Same-sex parenthood, family functionning, child development and socialization – devhom

Same-sex parenthood, family functioning, child development and socialization

This project has been developed in partnership with the ELFE project team (French Longitudinal Study of Children, the ELFE INED-INSERM-EFS joint research unit) for the general purpose of initiating a longitudinal study of the socialization and the development of children currently growing up in same-sex parent families. The approach is multidisciplinary.
The research will consist of two parts; one quantitative and one qualitative. The qualitative component will involve two lines of research; a socio-anthropological line and a clinical psychology line. Each has specific objectives.
In the study initiated by ELFE, only 16 same-sex parent families were recruited, all of which were female same-sex couples. This quantitative line involves expanding this sample with a view to providing a statistical analysis comparing the other families surveyed and a better representation of same-sex parent families (male same-sex couples, adoption, etc.). The questionnaire will also be adjusted and supplemented to better understand the emotional, conjugal and family journey undertaken by the parents, their access to parenthood, their experiences of institutions and their parenting relationships.
The qualitative component consists of an additional questionnaire-based socio-anthropological line of research, including the views and observations of some fifty families in order to gain a deeper understanding of the trajectories, living situations and forms of education. This will involve analyzing both similar and convergent functionality of these families and determining the factors at play.
There is also a line of research relating to clinical psychology, which will study 10 same-sex parent families (five female couples, five male couples) from the previous cohort and 10 families with children between the ages of nine and ten. One part of the interview will take place with the couple and the other with the children, who rely on this support (projective tests, genogram). This will make it possible to compare what the children say with the views of the parents in order to compare the bases of these constructions according to the age of the child (born in 2011, born before 2005).
This research generally seeks to generate quantitative data comparable with that of the ELFE study as to when the identity of children born in the context of same-sex parent families is formed and, from a qualitative point of view, to elaborate on the data of the families of these same children according to a socio-anthropological and clinical aspect. For each area the numbers are readjusted and the different collection procedures are redressed – questionnaire, interview, couple interview, project support, etc. – for both the parents and the children. Each of the disciplines will use the hypotheses and methodologies and will implement the results corresponding to their legitimacy. However, by recognizing the specificity of each, a supplementary aim will be sought to establish cross-intelligibility of the phenomena studied.