The Typology of Socially Disadvantaged Families

Abstract

This chapter presents a typology of the socially disadvantaged families of the panel. We derive it from our discovery of the similarities in, and the differences between, the respective family lives (doing family) of our subjects. Accordingly, the basic characteristics of each type will now be described in detail by discussing four cases more extensively than the rest, in order to provide an insight into and a deeper understanding of the individual lifeworlds of the children and their families. In addition, we will present shorter case summaries for each family from the panel, together with their type-specific characteristics. This chapter seeks, then, to demonstrate how various factors interact in a complex interplay that shapes the individual living situation of individual families and of each family member in them. The typology presented in this chapter, therefore, provides insight into the dynamics, both with media involvement and otherwise, of family life and socialisation.