While intimacy was once understood in relation to an orthodox concern with the obligations and functions of family and kinship, contemporary definitions are characterized by a dominant focus on the ethics of friendship, negotiation and disclosure. Each approach views family and other close relationships through a particular ideology lens, fixing the parameters for comprehension and explanation. Although notions of change may be set against assertions of continuity, these contrasting poles of understanding are contained within distinct theoretical boundaries that delineate the grounds upon which research is conducted”. (Billing et al. 1988, Rose 1989
While intimacy was once understood in relation to an orthodox concern with the obligations and functions of family and kinship, contemporary definitions are characterized by a dominant focus on the ethics of friendship, negotiation and disclosure. Each approach views family and other close relationships through a particular ideology lens, fixing the parameters for comprehension and explanation. Although notions of change may be set against assertions of continuity, these contrasting poles of understanding are contained within distinct theoretical boundaries that delineate the grounds upon which research is conducted”. (Billing et al. 1988, Rose 1989