Clear in its core, blurred in the outer contours: culturally normative conceptions of the family in Germany

ABSTRACT This paper investigates which conceptions of the family exist in Germany and how widespread they are. It uses a multi-method design. The ‘Family Leitbild’ survey, conducted in Germany in 2012 with 5000 participants, provides quantitative data. Qualitative data are taken from the study ‘Family in Pictures’, in which 101 participants each drew a picture of what constitutes a ‘proper’ family in their subjective view, and thereafter were interviewed about the conception underlying their drawing. Findings suggest that conceptions of the family are diverse. They share a common well-established core that family in its prototypical form consists of a heterosexual couple with their own children, in conjunction with certain functions, relationship qualities and settings. Conceptions mostly are very generous extensions of this core understanding that also include a large number of other living arrangements, and forgo some of the family’s ‘traditional’ functions. However, which living arrangements are included varies. The contemporary cultural conception of the family is very clear in its core and blurred in its outer contours. For young people drafting their life plans, it leaves a lot of freedom. However, for those without firm personal preferences, it still proposes the nuclear family as a safe beaten track.