bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
The Segmentation and Integration of the Chinese in Brisbane, Australia
Authors: Crissman Lawrence W. , Beattie George , Selby James
Published: April 2019

The history of the Chinese in Australia is traced, beginning with the gold rush of the mid-nineteenth century when there were nearly 10,000 at one point, almost all of them being male. Numbers of Chinese in Australia declined under the White Australia policy until there were fewer than 8,500 full-Chinese enumerated in the 1947 census, roughly half of them being Australian born, but only one quarter of them being female. Well more than half of all Chinese in Australia at that time were in Sydney, whereas Brisbane had only 500 or so. There were in addition some thousands of part-Chinese in Australia, over a quarter of whom were in Queensland.

In 1956 immigration restrictions were eased, and in 1965 they were removed entirely, leading to a gradual influx of highly educated, largely westernized, and often affluent Chinese from China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, and Singapore, and later from the ex-Australian Trust Territory of Papua New Guinea. By 1976 there were again nearly as many Chinese in Australia as there had been 100 years before (37,000), three-quarters of them foreign-born. Unlike the ear ly Chinese in Australia, who maintained sub-ethnic distinctions based on origins in China similar to those found in other overseas Chinese communities, the recent arrivals in Brisbane and elsewhere in Australia have congregated and formed associations on the basis of their country of birth (or extraction), although most are highly integrated into Australian society in general.

Between the 1976 census and the one in 1981, Australia took in some 50,000 refugees from lndo-China, well over half of whom were ethnic Chinese. However unlike the other immigrant Chinese they are neither well educated (at least in English), nor westernized, nor wealthy. As a result, they have congregated in low-rent inner-city areas rather than dispersing in the affluent suburbs. These new, highly visible concentrations of Chinese, whose numbers have continued to grow, represent an entirely new element, and may come to compose an Australian Chinese proletariate that can be increasingly exploited by established Chinese, as well as wealthy new immigrants from Southeast Asia and, especially, Hong Kong.
Persistence, Change and Innovation: The Social Organization of the New Zeafand Chinese 1866-1976
Authors: Sedgwick Charles P.
Published: April 2019

The central concern of this paper has to do with a description and explanation of the strategies used by the New Zealand Chinese to articulate their autonomy and survive in a context which would at times deny this possibility.

The framework for the description and explanation draws mainly on the analytical contributions of Crissman (1967) and Wickberg (1979) and thus focusses on the unique organisational structures that are ubiquitious in the overseas Chinese context. These organisational structures provide not only a map to the internal and external relations of the Chinese community but also a key to understanding the process of change as it occurs in that community. It is the segmentary system, including all organisational structures in the Chinese community through time, which provides a range of idioms through which the _community may combine its resources to articulate its external and internal needs as well as confronting exploitation and discrimination.

The context which underlies these needs, areas of confrontation and the changing configuration of the segmentary system, is shown, not only to be the result of influences external to the community but also to derive from the unintended and intended consequences of reorganisation to cope with the former. In brief cooperation that ensues because of one set of influences can at the same time provide the basis for conflict and fragmentation within the community structure.

The result of this case study reveals an organisational structure in the New Zealand Chinese community which is forced through cycles of cooperation, fragmentation and conflict but because of the capacity to undergo change has also become, it is argued, the basis of its survival.
Family, Kinship, and Ethnic Identity of the Chinese in New York City, with Comparative Remarks on the Chinese in Lima, Peru and Manila, Philippines
Authors: Wong Bernard
Published: April 2019

The paper first examines how U.S. immigration policies and economic adaptation of the Chinese affect and modify the Chinese family system in the U.S. and then proceeds to discuss the development of the various types of Chinese American families: the old immigrant families, new immigrant families, American born Chinese families, the families of Chinese professionals and non residential extended families. These families differ not only in size but also in intrafamilial relationships and cultural identities. Some of these families are more Old World oriented; others are U.S. oriented. Some straddle two cultures - Chinese and American. Some are characterized by dominance of the traditional father-son bond, others the mother-child bond, and still others the husband-wife bond.

The immigration policies and the economic adaptation of the Chinese which affected the development of the Chinese American families are responsible also for the development of the current trends: 1) the weakening of patrilineal kinship, 2) the emergence of the non-residential extended family, 3) the increased occurrence of fictive kinship, 4) the popularity of the nuclear family and 5) the replacement of the traditional fatherson bond by husband-wife bond. Some of these developmental trends are contrasted with those in Chinese communities in Lima and Manila.

