ABSTRACT
Terms such as ‘family’, ‘child’ and ‘parent’ are both over-determined and ambiguous in their lexical meaning. They are over-determined in the sense that each of these terms brings with them a number of normative assumptions (of, for example, genetic-relatedness between family members), whilst at the same time being so expansive as to encompass any number of family configurations and practices of care. The words people use to describe family, then, can constitute terms of endearment (i.e. they can express affective connections), yet at the same time endearment can be defined on very specific terms that may serve to exclude as much as they include. ‘Terms of endearment’ is thus used in this chapter as a broad category for how people describe those they consider kin, focusing on social experiences of family, kinship and caring. The contents of this category are explored here through a thematic analysis of the ways in which a sample of 60 Australian parents from across a diverse range of families spoke about what the word family meant to them, and how extended family members engaged with them when they had children.
