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2008 29: 1407 originally published online 21 May 2008Journal of Family Issues Scott R. Harris

What Is Family Diversity? Objective and Interpretive Approaches

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What Is Family Diversity?

Objective and Interpretive Approaches

Scott R. Harris Saint Louis University, Missouri

This article differentiates two ways of understanding family diversity— objectively and interpretively. The search for objective diversity is rooted in the assumption that there are many different kinds of families in the United States and around the world; the search for interpretive diversity is rooted in the assumption that any given “family” may be described in different, often contradictory ways. These divergent assumptions can lead relatively objective or interpretive scholars to produce divergent analyses, even as they use seem- ingly identical concepts to address similar explanatory concerns. Recognizing the difference between objective and interpretive family diversity can help illuminate the distinctive contributions of existing scholarship and open up potential avenues for future research.

Keywords: family diversity; social construction; interpretive

Virtually all social scientists who write about “the family” today areaware that there are a plethora of family forms in the United States and other countries. Although some express concern about the potentially neg- ative consequences of diversity (Glenn, Nock, & Waite, 2002), many if not most family scholars could be described as “diversity defenders” (cf. Cherlin, 2003). They are, at minimum, uncomfortable with the idea that one kind of family could be deemed the most natural, effective, or divinely dic- tated form of kinship. In fact, arguing against those ideas seems to be a pri- mary goal of hundreds of articles and books on marriages and families—in the plural, as such works are more likely to be titled now (Coleman & Ganong, 2004; Coltrane, 1998; Coontz, Parson, & Raley, 1999; Lamanna & Riedmann, 2006; Schwartz & Scott, 2007).

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Author’s Note: Please address correspondence to Scott R. Harris, Dept. of Sociology & Criminal Justice, Saint Louis University, 3500 Lindell Blvd., St. Louis, MO 63103-2010; e-mail: Harriss3@slu.edu.

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The foil for many scholars’ publications is the commonsense belief in and reverence for what Smith (1993) called “The Standard North American Family” (SNAF). SNAF consists of a heterosexual husband, wife, and their biological children living under one roof, with the husband being the pri- mary breadwinner when feasible. Many Americans still consider SNAF the most real or ideal family form—perhaps even the “essence” of family— even though they frequently do not practice it. Single-parent families, gay and lesbian families, foster families, childless couples—these and other family forms are often perceived as deviant, broken, or less genuine forms of family in comparison to SNAF (Erera, 2002).

Perhaps to encourage awareness and acceptance of “nontraditional” families, social scientists have devoted many publications to describing, explaining, and extolling family diversity. Historians, anthropologists, soci- ologists, and other scholars document the contrasting forms of kinship that have been practiced by different groups and in various eras. “Diversity” appears explicitly in the titles of numerous books on family (Baca Zinn & Eitzen, 2005; Erera, 2002; Stockard, 2002), including an important hand- book (Demo, Allen, & Fine, 2000).

All of this attention to family diversity seems necessary and important. In recent years, laws and policies have been enacted based on the assumption that the nuclear family should be “defended” and promoted at the expense of other families (Erera, 2002). The recurring calls to prohibit same-sex marriage indi- cate, arguably, that there is still much intolerance and ignorance about the family. Politicians and pundits often confidently claim that the “5,000-year- old” institution of marriage—as a heterosexual and monogamous union—is the cornerstone of the United States and other societies (Dobson, 2006). Family scholars are right to challenge such arguments. It is erroneous to assume that heterosexual monogamous marriage is universal, and it can be misleading to gloss over the diverse ways that such marriages are practiced. When loosely applied, the labels of nuclear family and traditional marriage can obscure the large variations in how families have been organized over time and across cul- tures. Documenting these objective variations is an important task.