Although the American environment has modified the Chinese families, some Old World traditions linger on among all the Chinese in New York. All seem to value personalism and familism. All want to incorporate friends into their kinship network. This tendency of enlarging one’s personal/kinship network seems to be universal whether it is m Lima, Manila or New York City.
Bicultural Conflicts in Chinese Immigrant Children
Authors: Sung Betty Lee
Published: April 2019

The bases upon which we think, act, and conduct ourselves are shaped by our culture and upbringing at a very early age. These bases are called values, customs, traditions, and heritage, which are commonly shared by people within a national or ethnic group. However, when immigrants leave their homeland and settle in another country, the new ways may be different from that of the old country. Bi cultural conflict results when the former values and ways clash with the new attitudes and behavior. This premise is quite evident, but exactly how and where do we encounter bicultural conflict? This article gives specific instances of bicultural conflicts that pose dilemmas for immigrant children. Teachers or parents may not even recognize the cultural basis of these dilemmas and may insist upon the child doing things according to their own upbringing and outlook, thus creating confusion and anxiety when the two authority figures do not agree. Specific instances dealt with in this article include differing values in such areas as aggressive behavior, sexuality, thrift, affection, dependency, individualism, and others.
The Familial and the Familiar: Constancy and Variation in Chinese Culture with Reference to the HSU Attributes
Authors: Serrie Hendrick
Published: April 2019

This paper analyzes the structures and functions of social organizations in thirteen mainland, offshore, and overseas Chinese communities. Based on the principle of recruitment, five structural types account for the social organization of these communities: kinship, residence, surname, origin, and contract. Mainland and offshore rural communities are organized in terms of kinship, residence, and contract. Overseas urban communities tend to be organized in terms of surname, origin, and contract. Marginal, rural or urban communities are organized only in terms of contract. Structural and functional data indicate that surname is a substitute for kinship, and origin is a substitute for reside nee in the organization of overseas communities, so that the familiar is a substitute for the familial in Chinese social organization.

Of the 51 functions assumed by the organizations of these communities, some are determined by subsistence, others by rural-urban or mainland offshore differences. Patterns of the functional substitution indicate an interchangeability, by which almost any or all recruitment types of social organization may in some community or other be responsible for a given function. This interchangeability aids the familial-familiar orientation, not only in the creation of new organizations, but also in the retention of members on a life long basis.

Structures, functions, and substitutions show a substantial presence of the Hsu attributes of continuity, inclusiveness, authority, and asexuality in overseas as well as mainland Chinese communities.
A Test of the Explanatory Value of Alternative Models of Child Abuse
Authors: Webster Rhonda Lenton , Goldstein Jay , Segall Alexander
Published: April 2019

Four models (designated as the psychopathology model, the social psychology model, the social situational model, and the cultural model) which have implicitly or explicitly guided the bulk of research on child abuse are described. Hypotheses were derived from each model and then tested using data on 106 abusive parents in Winnipeg, Manitoba. While none of the models received strong empirical support, the social psychology and cultural models had the greatest explanatory value in regard to the frequency of abusive behaviour, while the cultural and social situational models had the greatest explanatory value in terms of the severity of abuse. The psychopathology model received the least support. Stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that while variables from the cultural model were prominent among the best set of predictors of both frequency and severity of abuse, incorporating variables from the other models enhanced the amount of explained variation in abusive behaviour. The implications of these findings for theory and practice are discussed.
Women’s and Children’s Activity Profiles: A Comparison of Time Allocation and Time Allocation Methods
Authors: Messer Ellen , Bloch Marianne
Published: April 2019

Cross-culturally, there is a growing interest in the effect of women’s participation in the wage economy on the quantity and quality of maternal interaction with children and children’s development. Essential to all of the questions concerning the effect of women’s work on their interaction with children is a methodology for studying how women in different cultures use time. This paper draws on two independent field studies, one done in Senegal and one done in Mexico, that measured women’s and children’s time use. It compares the research questions, results, and interpretations that can be made from time allocation data collected by two methods; randomized spot observations versus daylong narratives. The results of these analyses suggest spot observations can give reliable, but “thin” descriptions of how time is used in a given culture and that more detail, provided by narrative records of varying length as well as other cultural data, are essential to achieve “thicker” cultural descriptions. Neither the spot observation nor the day-long observation method were sufficient by themselves to answer the questions posed.
Household Structures in Rural Populations of South Togoland
Authors: Benoit D. , Levi P. , Vimard P.
Published: April 2019

This text studies, in the rural populations of South Togoland, variations in family sizes and structures by comparing them to the socio-demographic characteristics of the heads of household and the characteristics of the native populations.

