Research on Family and Gender and Changing Image of Parents

Abstract

Being infuluenced by modern family theory and feminism, sociological research on Japanese families are said to have become adult-centered. Although postwar studies on parent-child relationships have focused on "discipline", they have been approached from adults' point of view. Stated other way, the definition of "emotional full-time motherhood" has been misunderstood as focusing on child development. This misconception is obvious when we review the studies in the past ten years which suggest that full-time mothers' child care and exclusion of fathers bring undesirable outcomes for children, mothers and fathers. Further, in search of postmodern families, studies in parent-child relations make it clear that shared parenting and child care are benefical. At the same time, however, we need to pay attension to the ideology of our discourse. It is essential for family sociologists to maintain a relative viewpoint in studying families.