However, not all “diversity advocates” study family diversity with the same goals or assumptions. There is an alternative way of approaching family diversity that also challenges commonsense beliefs about family but from a more interpretive rather than objective perspective. This interpretive perspective is less recognized in the literature, even though a growing number of family researchers accentuate the importance of meaning, con- tingency, interactional work, and other “constructionist” themes. Whereas scholars who study objective family diversity (OFD) are interested in

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documenting factual variations in kin relations, scholars who study inter- pretive family diversity (IFD) are interested in documenting the diverse ways that any familial relationship can be given meaning. For IFD researchers, any set of social bonds can be described or understood in many different ways. For them, the goal is to study how various familial interpretations are con- structed, rather than examining how real family diversity is made.

In this article, I will explain the distinction between OFD and IFD by focus- ing on three central questions: What is the definition of family? How does “family diversity” manifest itself? What “causes” or “creates” family diver- sity? I hope to show that scholarship on OFD and IFD is distinct, even though authors frequently employ similar terms and address parallel concerns. OFD and IFD scholars can both claim to adopt a “constructionist” orientation, even though their analyses differ in important ways. Acknowledging these differ- ences can help us, as authors or readers of family research, recognize that focusing on one form of diversity may obscure diversity of another kind.

OFD

Defining Family

To study family diversity, it seems sensible to assume that one must have a working definition of family. A scholar needs at least a rough understand- ing of what a “family” is if he or she is going to research and write about it. Additionally, defining family is significant for more than research. Census counts, health care policies, legal and administrative decisions regarding child custody and adoption, and other important matters are influenced by conceptions of family (Dolgin, 1997; Seccombe & Warner, 2004).

Defining one’s terms inevitably involves drawing boundaries of inclusion and exclusion. However, social scientists interested in OFD are wary of leav- ing anybody out of their conceptions of family. Indeed, OFD scholars tend to argue explicitly against conservatives who put restrictive limits around what qualifies as a “real” family (i.e., mom, dad, and their children) and what does not (e.g., homosexual partners and their children). Consequently, OFD authors frequently provide tentative definitions that are highly inclusive, such as the following example:

We define family as any relatively stable group of people bound by ties of blood, marriage, adoption; or by any sexually expressive relationship; or who simply live together, and who are committed to and provide each other with economic and emotional support. (Schwartz & Scott, 2007, p. 3)

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These sorts of conceptions allow a wide range of relationships to be classi- fied as family. For example, a group of college students sharing an apartment could potentially fit these definitions. But they are precise enough for OFD scholars to proceed to discuss a number of issues in relation to “families,” such as courtship, childcare, employment, divorce, aging, and other topics. OFD authors devote chapters to describing and explaining the functioning of single- parent, adoptive, Asian American, Muslim, and other diverse forms of families, after offering a broad definition of family or refraining from settling on a single definition (Coleman & Ganong, 2004; Demo et al., 2000).

Although OFD scholars approach family as an objective entity that exists in the world, they are not naïve realists. They acknowledge to some degree that “family” is in the eye of the beholder. This is evident in at least two ways. First, OFD scholars mention the importance of “subjective” factors in their defini- tions of family. Authors suggest that family members “consider their identity to be significantly attached to the group” (Lamanna & Riedmann, 2006, p. 9) or are at least “committed to each other” (Schwartz & Scott, 2007, p. 3). These phrases imply that it is important to investigate whether potential family members deem themselves as such. But that implication is rarely pursued with vigor—at least in comparison to research on IFD.

Second, OFD scholars do allude to the indeterminacy of the meaning of family by highlighting the debate over its proper definition. Conventional textbooks tend to review a number of potential definitions before settling on one that is more comprehensive or at least useful for their purposes (Seccombe & Warner, 2004). In so doing, these authors sometimes explicitly admit a degree of arbitrariness is involved in defining family (Lamanna & Riedmann, 2006, p. 9) or even acknowledge that “a single, all- encompassing definition of ‘family’ may be impossible to achieve” (Erera, 2002, p. 3). Nonetheless, objectivist family scholars seem to operate under the principle that they know a family when they see it. Despite their wari- ness about the adequacy of their own and others’ definitions, these authors persist in the reasonable assumption that family refers to real relationships that researchers can identify, count, describe, and explain.

