Conceptualisations of Intimacy

Abstract

So far I have explored methodological approaches and conceptual frameworks in families and childhood research. Intimacy has been addressed through this analysis but has not been unpacked in a critically rigorous way. In this chapter I review conceptualisations of intimacy in family relationships and examine how the ‘interiority of family life’ (Smart 2004b: 1048) has been evinced in sociological research. As Lynn Jamieson says, ‘Intimacy is at the centre’ of contemporary family interpersonal relationships (Jamieson 1998: 1) — or more pertinently stated, at the literal and metaphorical heart of the matter. I map out the emergence of intimacy as an area of academic interest and, in particular, how this work has shaped the field of family studies. I do not trace the historical emergence of patterns of intimacy because Jamieson (1998) has already done this and I can add nothing further.