Defining the Family

About the lecture

In this lecture, we think about what we mean when we talk about 'family', focusing in particular on: (i) the different people (and animals) that we might include in our 'family'; (ii) the extent to which our 'family' changes over the course of our lives; (iii) the concept of the nuclear family; (iv) the extent to which patterns of family life in the UK are becoming increasingly diverse, and potential alternatives to the term 'family', e.g. 'household', 'personal life', etc.; and (v) the advantages of continuing to use the word 'family'.

About the lecturer

Dr Vicki Harman is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Surrey. Her research interests include family life, motherhood and gender. She is co-editor of Feeding Children Inside and Outside the Home (2019) and Mothering, Mixed Families and Racialised Boundaries (2015), and author of The Sexual Politics of Ballroom Dancing (2018).