Discerning Diverse Family Forms

If family should be defined inclusively rather than narrowly, as OFD scholars contend, then many different kin relationships may come into view. Researchers can choose to specify family diversity in various, often overlapping ways. One might speak of diversity in terms of disciplinary concerns, as in anthropological family diversity (Stockard, 2002) and

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historical family diversity (Coontz, 2000), which might respectively exam- ine diverse kinship practices cross-culturally or within certain cultures over time. Or one could identify diverse families via categories of race or ethnic- ity (Coles, 2006), region or nationality (Roopnarine & Gielen, 2005), class (Rank, 2000), sexual orientation (Kurdek, 2004), or religion (Dollahite, Marks, & Goodman, 2004). One could also locate diversity in the structural arrangements of households—such as single-parent (Amato, 2000) or multigenerational (Cohen & Casper, 2002) families—or by the nature of marriage, as in monogamous, polygynous, and polyandrous families (Stone, 2000, chap. 6). One can also examine diversity within families, by highlighting the contrasting experiences that individual family members may have—perhaps because of their sex, their age, or their biological status (e.g., child by birth, step-marriage, or adoption) (Erera, 2002). In addition, one could distinguish between diverse interactional processes and dynam- ics, such as parenting styles, which may vary by group or over time (Fine, Demo, & Allen, 2000, p. 441; Greder & Allen, 2007).

Some of the most compelling examples of OFD come from anthropolo- gists (Pasternak, Ember, & Ember, 1997; Stone, 2000), including Stockard’s (2002) exceedingly readable book. Consider these five points of contrast that Stockard highlights:

• Societies differ in how they trace descent. Not all groups trace kinship bilaterally— through both the men and women of one’s family—as many Americans do. The historical Iroquois treated as kin those individuals who are biologically related through the women; the traditional Chinese and the Nyinba of Nepal trace kinship via the men.

• Societies differ in how they structure marriage in many respects, including the number of spouses that can be involved. Some cultures tolerate or encourage polygamy instead of monogamy. Men in the !Kung San and traditional Chinese societies sometimes had more than one wife; among the Nyinba, the moral and statistical norm is for one wife to marry a group of biological brothers.

• Sometimes cultures provide a great deal of individual discretion in the selec- tion of a spouse; other times an individual has little or no vote in whom they marry. An infant Nyinba male grows up married to whomever his eldest brother chooses for him, whereas an Iroquois marriage would be arranged by the mothers of the bride and groom.

• Societies also differ in their conceptions of the proper age for marriage. A young (8 to 12 years old) !Kung San bride could expect to marry a groom who was around 10 years older than her; interestingly, a deceased Chinese daughter would be married posthumously, to ensure her security in the afterlife.

• Societies differ in their postmarital residence practices. Whereas most Americans are expected to establish a new home, a traditional Chinese or

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Nyinba bride would move into her husband’s home and live with his family, whereas a !Kung San or Iroquois groom would join his wife’s camp.

These points of contrast merely scratch the surface of the kinship diver- sity that Stockard (2002) and other anthropologists highlight (Pasternak et al., 1997; Stone, 2000). But through these and similar examples, OFD scholars clearly and persuasively challenge the notion that there is one ver- sion of “family” (e.g., SNAF) that is natural or universal—the “essence” of family. Even throughout the United States, the monogamous heterosexual nuclear family is not always the moral or (especially) statistical norm (Erera, 2002). OFD research successfully demonstrates the diverse ways that family can be practiced.

Explaining the “Construction” of OFD

Perhaps to counter conservative claims that “the family” forms the founda- tion or cornerstone of society, OFD scholars treat “families” as merely one variable among a wide array of social forces that mutually affect each other. Social scientists by training tend to adopt a somewhat “deterministic” frame of reference, by viewing human relations as embedded within a complex matrix of causal variables (Babbie, 1986; P. Berger, 1963). This is true of family studies as well. OFD scholars often highlight the social factors that shape families, such as economic inequalities, religious beliefs, the enactment and reversal of laws, and so on (Dollahite et al., 2004; Erera, 2002; Rank, 2000). Increasingly, scholars also acknowledge the active efforts that family members put into creating their relationships and by extension their societies, while emphasizing that those efforts are either enabled or limited by larger social conditions (Baca Zinn & Wells, 2000, p. 255; Stockard, 2002, p. 9).

