Defining Family: Young Adults' Perceptions of the Parent-Child Bond

Determining what constitutes a family can be a difficult issue. Traditionally, the term family has been associated with two married parents and their biological children. Yet, cultural understandings of what it means to be a family have broadened considerably in recent years. In order to gain insight into changing conceptions of the family, this research offers a preliminary examination into young adults' perceptions of the parent-child relationship. The analysis reveals that young adults utilize both traditional and socially expansive definitions, but their discussions of the parent-child bond tend to more strongly reinforce traditional definitions.