Young People and Family Life: Analysing and Comparing Disciplinary Discourses

Abstract

The concepts and assumptions that underpin current academic literature on the family lives of young people are critically analysed. As most of the available research on this topic is generated from a psychological or a sociological perspective, guiding themes or discourses are identified and evaluated from within each discipline. Concepts central to psychological understandings of young people and family, such as biological determinism, 'normal development' and 'parenting variables', are analysed in terms of their constitutive power to define 'adolescence', and are challenged on the grounds that they reflect and reinforce a culturally and historically specific morality. In addition, the physiological basis of such constructions is highlighted, demonstrating how psychological texts have effectively 'medicalized' young people's experiences. Corresponding sociological approaches to 'youth' and family are examined with respect to their focus on social structures, family resources and the individual life-course. It is argued that the polarization of sociological research into the separate spheres of youth and family studies and the relative lack of sociological literature on the family lives of young people reflects a normative preoccupation with 'transition to adulthood'. Sociological concepts of 'transition' are critically explored and the drawbacks of situating a study of young people within this context are examined.