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Changing Families: An Ethnographic Approach to Divorce and Separation
by Bob Simpson
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Berg Publishers (1998-08-01)
ISBN: 1859739148
EAN: 9781859739143
Dewy Decimal #: 306.890941
Hardcover: 192 pages
SKU: B191-1174
Condition: New
Comments: New & Shrinkwrapped. In stock - Immediate despatch from an efficient and professional leading British bookselling firm.
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Customer Reviews
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Anthropologising a sociologists' subject.
Rating  (4)
Date: 2002-09-26
1 out of 1 customers found this reveiw helpful
Simpson's examination of divorce and changing families in Britain is a valuable contribution to the subject. This has not been an easy subject for anthropologists to apply traditional methods of participant observation; consequently ethnographies of British changing family patterns are rare. While sociological methods have allowed sociologists to say more about the subject, Simpson's slightly more anthropological approach offers an important analysis of the ambiguities and contradictions in people's experiences of divorce. The narratives he relies on for his study are both the strength and perhaps the weakness of the book. For while they do provide the substance of his argument, they also highlight just how difficult it is to conduct ethnographic research in Britain. Anthropology has always strived to compare and contrast discourse with practice. Simpson's lack of long term residency with his informants (which to be fair would have been extremely tricky) means he has had to rely far more heavily on reported practice to contrast with discourse. While there are dangers inherent in this, Simpson manages to deal with them sensitively and intelligently.
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