20229 - Family Estrangement

Description

Family estrangement has become a contested topic in op-eds and on social media, as well as a site of prolific research in the fields of psychology and social work. However, despite the potential for sociology to provide a critical lens on estrangement, only recently has this phenomenon garnered research attention from sociologists. This panel brings together a diverse group of scholars to discuss patterns and experiences of family estrangement from a variety of sociological perspectives. Panelists will enter the ongoing debate about the sociological significance of estrangement, provide empirical and theoretical insights into the sociological experiences, causes, and consequences of family estrangement, theorize the role of power and inequality in family life during estrangement, and speak to how estrangement lends new insight into conversations regarding social isolation, social networks, and loneliness. This panel will generate a path for future work on family estrangement in sociology.

Sub Unit

• Special Session

Presider

• Rin Reczek, The Ohio State University

Individual Presentations

• I don't help anymore: How parental estrangement shapes young adults' language brokering practices - Vanessa Delgado, Washington State University

• Theorizing the complex processes of intergenerational estrangement and reconciliation across time - Megan Gilligan, Iowa State University; Kale Monk, University of Missouri; J. Jill Suitor, Purdue University

• Forgotten family members: How siblings navigate a brother’s incarceration - Estéfani Marín, Lawrence University; Kristin Turney, University of California-Irvine; Angie Belen Monreal, University of California-Irvine

• Conflict, Reconciliation, and Race: Daughter-Mother Relationships in Adulthood - Amy Irby-Shasanmi, Indiana University-Indianapolis

• Estrangement and the New Culture of Quality-Contingent Kinship - Rin Reczek, The Ohio State University

Session Organizer

• Rin Reczek, The Ohio State University