Controversies and Contradictions in Family Leisure: An Analysis of Conflicting Paradigms

Researchers interested in the family as a context for leisure experiences and activities are faced with the difficult and controversial question of how to conceptualize family leisure in terms of factors such as experience, motivation and outcome. In this paper it is argued that the controversies surrounding family leisure research are due primarily to conflicting theoretical paradigms employed by researchers, reflecting different basic assumptions about the family and about gender relations in society. Two broad theoretical paradigms are identified, a social-psychological paradigm and a sociological-feminist paradigm. The strengths and weaknesses of these two approaches are discussed. It is suggested that conceptualizing family leisure as inherently contradictory allows for more inclusive theorizing in which the insights of both paradigmatic approaches can be incorporated. Adopting this conceptualization for future family leisure research may enhance a broader and more inclusive understanding of this important phenomenon.