bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Community Size and Sex Role Attitudes of the Students in India
Authors: Rao V. V. Prakasa , Rao V. Nandini
Published: October 2019

The major purpose of the study is to examine the relation between background variables and the attitudes toward wife, mother and father roles for three subsamples based on community size and also to find out the strongest predictor variables in explaining the variance in the attitudes toward the three social roles. Data were collected from a sample of 411 students from three colleges in India in 1978. Twenty-four (24) independent variables are correlated with three dependent variables-wife role, mother role, and father role-for rural, town, and metropolitan students. None of the independent variables is significantly related to all three dependent variables for the three subsamples. Based on the mean value, the students in general embraced the traditional attitudes toward the wife, mother and father roles. The regression model for mother role attitudes explained the greatest variance for the three subsamples compared to the model for wife role attitudes and father role attitudes. It is surprising to find that not a single common predictor is found in the regression models for the three criterion variables for rural, town and metropolitan residents. The study suggests that the community size may have conditioned the effect of background variables differently on the wife, mother, and father role attitudes of Indian students.
Children and the Law in Canada: The Shifting Balance of Children’s, Parents’ and the State’s Rights
Authors: Thomlison Ray J. , Foote Catherine E.
Published: October 2019

Canada’s laws regarding children and families can be examined on the basis of the balance they strike among the rights and obligations of the child, the family, and the state. In the past, the legislation and policies have traditionally adopted what may be called a paternalistic and reactive stance towards ensuring the well-being of Canadian children. The emphasis has been on apportioning power over children between parental figures and the state, on the weighing of family (parental) autonomy versus state intrusion into the family. Government intervention has generally followed a residual or safety net model, in which the authorities react to rescue or protect children, and only after specified problems have occurred in the families. A shift does, however, appear to be beginning in the field of child and family law. The earlier focus on parental and state rights is now being tempered with a growing concern for the rights of the children themselves, a movement which may lead to laws and policies that are more proactive or preventive in character.

Following a brief description of the historical context for current child and family law in Canada, this paper outlines the important principles which underly the legislation and which reflect the continuing attempt to balance conflicting rights. The main body of the paper takes up two central examples of attempted balance: first the field of “child protection,” and second the field of what used to be termed “juvenile delinquents” but which is now refered to as “young offenders.” The paper closes with an indication of future directions for the shifting balance of the child’s, the family’s, and the state’s rights within the process of seeking the welfare of Canada’s children.
Children in Despair: The Latin American Experience
Authors: David Pedro R.
Published: October 2019

Child welfare in Argentina is approached by first discussing the severe crisis affecting the Latin American and Caribbean Region generally. Economic and social factors, especially population size and high unemployment, have led to a situation in which millions of people live in conditions of critical poverty and depressing indigence. Attention is directed towards regional development strategy and the norms, values and factual components which comprise the three-part structure of the juridical system. Legal access to justice, legislation and culture, sectoral partiality and minors’ justice are crucial to the situation of children and families in Latin America and the Caribbean.

The second part of the article concentrates on children and family law in Argentina. The significant aspects of Argentine law are briefly discussed. Changes in the composition and structure of socialization patterns and the Argentine family are examined. Finally, future directions for family policy in Latin America are outlined.
The Masculine Side of Planned Parenthood: An explanatory Analysis
Authors: Adebayo Akin
Published: October 2019

Much is already known about the attitudes of African women concerning family planning; but little is known about the views of men. This article examines the opinions of Nigerian men toward a wide range of fertility related issues that may affect the success of family planning programs. Specifically, the masculine side of planned parenthood (family planning) were explored in terms of attitudes toward (1) Nigeria’s population dynamics, (2) population control policies, (3) sex preference and value of children, (4) ideal number of children, and (5) family planning.

In general, three salient findings, inter alia, manifest that the sample is not very receptive to family planning. First, the sample does not think that Nigeria is plagued with population problems. Second, government interference with the number of children a couple wants proved anathema to the resampled men. Third, the men embraced the fact that women should seek their husband’s permission before they practice any form of family planning. While the first two findings negate the practical objectives of planned parenthood program, the findings have important policy implications for action programs aimed at reducing female fertility in a male dominated society.
Delayed Reciprocity and the Support Networks of the Childless Elderly
Authors: Ikels Charlotte
Published: October 2019

Much research on the support networks of the elderly has focused on the amount and kinds of assistance provided by spouses and children. Single, childless elderly, however, have neither of these resources. This paper examines the roles played by siblings in the lives of childless, Irish-American elderly and explores the antecedents which made possible particular outcomes in later life. A microanalytic approach clarifies the importance of the concept of reciprocity in facilitating close ties among elderly siblings.
The Structural-Functional Theory of Family and Kinship
Authors: Johnson Harry M.
Published: October 2019