As one example of OFD analysis, consider Stockard’s (2002) portrait of the Nyinba once more. Drawing on a number of ethnographic and historical sources, Stockard (2002) explains fraternal polyandry among the Nyinba as a result of cultural and environmental factors. The Nyinba live on a plateau high in the Himalayan Mountains of Tibet. The arable land is limited and cannot support much population growth. Brothers must work together to maintain the prosperity of their households by specializing in different economic pursuits, including agricultural work, raising cattle, and long-distance trading (Stockard, 2002, p. 87). The fruits of their labor are passed down to the subsequent gen- eration of sons, who will continue to share the same residence and property, rather than dividing it up. In this geographical location, with the modes of subsistence available, striking out on one’s own would likely lead to a life of

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relative destitution. In light of these conditions, fraternal polyandry can be seen as a strategy that the Nyinba developed to limit offspring and maintain wealth. However, Stockard (2002, pp. 83, 93) also distinguishes between “first causes” and later causes, suggesting that whatever the reasons that spurred the development of polyandry, it became firmly engrained in their culture and “integral to Nyinba identity.” The practice separates them from outsiders in the surrounding area; it even distinguished them from their own slaves, who they forbade (until being freed in 1926) from engaging in fraternal polyandry (Stockard, 2002, p. 98).

With this case study and others throughout her book, Stockard (2002) supports her argument that family is not uniform or natural. Kinship is always “a product of a specific culture, within a particular history and envi- ronment”; it is “culturally constructed” (Stockard, 2002, p. 2).

Baca Zinn and Wells (2000) provide a second example of an OFD analy- sis in their chapter on diverse Latino families. Drawing on research by Fernandez-Kelly (1990) and other scholars, Baca Zinn and Wells argue that social class and employment opportunities play a large role in shaping family structure and functioning. The authors compare Cuban Americans with Mexican Americans, suggesting that although both groups highly value marriage and family, the latter Latino immigrants have faced more difficult economic circumstances. For example, Mexican Americans have more often been recruited for low-status occupations and purposefully excluded from opportunities for advancement, which has resulted in a higher rate of poor female-headed households in some communities (Baca Zinn & Wells, 2000, pp. 259-260).

With this comparison and others, Baca Zinn and Wells (2000) support their OFD argument that “structural arrangements . . . produce and often require a range of family configurations” (p. 254). Latino families should not be approached as if they had some “essential characteristics” that dis- tinguish them from other kinds of families; rather, family diversity is cre- ated by the “social context and social forces that construct families” (Baca Zinn & Wells, 2000, pp. 255, 267).

IFD

Research on OFD is important. It is sensible and justifiable for scholars to assume families are real, to identify different forms of family, and to explain the processes that create families. However, there is a discernibly different way of studying family diversity that is arguably just as reasonable

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and valid. Studies of IFD tend to derive from different assumptions and lead to different results, even though they examine similar issues and employ identical terms as those found in OFD publications. When IFD scholars write about the “construction” or “production” of families, they are primar- ily interested in the creation of meaning rather than the creation of real family relationships (Gubrium & Holstein, 1990; Harris, 2006; Loseke, 2001; Miller, 1991; Rosenblatt, 1994). IFD arguments thus draw theoretical insights from narrative analysis (Bruner, 1987; Foley & Faircloth, 2000; Riessman, 1990, 2002; Walzer, 2006), studies of motive talk and claims making (Hopper, 1993; Knapp, 2002), and other meaning-centered perspec- tives inspired by interactionism, phenomenology, and ethnomethodology (Blumer, 1969; Garfinkel, 1967; Gubrium & Holstein, 1993; Schutz, 1970). However, vigilant reading is required to detect the differences between OFD and IFD scholarship, because both kinds of analyses can incorporate ideas from any of these scholarly traditions (see also Harris, 2008).

