This book aims to further academic debate within the leisure and tourism studies community about the role of ‘families’ in contemporary life and the experiences of families and their children in the leisure environment. It is based on the recognition of the diverse nature of the family in the contemporary era and the position of children in families and society in general as active and knowing social agents rather than as passive objects. The family is on the one hand our first community with its own special kind of human attachment and on the other a little world on which the larger society is modelled. Families form the closest and most important emotional bond in humans. This relationship is what drives humanity and society, and positions families at the centre of leisure activities. This international and multi-disciplinary compilation of recent research into children and families examines progress made and challenges ahead for leisure studies. It extends the academic discourse to a wider understanding of what families, children and their leisure behaviour mean in today’s societies. This book was originally published as a special issue of Annals of Leisure Research.
1.Introduction: Children, Families and Leisure
Heike Schänzel & Neil Carr
2. Family leisure, opening a window on the meaning of family
Scott McCabe
3. Towards a model of optimal family leisure
Keri A. Schwab & Daniel L. Dustin
4. Parents and children consuming the city: geographies of family outings across class Lia Karsten & Naomi Felder
5. Leisure in a world of ‘com-pu-pu-pu-pu-pu-pu-pu-pu-pu-pu-puter-puter, puter games’: a father and son conversation
Stephen L. Wearing, Jamie Wearing, Matthew McDonald & Michael Wearing
6.Negotiating the climb: a fictional representation of climbing, gendered parenting and the morality of time
Ben Clayton & Emily Coates
7. ‘We have not seen the kids for hours’: the case of family holidays and free-range children
Marie Vestergaard Mikkelsen & Bodil Stilling Blichfeldt
8. A review of gay and lesbian parented families’ travel motivations and destination choices: gaps in research and future directions
Rodrigo Lucena, Nigel Jarvis & Clare Weeden
9. Intersection of family, work and leisure during academic training
Stephanie Chesser
10. Family Leisure and the Coming Out Process for Lesbian/Gay/Bisexual Children
Dawn Trussell
11. Family experiences of visitor attractions in New Zealand: differing opportunities for ‘family time’ and ‘own time’
Joanna Fountain, Heike Schänzel, Emma Stewart & Nora Körner
12. Understanding ambivalence in family leisure among three-generation families: ‘It's all part of the package’
Shannon Hebblethwaite
13. Families in the forest: guilt trips, bonding moments and potential springboards
Alice Goodenough, Sue Waite & Jade Bartlett
14. Celebrating the family abroad: the wedding tourism experience
Giovanna Bertella
15. More than putting on a performance in commercial homes: merging family practices and critical hospitality studies
Julie Seymour
Biography
Heike Schänzel is a senior lecturer in International Tourism Management at Auckland University of Technology, New Zealand. Research interests include tourist behaviour and experiences, sociality in tourism, and theory development in tourism and hospitality.
Neil Carr is an Associate Professor and Head of the Department of Tourism at the University of Otago as well as the Editor of Annals of Leisure Research. His research focuses on understanding behaviour within tourism and leisure experiences; with a particular emphasis on animals, children and families, and sex.