After consideration of the many possible functions of kinship systems, the author adopts a definition that does not refer directly to functions: a kinship system is an elaborate institutional pattern controlling collectivities and roles that are focused upon, or ascribed on the basis of, sexual unions, biological relatedness through sexual unions and common residence. Reasons are given for treating the family as a “social system” rather than a “group” of concrete personalities. The author discusses eight invariant foci for the comparative analysis of all kinship systems and summarizes reasons for the near-universality of the nuclear family and the primary incest taboo. The relative distinctiveness of the modern independent nuclear family and four of its advantages are specified in functional and evolutionary terms. To prevent misunderstanding, however, the author makes eight further points or qualifications and discusses briefly some of the problems of the independent nuclear family. The paper ends with the observation that the so-called structural-functional approach can synthesize the results of a good deal of research that is not explicitly structural-functional. The paper itself leans above all on Talcott Parsons but also draws upon Ralph Linton, George Peter Murdock, Claude Levi-Strauss, and William Goode, among others.
Sex Role Stereotypes and Self-Concepts Among American and Chinese Students
Authors: Huang Lucy Jen
Published: October 2019

This is a cross-cultural study of sex role stereotypes and self-concepts among Chinese and American students. The Chinese sample was drawn from populations in Taiwan. Both samples were given the same instrument of 122 bipolar items which describes, with an adjective or a short phrase, particular behavior trait or characteristic. The instrument was translated into Chinese for the Taiwan groups. One pole of each item can be characterized as typically masculine, the other as typically feminine. One part of each sample was instructed to rate members of own sex, and the other part was instructed to rate members of the opposite sex. Statistical significance is indicated by a Fisher’s T-score of magnitude to be significant at the 01 level on all questionnaire items. Findings in this study show not only heterosexual misunderstanding and mis-evaluation in both countries but also cross-cultural differences in value orientations. It is implied that heterosexual and cross-cultural misunderstanding may lead to serious difficulties in the interactions between the sexes in both countries as well as in the Chinese students’ adjustment to the American culture.
Traditionalism in the Family: A Comparison between Asian and British Cultures and between Generations
Authors: Stopes-Roe Mary , Cochrane Raymond
Published: October 2019

The Asian British and the indigenous British have different underlying attitudes to family living and family structure and to the rights and obligations of individuals within the family. The data presented here were part of a survey covering many aspects of the experiences and attitudes of Asian parents born in the country of origin, and their young people now aged 18 - 21 years and resident for at least 10 years in Britain (120 families). A British control group was used where comparisons were relevant, as on this issue. Differences in traditionalism or ’old-fashioned attitude’ were hypothesized between generations and between ethnic groups and were found. Quotes from respondents themselves are used to discuss and to illustrate the differences.
Returns to Parental Investment in Children in Benguet Province, Philippines
Authors: Peterson Jean Treloggen
Published: October 2019

Caldwell has postulated five mechanisms by which mass education affects families, resulting in lower fertility. His data are from the West, India, and subSaharan Africa; our data base is Cairo, Egypt. Supported are four of Caldwell’s mechanisms: reduction of children ’s work potential, increased cost of children, p_rolonged dependency of children on family, and the school system’s speeding of cultural change. However, Caldwell’s fifth mechanism, propagation of Western middle-class values, is not wholly supported, particularly because of Islamic values concerning parental authority and influence, strongly promoted by Egyptian public education curricula. We hypothesize that this educational influence of the Islamic Revival may be a cause of the. faltering, in recent years, of Egypt’s population control program which had made promising start after the 1952 Revolution.
Mass Education, Islamic Revival, and the Population Problem in Egypt
Authors: Faust Kimberly , Bach Rebecca , Alla Saad Gad , Khattab Hind , Gulick John
Published: October 2019

This article focuses on social change among Indians in South Africa since their arrival as ‘indentured’ and ‘passenger’ Indians fr,om India, 130 years ago. It concentrates on the concept of the joint or extended family, its developmental cycle, causes of segmentation and the status and acculturation of women in a rapidly changing society subjugated by a white minority government.
Attitudes towards Cohabitation and Marriage in Canada
Authors: Wu Zheng , Balakrishnan T. R.
Published: October 2019