This comparative analysis utilizes factor analysis to distinguish two main components in the households the nucleus and the peripheral component—and three groups of household type. The distribution of the family structures reveals an important difference between populations which is based, on the one hand, on the disparity between the total household sizes and the nuclear components, and, on the other hand, on the existence or nonexistence of a number of peripheral individuals.
Kinship Under two Strategies of Development
Authors: Mogey John , Bachmann Heinz
Published: April 2019

This paper identifies two strategies used to accomodate the process of development by African villages: (1) in villages utilizing a traditional strategy, village councils retain control over most economic and political decisions that affect their households; (2) in villages utilizing an industrial strategy, heads of households consult the village council less often in decisions that affect savings or investment or about life course ceremonies. The industrializing villages give more support to the village welfare system which is run by the local religious leader. In traditional strategy villages, large multifamily compounds are present. The complex residences are not found in villages with wage-earning households. The industrializing strategy, therefore, seems to increase family consultations, to decrease the political power of the village council, and to increase the influence of the local welfare system.
Social and Demographic Correlates of Consanguineous Marriages in South India
Authors: Driver Edwin D. , Driver Aloo E.
Published: April 2019

Interviews with a random sample of households resident in metropolitan Madras in 1966 revealed that many women, of the different age cohorts, married consanguineously. Most often these women married men who were defined by their communities as the most preferred types of mates - mother’s brother, mother’s brother’s son, or father’s sister’s son. As compared with non-consanguineous marriages, these marriages were usually arranged by the parents and usually occurred at young ages for -bride and groom. Comparatively speaking, they produced more offspring and had greater infant and child mortality.

Findings for metropolitan Madras are similar to findings reported in studies of other areas of Tamil Nadu and of Karnataka State. These patterns for South India are vivid contrasts to marital patterns elsewhere in India and in other nations.
Some Dimensions of Asiatic Family: A Quantitative Evaluation
Authors: Khatri A.A.
Published: April 2019

This paper is derived from analysis of part of the data obtained for development of “A Scale to Measure Jointness of Families in India.” It is proposed to discuss some of the dimensions of jointness of a sample of 118 Asiatic Indian families of children studying in two schools in Ahmedabad, India. These dimensions are: (1) Jointness in residence, and (2) Jointness in visits. Family types of 118 respondents were classified into “nuclear,” “extended,” “joint family,” and “broken family.” Incidence of each of the above four family types among various socio-economic classes and types of relatives living in extended families were considered. Some findings are: (1) Two or more conjugal units reside together in a joint family in about one out of four cases, (2) One or more relatives reside with a conjugal unit in about one out of four cases, (3) About one out of three nonresidential family units is visited once or more per week while about one out of ten and one out of six non-residential units are visited once a fortnight and once a month, respectively, and (4) A significant number out-of-station visits occurred where relatives stay and take meals in one another’s households.
Intermarriage Between ‘White’ Britons and Immigrants from the New Commonwealth and Pakistan
Authors: Cretser Gary A.
Published: April 2019

The 1983 General Household Survey for the United Kingdom was analyzed to examine the extent to which intermarriage has occurred between white British residents and immigrants from countries of the New Commonwealth and Pakistan (NCWP) as well as between other minority ethnic groups. Comparisons are made between intermarrying and intrarnarrying men and women in terms of area of residence, age, length of marriage, education (school leaving age, type of institution last attended) and occupational category.

The 25,000 households sampled yielded 5140 married couples of which approximately 1 % were intermarriages. The female spouses in most of the intermarriages were white (62%). There was a tendency for intermarried couples to be living in urban areas, to be younger, to be more recently married and to have achieved a higher !eve! of education than their intraethnically married counterparts.

A comparison is made of the current findings to those of earlier researchers employing different data sources. The implications of the findings for understanding the assimilation of NCWP immigrants in the United Kingdom are briefly discussed.

The author gratefully acknowledges the assistance provided by the Computer Centre and the Board of Study of Sociology and Social Anthropology at the University of Kent, Canterbury, England.
Religious Intermarriage in Canada in the 1980’s
Authors: Larson Lyle E. , Munro Brenda
Published: April 2019

