Status of Family Theory and Research in Switzerland

Abstract

The sociology of marriage and the family in Switzer- land does not have a long history of theorizing and empirical research. It is only during the last two decades that research groups at the socio- logical institutes of the Universities of Zurich and Geneva special- ized in this field. Research was first of all stimulated by the dramatic socio-demographic changes that occurred in the late 1960s which called for sociological explanations, and secondly by the contradic- tions between these changes and the strong normative traditionalism peculiar to Switzerland. Nevertheless family research in Switzerland is still relatively marginal, compared to other topics of social sciences. A scientific center continuously dealing with family issues is still lacking. Swiss family researchers will therefore continue to integrate themselves into the broader framework of European family research.