Traditional views regarding families are being challenged by new family arrangements. In this study I have explored the experiences of children growing up in same-gendered families, in order to inform our current understanding of how children experience the social constructedness of same-gendered families. I have utilised a narrative research design in order to present and re-present the children’s own meaning-making about being a child in a same-gendered family. I also inquired into the ways in which they negotiate the heteronormativity of society. In order to situate the broader contextual factors of heteronormativity I constructed a narrative tale, which was then developed throughout the thesis as part of the presentation to create a multivoiced, dialogical and reflexive text. From a holistic analysis of the created data, narratives were written which gives a unique and individual account of the experiences of each child that I had engaged with. Grounded in these narratives five concepts emerged, that formed my conceptualisation of the experiences of children growing up in same-gendered families. The main findings suggest that the experiences of children growing up in same-gendered families in this study are (1) that they experience different levels (or ways) of okayness, namely a level of okayness regarding having same-gender parents and a level of okayness to disclose or not to disclose their family structure, (2) children in same-gendered families are aware of others’ okayness or open-mindedness regarding same-gendered families, (3) children in same-gendered families at times show the need for openness in their relationships with others and (4), children in same-gendered families receive support from their parents, siblings, significant others, friends, class mates and other children also growing up in same-gendered families. Finally, I have also explored the interconnectedness between okayness, disclosure, awareness, openness and support and constructed a conceptual framework that serve as a theoretical forestructure against which the findings, interpretations and narratives can be viewed. / Thesis (PhD (Educational Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2006. / Educational Psychology / unrestricted
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:up/oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/26932 |
| Date | 02 August 2005 |
| Creators | Lubbe, Carien |
| Contributors | Eloff, Irma F., carien.lubbe@up.ac.za |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Rights | © 2005, University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. |
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