possible to develop an "ideal type" for a relationship which, depending on time and place, could rightly be described as dialectical, causal, explanatory yet could also be rightly described as synthetic, accidental or arbitrary. Your thoughts would be much appreciated. Cheers, Maxine Maxine Campbell email: maxine@waikato.ac.nz Sociology Department Phone: 0064-7-8562889, ex 8274 University of Waikato Home: 0064-7-8547103 Hamilton Fax: 0064-7-8562158 New Zealand