This paper examines recent data on religious intermarriage in Canada. Religious intramarriage continues to be the highest (60+ percent) among Jews, followed in rank order by non-Christians, Pentecostals, and Mennonites. Among these more “resistant” groups, exogamy among Jews significantly increased over the past decade, while religious endogamy significantly increased among Pentecostals. Lutherans, Presbyterians and Anglicans continue to be the most secular in their mate choice patterns (less than 31 percent intermarry). When religious outmarriage occurs, between 28 and 73 percent of the marrying population do so, the group of “second choice” is typically Roman Catholic regardless of one’s religious background. Among the provinces for which religious intermarriage data are available, there is only minimal variation among Fundamentalists, Lutherans, and Presbyterians. About the same proportion of Fundamentalist Protestants intramarry, regional or socio-cultural factors notwithstanding. The majority of Lutherans and Presbyterians, however, outmarry regardless of provincial residence. In contrast, the intermarriage variations by province among the other religious groups are quite apparent. Although there is partial support for the Western tilt hypothesis- -the view that secularism systematically increases from Eastern to Western Canada- -further analysis is required to assess the correlates of interprovincial variations in religious intermarriage.
Black Parent-Child Relations: Some Correlates
Authors: Rulledge Essie Manuel
Published: April 2019

This paper is an examination of statistical associations between parent-child relations and family structure, parents’ education, family income and general happiness. The parent-child relations variable includes the following component variables: frequency of time spent together doing things with parents, parent-child relationship during childhood, parental adequacy in teaching children how to do things-and increase their skills, present parent-child relations, actual parental advise, and actual parental help.

The data for this analysis come from a larger study, “Socialization and Aspirations of College Black Females.” The research is based on a systematic random sample of 219 females, ages 17-26, attending a midwestern, regional university. The data were collected by the interview method, controlling for race of interviewer.

The parent-child relations variables are positively associated with all the other variables with which they are correlated. The associations were tested by use of chi-square and the gamma statistic. The results were mostly statistically significant and of moderate strength. Overall, the parent-child relations seem healthy, thus conforming to societal expectations. This holds for early childhood as well as late adolescence.
Displaying the Dream: The Visual Presentation of Family and Self in the Modern American Household
Authors: Halle David
Published: April 2019

A crucial part of the American dream is the American family. The photographs of family members which pervade the homes of middle-class and working-class Americans reveal much about their ideals and aspirations for the family, as well as the ways in which their reality often fails to measure up to those ideals. This essay discusses data based on a random sample of households drawn from fourneighborhoods in the New York region, including two working/lower-middle class neighborhoods and two middle/upper class neighborhoods. Through detailed interviews with residents it explores the relationship between family pictures on display, family ideals, and the actual social and material life of the family. Several points of sociological interest are highlighted, e.g., the tendency for people to display family photographs clustered together and the tendency to avoid displaying pictures of current adult residents alone. The data here act as a corrective to what has been written recently (for instance by Robert Bellah et. al. in Habits of the Heart) about the pervasiveness of individualism in modern America. They also suggest that the clustering of photos reflects an awareness by every family oflhe fragility of the family unit (divorce threatens the nuclear couple, geographic mobility threatens the unity of the couple and their children). An additional point has to do with the sheer numbers of pictures of the nuclear family on display in most households. Further, the pictures tend to depict the nuclear family at leisure, rather than in formal dress at a formal occasion (this tendency is more pronounced among the middle class than the working class). This almost obsessive repetition of the same cast of characters doing the same sort of thing needs explanation. Among other things it has to do, I suggest, with modern (midnineteenth century and beyond) notions of the meaning oflife, notions that have almost replaced traditional Christian notions oflife as being about achieving salvation in the next world.
The Role and Status of Women and the Timing of Marriage in Five Asian Countries
Authors: Chowdhury Fakhrul I. , Trovato Frank
Published: April 2019

This study explores the relationship of women’s role and status in society to their marriage timing in five non-industrial Asian countries (Bangladesh, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Malaysia). The role and status of women, conceptualized from acquired characteristics such as education and occupation before marriage, determines the largest degree of variance explained in ti ming of marriage. Even after socio-economic and ethno-religious variables are statistically controlled, the net effects of women’s education and occupation on age at marriage are found to be positive and substantial in magnitude. Additional evidence indicates that country differences in female age at marriage are also conditioned by the stage of a country’s socio-economic transition.
The Strengths of Apache Grandmothers: Observations on Commitment, Culture and Caretaking
Authors: Bahr Kathleen S.
Published: April 2019

Norms for American Indian grandparenting differ sharply from those for grandparenting in the wider society. In contrast to Anglo patterns of grandparental “detachment,” “retirement,” and “empty nest,” Indian grandparenting is often a time of intense family responsibility, economic challenge, and nest filled to overflowing. An exploratory, qualitative study of grandmothering among the White Mountain Apache, based largely on indepth interviews with grandmothers and their adult children (N= 18), reveals that Apache grandmothers commonly assume ultimate responsibility for the care of grandchildren, a role that requires economic resourcefulness, hard work, and commitment. A description of contemporary Apache grandmothering is followed by a comparison of selected themes and issues in both ethnic contexts. In a pattern of family strength amid adversity, the grandmothers anchor the cultural heritage and the physical wellbeing of the Apache people.
Families in Japan: Beliefs and Realities
Authors: Kumagai Fumie
Published: April 2019

