Discourses on Family Time: The Cultural Interpretation of Family Togetherness in Los Angeles and Rome

In this article, we examine U.S. and Italian parents’ discourses on family time in parentfilled weekly activity charts and interviews with parents. Analysis indicates that in Los Angeles, California, parents talk about sheltering and isolating their nuclear family from the outside world and from everyday routine by creating special times and special activities for the nuclear family. In contrast, Roman parents’ discourse allows for spontaneous times with the family that are diffused within routines and merged with other community members, institutions, and social spaces. We argue that differences displayed in parents’ discourses are shaped by culturally specific orientations toward time, family, and individual versus shared responsibility. Through this cross-cultural comparison we contribute to the understanding of how local cultural models shape different ways in which parents interpret time spent in family and influence individuals’ perceptions of their everyday lives. [family, time, responsibility, United States, Italy]. Family time in the United States is often aligned with Quality Time ideologyFa concentrated, unstressed, and uninterrupted time dedicated to activities parents and children do togetherFto make up in quality for what may be missed in quantity (Daly 1996, 2001; Galinsky 1999; Kremer-Sadlik and Paugh 2007). Indeed, U.S. popular media, as well as academic research encourages parents to find Quality Time that the family can share (Kraehmer 1994; Plionis 1990). An initial examination revealed the absence of this expression in Italian discourse when applied to family life. Both cultural views on time and family life and preferences regarding how time should be spent in family shape the meaning assigned to the term family time. In this article we seek to understand the meaning of family time for working parents in two different cultural contexts, in Rome, Italy, and Los Angeles, California (hereafter, ‘‘LA’’).