If the search for objective diversity is reflected in the argument that there are many different kinds of families “out there,” the search for interpretive diversity is reflected in the argument that any set of relationships can be viewed or described in different, often contradictory ways. For IFD schol- ars, diversity lies in the purposes and perspectives that guide people’s inter- pretations rather than in the objective properties of actual familial bonds.

Studying the Process of Defining Family

It is true that many OFD scholars admit (or at least imply) awareness of the subjective and arbitrary nature of any definition of family. But this awareness is not part of an overarching perspective that puts interpretation and indeterminacy at the center of analysis. If “meaning is not inherent” is the guiding premise of one’s research, then controversy over the proper def- inition of family provides useful though expected fodder for research instead of an obstacle to objective description and explanation. Whereas an OFD researcher may attempt (implicitly or explicitly) to define family in a more comprehensive or inclusive fashion, IFD scholars refrain from judg- ing the adequacy of lay or scholarly definitions (Holstein & Gubrium, 1999, p. 15). IFD scholars do this by “bracketing” the concept of family— that is, they attempt to set aside any preconceptions about or interest in what “really” does or does not constitute a family.

As a methodological strategy, bracketing facilitates the careful investi- gation of all the diverse ways that putative families, and their putative char- acteristics, are defined into and out of existence. To be sure, kinship may

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often be invoked in a culturally conventional fashion (Schneider, 1980), but IFD scholars also highlight the flexible and idiosyncratic application of familial descriptors. A group of college roommates may claim they are a “family” of sorts. In some households, a pet dog or cat may be described as part of the family and may receive lavish attention, framed photos, and even Christmas presents. In some communities, individuals may portray their coworkers, support-group members, coaches, neighbors, and other com- panions as “just like” a brother, sister, mother, father, son, or daughter; they may also portray coresident biological relatives as strangers and not kin at all (see Gubrium & Holstein, 1990; Stack, 1974). Then, at a later time, these individuals may contradict their own assessments, reversing their ear- lier claims about kinship in light of new considerations. The point for an interpretive constructionist is not whether or which of these familial under- standings is correct. The point is to investigate the meanings these descrip- tions create and the factors shaping their production (Broad, Crawley, & Foley, 2004). IFD scholars bracket family to study all the creative ways that people use the familial concepts they have inherited to pursue their goals— such as persuading, praising, criticizing, or amusing others—as they inter- act in casual settings or in formal engagements with social institutions (Gubrium & Holstein, 1990).

Although IFD scholars bracket family, it would be somewhat misleading to say that they abstain entirely from defining family. IFD scholars do articu- late a way of understanding family. For them, “family is a usage, not a thing” (Miller, 1991, p. 610). Terms of kinship are treated as “a set of conceptual resources for accomplishing the meaning of social relations” (Holstein & Gubrium, 1999, p. 5). Thus, although it is somewhat accurate to argue that IFD scholars join OFD scholars in defining the concept of family, the IFD definition is of an entirely different sort. Both OFD and IFD scholars seek to highlight “family diversity” by “opening up” consideration of what consti- tutes a family. Arguably, however, the IFD challenge to commonsense or con- servative conceptions of family is deeper and more radical than the OFD challenge. Although OFD scholars seek to broaden the label of family to encompass additional social forms, IFD scholars suspend belief in virtually any conception of family as a concrete entity to better investigate its full range of meanings and applications (Holstein & Gubrium, 1995, p. 895).

Discovering Forms of IFD

OFD scholars are interested in gathering factual information about family diversity: How many adoptive, foster, and step-families are in the

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United States? How are spouses selected in different cultures around the world? What factors shape the prevalence of certain family forms over others?

In contrast, IFD scholars tend to be more interested in understanding the distribution and production of diverse family meanings: How might the same families tend to be depicted differently, depending on the social set- ting they find themselves within? How do local cultures, metaphors, narra- tives, clinical training, interests and agendas, audiences, and other factors influence understandings of familial bonds (Broad et al., 2004; Gubrium, 1992; Loseke, 2001; Haney & March, 2003)?

