Cited by 1,483Place Attachment and Urban StudiesSpatial and Cultural StudiesFamily Dynamics and Relationships

The DOI matches its Crossref record; 94 of the 94 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.

Understanding Home: A Critical Review of the Literature

Mallett, Shelley·2004·The Sociological Review

Abstract

In recent years there has been a proliferation of writing on the meaning of home within the disciplines of sociology, anthropology, psychology, human geography, history, architecture and philosophy. Although many researchers now understand home as a multidimensional concept and acknowledge the presence of and need for multidisciplinary research in the field, there has been little sustained reflection and critique of the multidisciplinary field of home research and the diverse, even contradictory meanings of this term. This paper brings together and examines the dominant and recurring ideas about home represented in the relevant theoretical and empirical literature. It raises the question whether or not home is (a) place(s), (a) space(s), feeling(s), practices, and/or an active state of state of being in the world? Home is variously described in the literature as conflated with or related to house, family, haven, self, gender, and journeying. Many authors also consider notions of being-at-home, creating or making home and the ideal home. In an effort to facilitate interdisciplinary conversations about the meaning and experience of home each of these themes are briefly considered in this critical literature review.

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Crossref · 10.1111/j.1467-954x.2004.00442.x

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Research works printed but not linked: 19

  1. Bammer A., (1992), “Editorial”, in Bammer A. (ed.), The Question of ‘Home’, New Formations (Vol. 17), London: Lawrence & Wishart.
  2. Butler J., (1993), Bodies of Matter: On the Discursive Limits of “Sex”. New York: Routledge.
  3. Collins English Dictionary, (1979), Sydney: William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd.
  4. Darke J., (1994), “Women and the Meaning of Home”, in Gilroy R. and Woods R. (eds), Housing women, London: Routledge.
  5. Feld S. and Basso K., (eds), (1996), Senses of Place, New Mexico: School of American Research Press.
  6. Gaten M., (1983), “A Critique of the Sex/gender Distribution”, in Allen J. and Patton P. (eds), Beyond Marxism? Interventions After Marx, NSW: Intervention Publishers.
  7. Ginsberg R., (1999), “Mediations on Homelessness and Being at Home: In the form of a Dialogue”, in Abbarno G.J.M. (ed.), The Ethics of Homelessness (Vol. 86), Amsterdam: Rodopi.
  8. Goldsack L., (1999), “A Haven in a Heartless Home? Women and Domestic Violence”, in Chapman T. and Hockey J. (eds), Ideal homes? : Social change and domestic life, London: Routledge.
  9. Goodall P., (1990), “Design and Gender: Where is the Heart of Home?”, Built Environment, 16 (4): 269–278.
  10. 10.2979/3270.0 · DOI
  11. Hollander J., (1991), “The Idea of a Home: A Kind of Space”, Social Research, 58 (1): 31–49.
  12. Jones G., (1995), Leaving Home, Buckingham: Open University Press.
  13. Massey D., (1992), “A Place Called Home?” in (ed.), The Question of ‘Home’, New Formations (Vol. 17), London: Lawrence & Wishart.
  14. Munro M. and Madigan R., (1999), “Negotiating Space in the Family Home”, in Cieraad I. (ed.), At Home: An Anthropology of Domestic Space, Syracuse: Syracuse University Press.
  15. Perkins H. and Thorns D. (2000) “Making a Home: Housing Lifestyle and Social Interaction. Paper presented at the EHNR 2000 Conference Gayle Sweden 26–30 June 2000.
  16. Rykwert J., (1991), “The Idea of a Home: A Kind of Space”, Social Research, 58 (1): 51–62.
  17. Shove E., (1999), “Constructing Home: A Crossroads of Choices”, in Cieraad I. (ed.), At Home: An Anthropology of Domestic Space, Syracuse: Syracuse University Press.
  18. Tosh J., (1996), “New Men? The Bourgeois Cult of Home”, History Today, 46 (12): 9–16.
  19. Wright G., (1991), “Prescribing the Model of Home”, Social Research, 58 (1): 213–225.

Cited by

Metadata

Authors
Mallett, S.
Affiliations
The University of Melbourne (AU)
Corresponding author
Mallett, Shelley
Venue
The Sociological Review
Published
2004-02
Volume
52
Issue
1
Pages
62-89
ISSN
  • 0038-0261 (ISSN-L)
  • 1467-954X
OpenAlex
W1502038307
Cited by
1,483
References
94
Citations by year
2026: 72 · 2025: 114 · 2024: 102 · 2023: 96 · 2022: 123 · 2021: 83 · 2020: 97 · 2019: 99 · 2018: 94 · 2017: 84 · 2016: 73 · 2015: 73 · 2014: 57 · 2013: 73 · 2012: 50
FWCI
65.61
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
closed
Locations
The Sociological Review (publishedVersion)
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Sociology and Political Science › Place Attachment and Urban Studies
  • Social Sciences › Geography, Planning and Development › Spatial and Cultural Studies
  • Social Sciences › Demography › Family Dynamics and Relationships
Keywords
home, meaning of home, houses, family, havens, self, gender, journeying, ideal home

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