Mapping the Cultural Repertoires of Family Estrangement: A New Theory of Democratized Kinship
Abstract
Abstract Research on the causes of family of origin estrangement—the severing of contact between family of origin members—has focused on the psychological and the circumstantial, missing important cultural dynamics that shape estrangement decisions. The present study uses in-depth interview data from 68 adults living in the United States to determine the specific cultural repertoires (Swidler 2001) that adults use to estrange. This study further demarcates the specific locations from which estrangement repertoires are learned. Findings show the repertoire of democratized kinship is used to create strategies of action to estrange. Democratized kinship is a legacy of Giddens’ (1992) “pure” intimacy, with relational demands for accountability, evolution, intentional connection, mutual respect, and safety. Democratized kinship is transmitted through novel social ties and circulating therapeutic discourses found in social media and formal therapy. This study contributes to longstanding debates regarding the sociological causes of not only estrangement but also relationship disruption more broadly, and situates democratized kinship as a newly identified cultural repertoire used to end family relationships.
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Record history
| When | Event | Field | Old | New |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-06-18 19:37:53.011249+00:00 | identifier_assigned | DSEID | DSEID-000-0460939 |