The transformation of a society from a traditional to a modern type involves changes in the family, a demographic revolution, and fading impacts of religion. Japanese society is not an exception. In examining changing patterns of the Japanese family and household there emerged three major findings; namely, emergence of modern characteristics in external spheres, persistence of traditional elements in internal aspects, and existence of distinctive regional variations in rural-urban settings. These findings are taken as evidence to support the dual nature of contemporary Japanese family in which traditional and modern elements coexist simultaneously. In other words, Japanese society today is tolerant of diversification of family alternatives while at the same time protective of its tradition, which may come from the very nature of the multi-religious culture itself.
Kinship Affiliation: Structure and Process in Divorce
Authors: Mindel Charles H.
Published: April 2019

This study concerned the effects of kinship affiliation on marital stability. The argument suggests that disjunctive affiliations which imply segregated role relationships and close-knit networks also imply unilateral kinship affiliation. Unilateral kinship affiliation is apt to lead to an asymmetry of power in the family which in turn leads to an acceptance of divorce as a way out of the problem. A sample of 82 families was investigated and revealed that the matrilateral families were most disjunctively affiliated and most approving of divorce while the bilateral families were the most con junctively affiliated and the least approving of divorce.
Divorce as an Integrative Social Factor
Authors: Heinrich Albert
Published: April 2019

An analysis of some aspects of some Eskimo kinship systems demon strates that the dysfunctional connotation that is often associated with the idea of divorce need not necessarily be true in all cases. This article draws together some information on adoption, marriage, spouse exchange, affinal kinship and divorce and demonstrates that these aspects of Eskimo kinship are internally consistent parts of a whole. Marriage, in this instance, is shown to be a social relationship that involves not only the two individuals, but other members of society as well, and this serves to reinforce the network of kinship ties. Upon divorce, the affinal ties set up by marriage remain for other members of the society and continue to serve as connecting links. It is postulated that this is another instance of a general tendency among Eskimos to set up and maintain a wide circle of kinship and extra-kinship relationships.
Dynamic Dimensions of Family Structure in-Low-Income African American Families: Emergent Themes in Qualitative Research
Authors: Jarrett Robin L. , Burton Linda M.
Published: April 2019

A common conceptualization of family structure used in studies of low-income African Americans is a dichotomized construct that contrasts one- parent, female-headed households with two-parent family units. The consistent use of this conceptualization has impeded the exploration of the impact that dynamic dimensions of family structure have on family functioning. This paper outlines several fundamental dimensions of family structure that should be considered in studies of economically disadvantaged African American families. Using data from two qualitative community-based studies of African American families, we delineate four key dimensions of family structure—extended family networks; the socioeconomic structure of extended family networks; the pace of change in family structure; and the age structure of family members.
Away from Home: Iranian Women, Displacement Cultural Resistance and Change
Authors: Moghissi Haideh
Published: April 2019

This article discusses the gender character of displacement. Using the example of the Iranian female diaspora, it argues that women’s experience of displacement is relatively more positive than that of men, and women, generally, are more prepared and make more efforts to build a home away from home. However, the pressures for cultural resistance against the dominant culture and the institutional racism in the host country may counterbalance the impact of women’s positive experiences. Under the banner of ‘cultural resistance’, patriarchal values and sexist norms are revitalized within the family as well as in the community, and the voices of dissent are muted and dismissed as outside influences.
Changes in Living Arrangement and Familial Support for the Elderly in Taiwan: 1963-1991
Authors: Chattopadhyay Arpita , Marsh Robert
Published: April 2019

Data from two cross sectional household surveys conducted in 1963 and 1991 in the city of Taipei arc used to study the effect of industrialization, urbanization and economic growth on intergencrational eo-residencc and family support for the elderly. Changes in attitude toward intergencrational living arrangement and financial support from children are also examined enabling the assessment of the strength of cultural factors in maintaining peoples attitude toward elderly support during a period of rapid economic change. Our results show that intergenerational co-residence has declined significantly. However, this does not necessarily jeopardize the welfare of the elderly as son’s increase income transfers to parents, compensating for non co-residence. The study also indicates that attitudinal change in respect of financial support has been much more drastic than that in respect to co-residence.
Who Intermarries? Education, Nativity, Region, and Interracial Marriage, 1980 and 1990
Authors: Qian Zhenchao
Published: April 2019

