Family studies

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Family sciences (in the plural) is a collective term for all sciences that investigate the central concept of the family in some way . They include u. a. Sub-areas of social sciences and cultural sciences .

Under family science (in the singular) in the other becomes the Anglo-American established discipline (Science Family, Family Studies) understood their goals are "the discovery, verification and application of knowledge about the family." Even if family science makes use of knowledge and contributions from other disciplines, it has developed independent paradigms and, after long internal discussions, has been an independent discipline with its own (research) institutes, courses, professional associations and journals in the Anglo-American region since the 1980s firmly established.

history

Compared to many thematically similar academic subjects, family studies is a relatively young discipline. Its less than 100-year history began in the USA, where the subject has been firmly established as an independent discipline under the names Family Studies or Family Science (and often in connection with Human Development) in the form of numerous institutes and courses since the middle of the 20th century Has.

The development of this discipline is usually divided into three phases in the overview articles:

  • The discovery phase
  • The pioneering phase
  • The maturity phase

The discovery phase

Prior to the actual discovery phase, there was a preoccupation with the phenomenon of the family by individual scientists from various disciplines (or their predecessors), which dates back to the 19th century. B. ethnology (especially kinship ethnology , see among others Lewis Henry Morgan ), sociology (with authors such as Karl Marx , Max Weber , Georg Simmel , Ferdinand Tönnies , Émile Durkheim ), folklore ( Wilhelm Heinrich Riehl ) and the economist and social reformer Pierre Le Play . Up until then, however, there was no discipline that claimed the family as a central research topic and viewed it holistically.

Much of the family scientific institutes and programs in the United States originate in the Home Economics ( Family and Consumer Science ). As social, demographic, and economic changes in the United States created new problems in the first half of the 20th century, especially in the fast-growing urban suburbs, the state saw itself increasingly obliged to start family support programs that targeted the appropriate skilled workers, especially social and community workers , required. Many universities responded to this need by introducing appropriate degree programs.

Researchers in other branches of science were also encouraged to look into these new developments in relation to the family. The process of researching the family as a whole and establishing family sciences as a discipline was particularly driven by the sociologist Ernest Groves ( Boston University ), who in 1922 offered the first course on the subject of the family under the title “The Family and its Social Functions”. Many specialist historians also see the beginning of family science as a discipline in this course.

In the following decades, the first textbooks were published, conferences held, further family education courses developed and professional societies founded, including the Groves Conference on Marriage and the Family (1934) and the National Council on Family Relations (NCFR) (1938), which are probably the most important to this day family science institution in general. In 1939, Duke University set up the first course entitled "Marriage and Family".

The pioneering phase

The “pioneering phase” began in the mid-1940s, during which the subject slowly began to establish itself and the scientists involved debated intensively about the technical understanding. This phase was very productive in terms of the establishment of new interdisciplinary journals, textbooks and handbooks as well as the establishment of new courses. As a result of the increasing interest in family research, numerous universities converted their home art / economics courses into family studies programs from the 1950s and 1960s. At the same time, research at many universities was expanded, research institutions were founded, and new professions arose in family therapy (family therapist), family counseling (family extension specialist) and family education (family life educator).

The maturity phase

The high point of the discussion about the self-image and the status of family studies as an independent scientific discipline was reached in the USA in the early 1980s and heralded the "maturing stage". This phase was characterized above all by a confusing complexity of professions and training, ethical guidelines, standards, schools, theories and research strategies and culminated in a long debate about the self-image of family science as an independent discipline and its name. Finally, Family Science prevailed as the name of the specialist discipline. In most cases, however, the departments at the universities retained their old names (often Family Studies in combination with Human Development).

Since then, the discipline has not only strengthened nominally, but also institutionally through the establishment of more and more professional associations , scientific conferences , specialist journals and courses of study .

In contrast to the long tradition of the subject in the USA, there have been relatively few attempts in Europe and in German-speaking countries to establish family studies as an independent discipline with corresponding courses. The few existing interdisciplinary approaches to deal scientifically with the family consist predominantly of regional associations, are located at project level and thus often go back to personal initiatives of individual scientists. Examples are the Interdisciplinary Research Center for Family Studies (IFF) at the University of Oldenburg (whose activities have been suspended since 2005) and the Interdisciplinary Center for Family Research at the Ruhr University in Bochum. Other family science projects are institutionalized in the form of (non-university) research institutions (which, however, do not offer study opportunities) such as B. the German Youth Institute Munich (DJI) or the State Institute for Family Research Bamberg (IFB). An endowed chair for family studies, established by the Hertie Foundation at the University of Erfurt in 2002, was deleted in 2007.

Despite these initiatives, family research in Germany is primarily a matter for the various individual disciplines, and so far there are only a few institutions that would correspond to an interdisciplinary discipline of family science (see below). There are and have always been voices who see a need for such a subject. For example, Max Wingen already stated in 2004 that "families as basic social units with their range of tasks and services that are highly important for the individual and the larger social structures [...] do not do justice to them (only) in different disciplines" to deal with '; they are also to be seen and examined as basic social units from the most holistic scientific approach possible "and Ingeborg Schwenzer and Sabine Aeschlimann write" On the necessity of a discipline 'family science' ":

“The establishment of an independent specialist discipline Family Studies [...] requires that interdisciplinary courses and additional training are offered in the field of education and training, which build on basic disciplinary training. In particular, post-graduate courses, especially a master’s degree in family science, are to be set up. "

Family related sciences

Family studies as a collective term and family studies as an independent discipline are, due to their subject matter, very strongly characterized by multi- , inter- and transdisciplinarity . This applies to the training, orientations and special fields of professors and lecturers at the respective institutes in the USA as well as in other parts of the world and in German-speaking countries. The following disciplines should be mentioned:

Education

The number of degree programs in the field of family studies has increased sharply in the last few decades, especially in the USA. While 71 US universities and institutions were offering 95 graduate programs in family studies in the early 1980s , the number had risen to 157 master's and doctoral programs at 134 universities by 1994 . In 2005 there were 245 programs at 227 colleges and universities in the USA and Canada. The programs are strongly characterized by interdisciplinarity, a high level of practical relevance and research orientation.

