Constructing family: A typology of voluntary kin

This study explored how participants discursively rendered voluntary kin relationships sensical and legitimate. Interpretive analyses of 110 interviews revealed four main types of voluntary kin: (i) substitute family, (ii) supplemental family, (iii) convenience family, and (iv) extended family. Thes...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of social and personal relationships 2010-05, Vol.27 (3), p.388-407
Main Authors: Braithwaite, Dawn O., Bach, Betsy Wackernagel, Baxter, Leslie A., DiVerniero, Rebecca, Hammonds, Joshua R., Hosek, Angela M., Willer, Erin K., Wolf, Bianca M.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Discourse
Discourse analysis
Extended Family
Families & family life
Family
Family relations
Family Structure
Family studies
Kinship
Law
Legitimation
Personal relationships
Studies
Typology
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Summary:This study explored how participants discursively rendered voluntary kin relationships sensical and legitimate. Interpretive analyses of 110 interviews revealed four main types of voluntary kin: (i) substitute family, (ii) supplemental family, (iii) convenience family, and (iv) extended family. These types were rendered sensical and legitimated by drawing on the discourse of the traditional family. Except for the extended family, three of four voluntary kin family types were justified by an attributed deficit in the blood and legal family. Because voluntary kin relationships are not based on the traditional criteria of association by blood or law, members experience them as potentially challenging, requiring discursive work to render them sensical and legitimate to others.
ISSN:0265-4075
1460-3608
DOI:10.1177/0265407510361615