This study examines interracial marriage among whites, African Americans, Hispanics, and Asian Americans, using PUMS data from the 1980 and the 1990 censuses. The level of interracial marriage is related inversely to the size of the racial group and to the proportion of the racial group in each region. Demographic structure, however, does not fully explain the racial differences in interracial marriage. Hispanics and Asian Americans have higher levels of interracial marriage than African Americans, despite the greater prevalence of immigrants in the former two groups. Interracial marriage differs by educational attainment for each racial group, but spousal educational differences are similar among different types of interracial marriages. The findings suggest that racial differences in interracial marriage by educational attainment do not show that interracial marriage is an exchange of whites’ racial status for minorities’ higher educational attainment, but indicate racial differences in educational attainment. Finally, immigration status, an indication of acculturation, shows different effects on interracial marriage for each racial group.
Traditional Values and Democratic Impulses: The Gender Division of Labor in Contemporary Spain
Authors: Sanchez Laura , Hall Carla S.
Published: April 2019

We examine the gender division of labor among married Spaniards (Family and the Use of Time Survey, 1993), testing hypotheses about secular, rational efficiency effects of employment, education, and political attitudes conflicting with wives’ and husbands’ gender traditional reactions to parenthood and Catholicism. The dependent variables include a summed inventory of six routine household maintenance tasks, daily hours spent in employment, housework, child care, and leisure, and three measures of timing, pacing, and multitasking pressures. Wives perform the vast majority of routine daily household maintenance chores and spend longer days in combined paid employment, housework, and child care than do husbands. Wives also experience greater pacing, timing, and multi-tasking pressures than do husbands. We find support for our argument that Spaniards combine both traditional and equalitarian orientations in their daily routines. Wives especially seem to balance a rationally efficient orientation to their market capital and time availability demands, but still retain a very traditional homemaking role based on affiliation with Catholic principles.
How Constructions of Ethnicity and Gender Contribute to Shaping Non-traditional Family Patterns: Some Introductory Comments
Authors: Miller R. Robin , Browning Sandra Lee
Published: April 2019

Family is not only a critical element of the social structure, it is a social construction in itself We are in the process of continually constructing and reconstructing family processes, and this emergent order is vitally influenced by the other statuses which we maintain. How are family dynamics shaped by ethnicity and gender? If much of the public debate on the “culture wars” has occured on the field of the family - over common perceptions of the non-traditional family - is it possible to determine patterns within these alternative forms by ethnicity and gender? This issue suggests that pursuing these questions is both possible and profitable for our collective understanding, of family dynamics
Sharing a Man: Insights From Research
Authors: Miller R. Robin , Browning Sandra Lee
Published: April 2019

Less than half of the some 8.5 million black families in America are comprised of a married couple. This apparent “retreat” from marriage on the part of African Americans has received sporadic academic attention. Early cultural theorists argued that the “deviant” matriarchal family structure within the black community was in large part responsible for the significant rise in single parent families. More recently, structuralist have explained this “retreat” as largely reflecting changes in the economy and labor market that have given rise to increased single female headed families, welfare dependency and criminal incarceration. Missing from our discussions on black male/female marital formation, are the perceptions black women have about marriage, and the adaptative strategies they employ to deal with a diminished marriage pool. This paper attempts to address that omission, and to begin a discourse on the social context affecting a growing number of African Americans.
Family socialization of ethnic identity among Chinese American pre-adolescents
Authors: Cheng Simon H. , Kuo Wen H.
Published: April 2019

The linkage between family structure, language, and ethnic identity is investigated to find out the effects of two major socialization mechanisms: one, family cultural transmission, and the other, structural symbolic interaction. The data on Chinese-American children indicates that family language proficiency is retained mainly through parental teaching; thus, first-born children and those with fewer siblings were favored. The construction of ethnic identity by children has followed a different process. Volition and social construction by children themselves, as predicted by structural interactionists, were found to have some influence in determining their version of ethnicity. The evidence further suggests that children reacted negatively to parental pressure to retain Chinese identity and that family structure, e.g. sibling size or birth order, also delimits a range for these children’s reactions and identity formation.
Qualities Men prefer for Children in the US and Sweden; Differences among Biological, Step and Informal Fathers
Authors: Bernhardt Eva M. , Goldscheider Frances K. , Rogers Michellel. , Koball Heather
Published: April 2019