In contrast, the study opportunities in Germany are very limited. The currently only option for independent studies is at the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences , where the Applied Family Sciences course was set up in the 2013 summer semester in the form of a continuing education and part-time master’s course, which continues to exist. The professorship for family studies established at the University of Erfurt in 2002 cannot be found in the directory of the University of Erfurt.

In Switzerland , since the 2015/16 winter semester, the Université de Friborg has also had an interdisciplinary study program entitled “Family, Children and Youth Studies”, which trains students in the field of family sciences and child and youth research .

The Interdisciplinary Research Center for Family Studies (IFF) at the Carl von Ossietzky University of Oldenburg connects scientists from the two departments of education and social sciences as well as employees from research projects and related areas who continuously deal with family science issues in research and teaching. However, there is no independent course here.

The Center for Family Studies at the University of Basel , founded in 2003, carries out research, series of lectures and evening events on family-related topics, but also offers no study opportunities.

The Gustav Siewerth Academy in Weilheim-Bierbronnen, founded in 1988 , offered a strongly religious degree in family studies.

Fields of work

The family science degree programs train students for a wide range of possible family-related activities. This applies to both the Anglo-American and German-speaking countries, as well as the numerous programs in the rest of the world. Family help and counseling, support and educational programs are among the most important fields of activity for graduates. Other fields of activity are municipalities and municipalities (community outreach, community services), authorities and public administration , family-related educational institutions as well as research and teaching at universities. In the United States, family researchers are also active in teaching at schools . While there are relatively many reports and compilations of graduates in the USA who report on their professional experience, and compilations of training paths, occupational profiles and opportunities, due to the (still) lack of experience in Europe and in German-speaking countries, there are no well-founded, extensive findings Analyzes or even whereabouts studies of the graduates.

literature

  • Bailey, Sandra and Deborah Gentry (2013) Teaching about Family Science as a Discipline. In: Peterson, Gary, and Kevin Bush (Eds.) Handbook of Marriage and the Family. New York: Springer, 3rd Edition, pp. 861-886.
  • Bernardes, Jon (1997) Family Studies. An Introduction. London and New York: Routledge.
  • Burr, Wesley R., Randal D. Day, and Kathleen S. Bahr (1993) Family Science. Pacific Grove, CA: Brooke-Cole.
  • Burr, Wesley R., and Geoffrey K. Leigh (1983) Famology - A New Discipline. In: Journal of Marriage and the Family 45 (3), pp. 467-480.
  • Day, Randal D. (2010) Introduction to Family Processes. New York and London: Routledge.
  • Hollinger, Mary Ann (2003) Family Science. In: International Encyclopedia of Marriage and Family. Encyclopedia.com. http://www.encyclopedia.com/
  • NCFR Task Force (1987) A Recommendation About the Identity of the Family Discipline. Task Force on the Development of a Family Discipline. In: Family Science Review 1 (1), pp. 48-52.
  • NCFR Task Force (1988) What is Family Science? NCFR Task Force on the Development of the Family Discipline. In: Family Science Review, 1 (2), pp. 87-101.
  • Schwenzer, Ingeborg, Sabine Aeschlimann (2006): On the necessity of a discipline “family science”. In: Dubs, Rolf et al. (Ed.) Education in transition. Festschrift for the 75th birthday of Hans Giger, Zurich: NZZ Libro: pp. 501–511.
  • Stelzig-Willutzki, Sabina (2013) “Applied Family Sciences”. A new master's degree in further education at the W&S faculty. In: standpunkt: Sozial 03/2013, pp. 81–86
  • Wingen, Max (2004) On the Way to Family Science? Preliminary considerations for the foundation of an interdisciplinary subject. Berlin: De Gruyter.
  • Wonneberger, Astrid (2014) As an ethnologist in family studies - the interdisciplinary course "Applied Family Studies" at the HAW Hamburg. A workshop report. In: Ethnoscripts 16/1, pp. 211–223 [1]

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ NCFR Task Force on the Development of a Family Discipline 1987, p. 48
  2. ↑ Burr, Day, Bahr 1993
  3. ↑ NCFR Task Force 1988
  4. ↑ NCFR Task Force 1988, cf. Hollinger 2003
  5. ↑ Day 2010
  6. ↑ NCFR Task Force in 1988, Bailey and Gentry 2013
  7. ^ Bailey and Gentry 2013, NCFR Task Force 1988
  8. ^ Bailey and Gentry 2013, Hollinger 2003, NCFR Task Force 1988
  9. ↑ NCFR Task Force 1987
  10. ↑ NCFR 1987
  11. ↑ Wonneberger 2014
  12. ↑ Wonneberger 2014, Stelzig-Willutzki 2012
  13. ^ Wingen 2004: 48
  14. ↑ Schwenzer and Aeschlimann, 2006: 509-510
  15. ^ Bailey and Gentry 2013: 872
  16. ↑ Burr and Leigh 1983
  17. ↑ NCFR 2015