Mapping Current, Future and Ideal Family Structure and Relations in Emerging Adults
Keywords:
social representations, collective imaginary, artistic representations, drawings, familyAbstract
Among a large repertory of empirical studies inspired by the modelling approach (de Rosa, 1990, 2013b, 2014 a) and briefly summarized in de Rosa’s theoretical article included in this special issue, this empirical contribution presents some considerations based on a recent pilot investigation on social representations of current, future and ideal family. Imaginary and normative dimension of such social representation were explored by a multi-method approach, including verbal and graphical projective instruments: a) hand- drawings; b) associative network (de Rosa, 2002a, 2003a); c) questionnaire. Given the space limits, we selected some reflections based only on the use of images and figurative techniques, administered both as stimulus (artistic representations) and as product (hand drawings) on a population of emerging adults (138 Italian university students, aged between 20 and 29 years). Taking into account the transformations occurring in the family relations during the last decades in the Italian society, we started to explore in this preliminary study how social representations of the roles within the family (gender issues) and social representations of generational bonds emerge in their iconic representations of the current, future and ideal family.