Given their orientation, IFD scholars exhibit more caution when specifying the possible range of diverse family forms. The categories, classifications, and terms of distinction should be studied and discovered, not assumed or imposed. Gubrium and Holstein (1990) examined family discourse that occurred in courtrooms, support groups, nursing homes, and other locations to investigate people’s diverse descriptions of (potentially) familial relations. In discussions and debates, family members and others inferred meaning from indeterminate signs (Gubrium & Holstein, 1990, p. 77). Is a household “too crowded” or does it provide an opportunity for intergenerational learning experiences (Gubrium & Holstein, 1990, pp. 90-92)? Does a “messy” or “dilapidated” home indicate a family is falling apart, or is it a sign that a parent is setting appropriate priorities by putting relationships above trivial physical concerns (Gubrium & Holstein, 1990, p. 82)? Is a frequent change of address necessarily an indicator of family instability (Gubrium & Holstein, 1990, p. 87)? Family members, social workers, prosecutors, judges, and other individ- uals interpret these ambiguous indicators in various ways—and thereby create family diversity—depending on how their goals, orientations, and companions influence their understandings and descriptions.

Rather than including chapters on “single-parent families,” “African American families,” and so on, more interpretive scholars are likely to orga- nize a book around competing perspectives on or claims about families. Rosenblatt (1994), for example, has described a number of different metaphors that can be used to think about any given family. To challenge and stimulate the development of family systems theory, Rosenblatt demonstrates how viewing families through various metaphorical prisms can shape therapeutic understandings and actions. Merely thinking of family as an actual “entity” (like a rock or an automobile) is metaphorical, according to Rosenblatt (1994, p. 35). This metaphor is operative when families are portrayed as existing independently (“the Smith family”) and as being more than the sum of their individual parts. Families are likened to entities when they are treated as if they were alive, as if they had their own

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personalities (“an angry family”) and interests (“for the good of the family”) beyond those of individual members. Families can be thought of as nonsentient entities too. The metaphor “families are like rivers” empha- sizes the manner in which kinship stretches forward and backward in time, is ever changing, and is not necessarily dependent on any single individual for its nature and existence (Rosenblatt, 1994, p. 42). Families can also be conceived as “houses,” as structures that (with varying levels of success) protect members from outside forces or confine and subjugate members to a certain location and expectations (Rosenblatt, 1994, p. 45).

In principle, there is no limit to the number of metaphors that might be applied to families. Rosenblatt demonstrates how families can be compared to aquariums, tapestries, governments, and other social and nonsocial phe- nomena. There is always a degree of arbitrariness when a family member, theorist, or therapist employs one metaphor rather than another, as many different metaphors could be applied to any given family (see also Knapp, 1999). However, the choice of metaphor shapes what aspects of family rela- tions are noticed, the meanings those behaviors and conditions are given, and the subsequent actions that are pursued (Rosenblatt, 1994, p. 31).

Recall that objectivist scholars highlight family diversity by focusing on underappreciated kinship experiences. OFD researchers highlight (for example) “Latino” families or perhaps kinship variations within Latino communities or perhaps even interactional variations within families depending on the age or sex of individual members. Interpretive scholars, as I have tried to show in this section, tend to spend more time highlighting diverse meanings rather than diverse objective realities. IFD researchers study how the same element of familial experience—a putative action, con- dition, relationship, or whatever—can be defined in different ways. As I discuss next, what a particular family is “objectively” (whether Latino, adoptive, poor, and so on) becomes relevant to IFD analysis only if the researcher can show the impact of such factors on interpretative processes and outcomes (Holstein & Gubrium, 1995, p. 899).

Explaining the “Construction” of IFD

For OFD scholars, families are enmeshed in a field of social forces. The economy, law, politics, religion, gender ideology, and other factors—along with the daily actions and choices of individuals—shape the diverse range of family forms that exist in any given society. Somewhat similarly, IFD analyses also place families in a broader social context. Here too, families are shaped or “constructed” by forces larger than themselves. But instead of

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focusing on the production of real families, IFD researchers study the social factors and processes that encourage competing depictions of family forms.