This paper examines differences in child qualities preferred by biological and informal fathers in Sweden and the United States. This paper is the beginning of a larger research project to examine differences in children’s relationships with the coresident men in their lives, depending on men’s commitments with the children’s mothers (married, cohabiting), using the National Survey of Families and Households and the Swedish Family Survey. We find that fathers in Sweden do not differ significantly in the qualities they prefer in children by whether the children in their households are their biological children or not, or by whether or not they are married to the children’s mother. However, in the US, men living with non-biological children, and particularly those in cohabiting relationships, show less stress on independence than otherwise comparable men, and these differences tend to widen with duration in the relationship.
Mate Selection and Female Age at Marriage: A Micro Level Investigation in Tamil Nadu, India
Authors: Sheela J. , Audinarayana N.
Published: April 2019

This paper aims to examine the process of mate selection in determining the age at marriage of 600 ever-married women drawn from rural (300) and urban (300) areas of Salem district, Tamil Nadu. Results based on the Multiple Classification Analysis show that both in rural and urban areas, time taken to initiate marriage process after menarche, caste background, age difference between bride and bridegroom and consultation of women for their marriage have played a greater role in determining their age at marriage in that order. Further, in urban areas, consanguinity has exhibited a highly significant effect on their age at marriage. While the role of payment of dowry has some effect on age at marriage of women both in rural and urban areas, the practice of horoscope matching has such an effect only in rural areas. Contrary to the expectation, first-born daughters enter into matrimony comparatively at higher ages than their later-bom counterparts only in rural areas. A weak support to residential propinquity theory of mate selection is also noticed.
Postponement or Abandonment of Marriage? Evidence from Hong Kong
Authors: Wong Odalia M. H.
Published: April 2019

This paper examines whether the rise in the age at first marriage among women observed across many countries in the post-war era reflects postponement or abandonment of marriage. On both theoretical and empirical grounds, we reject the oft-cited Economic Independence hypothesis, which argues that rising educational attainment and employment among women have weakened the rationale for marriage, leading more women to forego marriage. Instead, using a human capital approach, we argue that rising educational and economic opportunity would lead women to postpone, but not abandon, marriage in order to complete more human capital investment early in the life course. Empirical analysis applied to an original data set for Hong Kong women broadly supports our hypothesis. Specifically, the use of hazard analysis shows that educational and career attainment among women in our sample reduce their marriage rates, but this effect tends to diminish over the life course. This result is further supported by applying survey analysis on the same sample. Specifically, women with higher educational attainment and career attainment actually expressed a stronger desire for marriage, albeit at a late age.
Intergenerational Transmission of Conjugal Stability in a Caribbean Community
Authors: Quinlan Robert J. , Flinn Mark V.
Published: April 2019

Some evolutionary models of human behavior posit that father-absence during early childhood influences subsequent adult reproductive strategies. We compare evidence for intergenerational transmission of conjugal stability in Western industrial populations with multigeneration patterns of conjugal stability in a rural Caribbean community. Genealogies (N=8O3) and behavioral data for a Caribbean community suggest that father-absence during early childhood has weak influence on later conjugal stability. Father- absent females were slightly more likely to have father-absent children than were father-present females (p=.08). Women whose mother had multiple mates were more likely to have multiple mates themselves (p=.03). Father-absent males were not more likely to become absent fathers than were father-present males. Men whose mother had multiple mates were not more likely to have multiple mates. Evidence from industrial populations and behavioral observations in a Caribbean community suggest that parental supervision during adolescence influences children’s subsequent conjugal stability.
Have Palestinian Children Forfeited Their Rights?
Authors: Sait M. Siraj
Published: April 2019

Though central to the narrative of the Palestinian- Israeli conflict, the dynamics of Palestinian childhood are generally unresearched. The impact of the conflict on Palestinian children is being steadily captured through snapshots and human rights reports but their complex role and participation within the Al-Aqsa Intifada, instead of provoking systematic study has led to their demonization without adequate comprehension of the factors and conditions. Arguments to the effect that Palestinian children have forfeited their rights as children by their manner of participation fail to unlock the complexities and context of Palestinian lives under occupation as well as misconstrue the nature and scope of child rights. A child rights approach to the conflict, though problematic in its particular context does help further clarify the obligations of the parties in conflict and the international community.
Migration as a Method of Coping with Turbulence Among Palestinians
Authors: Cainkar Louise , Abunimah Ali , Raei Lamia
Published: April 2019

