Social Policy, Sociology and Social Research

Centre for Parenting Culture Studies (CPCS)

http://blogs.kent.ac.uk/parentingculturestudies/

CPCS is the newest research centre in the School. Based in SSPSSR, the Centre is inter-disciplinary, and our Associates work in other Schools at Kent, including Law and Psychology, and at other Universities in the UK and internationally.

While CPCS associates have diverse research interests, our common view is that child-rearing as a social activity needs to be distinguished from ‘parenting’ and the culture that surrounds it. Through our work we have sought to show how the role and meaning of parenthood has changed in recent years. Child-rearing has expanded to encompass a growing range of activities that were not previously seen as an obligatory dimension of this task. CPCS associates have identified this emerging trend as exercising a decisive impact on the mothering role and more broadly on child-rearing; parenting culture in this form has a profound impact on the constitution of mothering and fathering identity as well on the relationship amongst parents.

How mothers and fathers manage and perform these identities is one of the themes running through the explorations of colleagues involved with CPCS. The expansion of the child-rearing role has also encouraged the belief that ‘parenting’ is a problematic sphere of social life. Indeed, ‘parenting’ is almost always discussed as a social problem. Many social actors have sought to turn child-rearing into an object of policy making, encouraging the emergence of the activity ‘parenting’. The causes and effects of this policy turn is another central area of our research.

Some of our ideas are discussed in special collections in Health, Risk and Society and Sociological Research On-line. We also organise events and seminars, and welcome enquires about working or studying with us; to know more contact the Director of CPCS Dr Ellie Lee [E.J.Lee@kent.ac.uk] 

School members involved with CPCS:

Dr Charlotte Faircloth http://www.kent.ac.uk/sspssr/staff/academic/faircloth.html
Professor Frank Furedi http://www.kent.ac.uk/sspssr/staff/academic/furedi.html
Dr Jan Macvarish http://www.kent.ac.uk/chss/about/staff/macvarish.html
Dr Ellie Lee http://www.kent.ac.uk/sspssr/staff/academic/lee.html

Telephone: +44(0)1227 823072 Fax: +44(0)1227 827005 or email us

SSPSSR, Faculty of Social Sciences, Cornwallis North East, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent CT2 7NF

Last Updated: 27/05/2011