The Transformation of Parents’ Values and Aspirations for Their Children: A Retrospective Qualitative Longitudinal Analysis of Changing Cultural Configurations

Jane Gray and Ruth Geraghty
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Jane Gray: Maynooth University, Ireland
Ruth Geraghty: Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, Ireland

Sociological Research Online, 2023, vol. 28, issue 4, 1088-1109

Abstract: This article contributes to new scholarship on family change as bricolage and institutional layering. Focusing on the classic topic of parental values and aspirations for their children, we used a retrospective qualitative longitudinal analysis to trace the evolution of four overlapping cultural configurations across the 20th century: (1) standing back and not interfering, (2) cultivating achievement, (3) encouraging positive relationships, and (4) promoting happiness and self-fulfilment. We show that there was a directional change in the emphases and inflections placed on these configurations, and in the moral ambivalence that parents displayed as they reconciled them in their narratives. Meanings centred on autonomy and cultivation were layered onto relatedness across changing social contexts. Engaging with recent debates on the value of qualitative interviews, our analysis demonstrates how qualitative longitudinal research can provide rigorous analysis of long-term cultural change.

Keywords: cultural change; families; institutionalization; Ireland; parental values; qualitative longitudinal (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2023
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:sae:socres:v:28:y:2023:i:4:p:1088-1109

DOI: 10.1177/13607804221137600

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