Internet mediation and the family gap

Explorative ethnographic interviews in new family forms in Belgium

Bibliographic Data

ID21190811
AuthorsLien Mostmans (0000-0001-7932-964X, iMinds, corresponding author)
Year2016
Volume10
Issue4
Pages481-496
Publication date2016-10-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessNo
TypeARTICLE
VenueJournal of Children and Media (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1748-2798 • E-ISSN: 1748-2801
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/17482798.2016.1222298
OpenAlexW2510345664
LanguageEN
Citations received4
References cited28

While studies have examined how parents organize, manage, or mediate children’s internet use, perspectives of non-traditional, new forms of family remain largely neglected in the research. Presenting the initial findings of explorative ethnographic work within one multi-household stepfamily and one divorced one-parent household in Belgium, this article points to the challenges of internet mediation in new family forms as it involves complex interpersonal dynamics that are the result of major changes in family life, and the fact that parenting is distributed between parents in different households with their own media use norms. Specifically, this study found that children in multi-household families experience different mediation regimes and navigate relatively easily between them, but also that post-divorce family life can generate dynamics that mitigate the outcomes of parental mediation, as well as intensify the role of peer-siblings in internet mediation. Methodological implications and suggestions for future family media research are discussed

Developmental psychology · Ethnography · Family life · Interpersonal communication · Mediation · Social science · Sociology · Stepfamily · The Internet · Child Development and Digital Technology · Gender Studies · Impact of Technology on Adolescents · Psychology · Social Media and Politics · Social Psychology

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