Interpretive constructionists highlight the active work that people engage in as they define reality. Although this interpretive work is creative, it is not random or indiscriminate (Holstein & Gubrium, 1999, p. 7). People can use family to refer to just about anything, but there are limits and pat- terns in how they do so. Family meanings tend to be socially distributed, and thus partially predictable, depending on where, by whom, and for what purposes family relations are being considered.

For example, in their studies of a variety of different settings, Gubrium and Holstein (1990) demonstrated the impact that professional perspectives and agendas can have on interpretations of family. In an example derived from an involuntary commitment hearing, Gubrium and Holstein recount the case of “Mr. Biggs,” whose psychiatrist believed should be released to his family rather than hospitalized against his will. The judge, upon learn- ing that the family with whom Biggs would reside consisted of a girlfriend, her two children, and her sister, was less convinced:

[Judge:] Now who is it that takes care of him? You say these two ladies are going to be able to keep him out of trouble. How long has he lived with them? What happens when he gets delusional again? . . . Who’s going to make him take his medication? . . . I just don’t see any family there to look out for him. (Gubrium & Holstein, 1990, p. 127)

The psychiatrist, in response, insisted that Biggs needed to be “close to his family” if he was going to get the sense of security and support he needed to succeed in his treatment program: “His family wants him there and they make him feel like he belongs. He needs that kind of security— the family environment—if he’s ever going to learn to cope” (Gubrium & Holstein, 1990, p. 127).

In this example, the existence and nature of Biggs’ putative family is dis- cursively worked up (and down) in accordance with the purposes and per- spectives of the judge and psychiatrist. The judge, whose training and occupation leads him to focus on containing trouble, views things differ- ently than the psychiatrist, whose orientation leads to an interest in treat- ment and recovery. The same “family” situation, Gubrium and Holstein (1990, p. 12) argue, is “constructed” in different ways. Though the judge and psychiatrist have some discretion in their portrayal of the facts, their interpretations can be seen as somewhat predictable and patterned rather than haphazard. The artfulness elicited by the indeterminacy of meaning is

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tempered and guided by the agendas and concerns of particular groups and settings. In this example and others, Gubrium and Holstein (1990, chap. 7) show how IFD is shaped by social forces, just as OFD is.

IFD analyses thus parallel OFD analyses in their attention to the factors that produce family life, although “production” is reconceived as more a matter of meaning making rather than concrete relationship building. IFD scholars can be differentiated further by noticing the special attention they give to attributions of causality beyond causality itself. More often than in OFD research, IFD scholars frequently eschew studying the actual causes of behavior to focus on competing claims about motivations (Dunn, 2005; Gubrium & Holstein, 1990, chap. 8; Higginson, 1999; Knapp, 1999; Loseke & Cahill, 1984).

Recall how OFD scholars invoke the importance of economic factors in family functioning and form. Earlier, I described Stockard’s argument that the Nyinba developed polyandry out of their difficult struggle for subsis- tence in the Himalayan mountains as well as Baca Zinn and Wells’s argu- ment that some nonconventional Latino families may be a result of limited employment opportunities. Perhaps to counter conservatives’ claims that “financial success” is a consequence of “proper” or “normal” families, more liberal OFD scholars frequently reverse the causal arrow. Families may be shaped by economic conditions just as much if not more than the other way around, OFD scholars assert.

Rather than entering these sorts of debates, more interpretive scholars tend to sidestep them. IFD scholars enjoy turning arguments over causality into the subject of rhetorical analysis. By drawing on constructionist litera- tures on “accounts” and “motive talk,” IFD researchers treat causal claims making as another discursive, meaning-making process (see Sarat & Felstiner, 1988; Sterponi, 2003). Gale Miller (1991) did this in his research on a Work Incentive Program (WIN) designed to reduce dependency on welfare. Miller examined the assumptions and assertions that WIN staff made about family life and its relation to economic success. In Miller’s analysis, WIN staff interpretatively constituted rather than simply assisted their clientele when they referred to their clients’ good and bad attitudes, legitimate and illegitimate excuses, normal and abnormal families, and work successes and failures. For example, if a WIN client suggested that she was impeded from seeking a job because she had to help a mother-in- law take her insulin, a staff member would classify that explanation as either a “legitimate” or an “illegitimate” reason (Miller, 1991, p. 615). Invoking and applying the legitimate/illegitimate distinction involved making assumptions about proper family duties and relationships and inter- pretively arbitrating between genuine and fictional causes in response to

