ABSTRACT
Family photograph albums are described by Spence and Holland (1991: 7) as idealised representations of family life in which 'sickness, disease and disability are barely visible'. In this chapter I examine the notion of 'home' as another edited representation of idealised domestic life in which positively perceived beliefs, ideals and values are highlighted - companionship, security, freedom, expressiveness and privacy (Allan and Crow 1989). Less acceptable within this idealised concept of 'home' are aspects of family life such as disease and disability and it is these 'exclusions' which can tell us much about our notions of social identity and family life. By looking at what is included and what is missing from conceptions of 'house and home' we learn about more than just bricks and mortar for, as Gullestad (1993: 129) argues, 'in many cultures the house can be seen as a microcosm of important cognitive categories'.
