Towards a model of optimal family leisure

Abstract

Leisure is an important component of family life, yet many families struggle to focus on or participate in family leisure. This study examined the structural characteristics of family life that can impede or promote family leisure. Employing a systems perspective, a literature-based model of family leisure was created, and in-depth interview data were gathered from three families to compare to the model. Results indicated that while the content of the families' leisure varied, their leisure shared similar organizational properties; the need to negotiate constraints, increase focused interactions and decrease fragmented interactions to achieve higher-quality family leisure. The paper concludes with a discussion of the study's relevance to the existing family leisure literature, a description of a simplified model of optimal family leisure functioning based on the study's findings, implications for its application and suggestions for future research.

Keywords:

• family leisure
• family systems theory
• parent–child relations
• family development
• recreation

Notes on contributors

Keri A. Schwab, Ph.D., is an Assistant Professor in the Recreation, Parks, and Tourism Administration Department at California Polytechnic University, San Luis Obispo, California, USA. She earned her undergraduate degree in Journalism from James Madison University, and a Masters and Ph.D. from the University of Utah in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. Her research interests include youth development, community recreation, and family leisure. She currently teaches core undergraduate classes and is currently working on a research project to examine how social media can be used to motivate youth to recreate outdoors. She is co-editor of several books including A Career with Meaning and Just Leisure: Things that we Believe In.

Daniel L. Dustin is a Professor in the Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism in the College of Health at the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah, USA. He holds a bachelor's degree in geography and a master's degree in resource planning and conservation from the University of Michigan, and a Ph.D. in education with an emphasis in recreation and park administration from the University of Minnesota. Among his recent works as an author and editor are Stewards of Access-Custodians of Choice: a Philosophical Foundation for Parks, Recreation, and Tourism; Speaking Up and Speaking Out: Working for Social and Environmental Justice through Parks, Recreation, and Leisure; Service Living: Building Community through Public Parks and Recreation; The Wilderness Within: Reflections on Leisure and Life; Making a Difference in Academic Life: a Handbook for Park, Recreation, and Tourism Educators and Graduate Students; and Nature and the Human Spirit: Toward an Expanded Land Management Ethic.

Notes

1. Clue is a board game in which players try to gather evidence and solve a murder mystery.