Migration is one way individuals and families cope with economic uncertainty and political turbulence. Palestinians have used migration as a means to find economic stability and opportunities for their children since 1948, due to continuous strife in and displacement from their homeland. Built on earlier studies, this article discusses the findings of in-depth-interviews and focus groups with low-income Palestinians from Amman, Jordan now living in Chicago concerning their quality of life and the indicators they use to assess it. The authors found that these Palestinians see life in the United States as much richer in economic and educational opportunities than Jordan, but Jordan is viewed as being safer and providing stronger social supports. Consequently, they see their migration as circular, with movement plans timed to maximizing the best features of each country. Rather than seeking to settle permanently in the United States, they speak about living transnationally — moving between the two countries at different stages in their own and their children’s life cycles. Since September llth, 2001 however, the social and policy context in the United States has changed, especially for Arabs and Muslims. After describing some of these changes, the authors speculate that they may limit and change the character of Palestinian migration from Jordan, making a transnational lifestyle more risky and life in the US less tolerable. They find preliminary support for this idea in a survey of 33 residents of Amman and in an examination of data from the US visa lottery.
Family Change in Lebanon’s Biqa Valley: What were the Results of the Civil War?
Authors: Jabbra Nancy W.
Published: April 2019

The Lebanese Civil War, which lasted from 1975 to 1989, profoundly affected Lebanon’s economy, political system, social life, and culture, leaving no part of the country untouched. As a result of the war, many changes in family life took place in ‘Ain al-Qasis, a small town in the Biqa’ Valley. Age at marriage has risen, and young couples want fewer children. Young women are getting more education, and planning careers. Women approaching midlife aspire to be ladies of the house. Family values are in transition. Class stratification has superseded family networks as a mode of organization, and a variety of social, political, charitable, and religious organizations now fills their benevolent and integrative functions. Some of these trends had begun before the war, but the economic changes entailed by the war were the important factor in creating change.
The Family During Crisis in Afghanistan
Authors: Dupree Nancy Hatch
Published: April 2019

Twenty years of conflict and four years of devastating drought have stretched taut the Afghan society. Breakdowns in support structures accelerate with each passing year, but the family continues to represent the one cohesive reality that enables most individuals to cope with the tragedies they face.

Changes in attitudes toward the role of the family began to surface before the onset of the current conflict. Revolution followed by invading forces espousing ideologies championing the individual over the family, accentuated tensions in the urban capital. The rural areas reacted forcefully, rose with alarm, and strengthened traditional values, which held the centrality of the family imperative. As the fortunes of war brought ultraconservatives to the pinnacle of the governing structure, this attitude became paramount.

The buffeting by these political events was exacerbated by extreme economic stress. Massive internal displacements of populations broke the traditional safety nets that protected the vulnerable. In addition, over a third of the population has lived in exile for over twenty years. Here, while refugee populations initially strengthened family bonds, social dislocations became increasingly disruptive and family cohesiveness was progressively weakened.

Nevertheless, Afghans are a courageous people and determined to maintain the integrity of their basic value system in which reciprocal family rights and obligations feature so prominently. Even after peace returns it will be a long time before any future government can serve the society adequately. Therefore, it will be the traditional family support system that will provide the key to reconstruction and prosperity.

This discussion examines family patterns before the war, recounts the various events that impinged upon family life during the crises, and analyzes some of the variables that will govern the rejuvenation of this badly tattered society.
Dismantling the Iraqi Social Fabric: From Dictatorship Through Sanctions to Occupation
Authors: Ismael Shereen T.
Published: April 2019

This paper is an attempt to explain how the American strategy regarding Iraq has broken up the social fabric and led to a state of disorder, which the American administration has failed to address after six months since the fall of Baghdad. The concomitant psychological disorders of children provide a reasonable example of potential reverberations that this scenario will have for years to come. This paper also underscores multiple discriminations against Iraqi women from the re- emerging tribal and religious parochialisms, which the occupation forces and the Iraqi Governing Council tolerate, thus encouraging the atmosphere of atavistic recidivism that is prevalent in neighboring Gulf States. The movement towards female emancipation, which had already receded under the Hussein regime, is being further eviscerated and replaced by the sex trade, a phenomenon typical of the record and practice of the American military forces.
“This is Not Where I Belong!” The Emotional, Ongoing, and Collective Aspects of Couples’ Decision Making About Where to Live
Authors: Adams Jacqueline
Published: April 2019

Decision making about where to live is becoming a salient part of many couple’s lives, with geographical mobility on the rise and increasing numbers of dual career couples. This article examines how couples decide where to live, using data from thirty-seven semi-structured interviews with individuals hi cross-national relationships, living in a city in the Western United States. The data reveal that emotions are important in decision making, that decision making tends to be on-going, and that there are numerous parties to the decision making process.