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clients’ arguments and counterarguments. In this way, IFD scholars tend to study how meaning is made as motives and explanations are presented, con- tested, negotiated, and acted on, rather than trying to discern the objective factors that determine familial behavior.

Conclusion

In this article, I have attempted to clarify the differences between two forms of family diversity—objective and interpretive. Although interest on family diversity has arguably never been higher, most of this scholarship is of the more objective variety. For example, the massive Handbook of Family Diversity (Demo et al., 2000) and Handbook of Contemporary Families (Coleman & Ganong, 2004) are both primarily objectivist (except see Laird, 2000). In general, there could be more attention and research devoted to IFD. But for this to happen in a rigorous way, scholars must also recognize that the same analytical terms—such as construct, create, and produce, as well as family diversity—can be used in somewhat contradic- tory fashion (see also Harris, 2008). Recognizing this can help better illu- minate the theoretical assumptions of existing scholarship and open up potential avenues for future work. Readers and authors can ask themselves the following: Which form of family diversity is being highlighted in a given publication? How might the analysis differ if the topic switched from OFD to IFD, or vice versa?

In my own work, for instance, I have found that a thoroughly interpre- tive approach has not been applied to the topic of equality and inequality in marriage (Harris, 2006, in press). The vast majority of research treats “mar- ital equality” primarily as a thing rather than as an interpretation. Despite authors’ “constructionist” leanings, the emphasis has been on the factors and processes that produce real equalities and inequalities (Deutsch, 1999; Knudson-Martin & Mahoney, 2005). Sociologists, psychologists, and anthropologists have studied the various constraints (such as social class, gender identity, or postmarital residence practices) and individual choices (such as the use of a communication strategy) that help to create relatively equal or unequal relationships among heterosexual or lesbian or gay cou- ples (Carrington, 2004; Schwartz, 1994; Stockard, 2002). These sorts of OFD studies yield different kinds of results than would an IFD analysis, as the latter would carefully seek out the various ways that people may define marital equality in their own relationships (Harris, in press). Individuals may “measure” or subjectively experience marital equality by using criteria

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that diverge sharply from those used by researchers. Although researchers may highlight the division of labor or power, laypersons might emphasize the importance of possessing similar levels of “intelligence” or the neces- sity of “accepting” one’s spouse for who they are, or else they might treat as paramount a household task or decision that researchers have deemed unnoteworthy (Harris, 2006). Though laypersons operate within cultural and interactional constraints, they have considerable discretion to formulate their own idiosyncratic accounts of the definition, causes, and conse- quences of equality in marriage. These everyday meanings, and the factors and processes that create them, are what interpretive researchers would try to faithfully represent (Harris, in press).

Across the field of family studies, the findings that scholars publish are thus very much at stake when they choose to adopt OFD or IFD frame- works. But so too are the moral implications of their research. Clearly, family scholarship is not merely informational but can have consequences for the political, institutional, and personal decisions that people make about familial affairs.

Objectively inclined scholars are well positioned to enter public discussions— sometimes called “wars” or “feuds”—over families. There is a legitimate need for researchers to insert factual analyses into debates over the “pros” and “cons” of gay marriage, cohabitation, divorce, single parenting, gender roles, and other issues (Benokraitis, 2000; B. Berger & Berger, 1983). Ideologically left- and right-leaning activists, politicians, and pundits often dispute the causes of OFD and whether particular family arrangements have positive or negative impacts on individuals and society. Many OFD scholars have attempted to contribute to the discussion by providing research-based facts and opinions (Coontz, 1992; Erera, 2002). This is a reasonable choice, but more interpretive scholars tend to choose differently.1