An analysis of a national sample of Canadian women in the Canadian National Fertility Survey (1984) indicate that attitudes towards cohabitation and marriage are associated with their demographic, socioeconomic and cultural background. Eight attitudinal variables in the survey are used to construct the scales for the attitudes in a confirmatory factor analysis. Women who are in older ages, currently married, living in rural areas, with lower educational attainment, non-Catholic, having a higher frequency of church attendance and a higher desired number of children are found to be more conservative in their attitudes towards cohabitation and marriage. The study also finds that Quebec women tend to be more liberal than non-Quebec women.
Marital Dissolution and Development in Indonesia
Authors: Guest Philip
Published: October 2019

Most western societies have experienced an increase in the incidence of divorce during the twentieth century. In some developing societies, however, divorce rates are at levels as high as those observed in the West, and in several of these societies divorce rates have been declining. One example of a country with high but declining levels of divorce is Indonesia. In this study we utilize World Fertility Survey data for the Indonesian islands of Java and Bali to establish the incidence of marital dissolution, to examine how the incidence has changed over time, and to analyze the covariates of the timing and probability of divorce. The findings suggest that declines in divorce can be largely attributed to development processes that have increased levels of educational attainment and resulted in later ages of marriage.
Cohesion and Adaptability in Families of Adolescent Drug Abusers in the United States and Indonesia
Authors: Natakusumah Anya , Irwanto  , Piercy Fred , Lewis Robert , Sprenkle Douglas , Trepper Terry
Published: October 2019

This study compared families of Indonesian (N=61) and American (N=152) adolescent drug abusers in terms of: a) the perceived levels of family cohesion and adaptability, b) the manner and extent to which the Indonesian and American samples differed on cohesion and adaptability, and c) the extent to which cohesion and adaptability were related to the severity of the adolescent’s drug use. Findings indicate that the families of American drug users tended to see their families as more dysfunctional, and differed among themselves more than their Indonesian counterparts. Also cohesion was found to be a better predicator of drug use severity than adaptability for both samples. A variety of other findings are presented and discussed.
A Comparative Study of The Occupational Attainment Processes of White Men and Women in The United States: The Effects or Having Ever Married, Spousal Education, Children and Having Ever Divorced
Authors: Airsman Linda A. , Sharda Bam Dev
Published: October 2019

The vast majority of occupational attainment studies have not adequately addressed the effects of marriage and spouses on the occupational attainment process. When spousal influence is taken in account, social scientists tend to take a one - sided approach in focusing on the effects of husbands’ achievements on the occupational attainments of women. The extent to which wives mediate men’s occupational outcomes is rarely the subject of inquiry. This study addresses the single sided approach by comparing the effects of having ever married, spousal educational attainment, number of children, and having ever divorced on the occupational advancements of men and women. A United States national sample of 3,375 white men and 2,612 white women between the ages of 20 and 64 was derived from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics.
State-to-State Differences in Social Inequality and Social Bonds in Relation to Assaults, on Wives in the United States
Authors: Straus Murray A.
Published: October 2019

This paper examines three theories purporting to explain society-to-society differences in the rate of physical assau lts on women by their partners: feminist patriarchical society theory, conflict theory, and soc ial disorganization and control theory. A model incorporating the three theories was tested using data on the rate of husband-to-wife physical assaults in each of the 50 states of the U.S.A. The husband-to-wife assault rates were regressed on indexes to measure gender equality, income inequality, and social disorganization, plus five control variables. Significant relationships were found using the Gender Equality and Social Disorgani zation indexes, thus providing evidence in support of two of the three theories. Specifically, it was found that the greater the degree of inequality between men and women and the greater the extent of social disorganization, the higher the rate of assault on wives.
Homeless Street Boys in Nepal: Their Demography and Lifestyle
Authors: Baker R. , Panter-Brick C. , Todd A.
Published: October 2019

Homeless children live and work independently of their families on the streets in many cities of the developing world. A survey was undertaken to compare the family backgrounds and current lifestyles of 329 six to seventeen year old Nepali boys is contrasting environments. A representative sample of 130 homeless boys is compared with three other groups of 54 rural, 62 urban squatter and 83 urban privileged school - children. Structured questionnaires and iterviews revealed considerable variation in the family background of the homeless and control populations. Homeless children belong to a variety of caste and ethnic backgrounds, with 49% of individuals being high caste. Data on family structure showed that 52% of homeless boys had both parents at home, 23% had step-parents, and only 8% were parent-less. In contrast, very few rural and urban controls (0-2%) had step-parents. For the homeless, family structure, particularly the presence of step-parents, influenced the age of first leaving home, reasons given for migration, and frequencies of home visits. The majority of homeless children visited their families at least once a year. Success on the streets, as indicated by daily earnings, is variable and influenced both by age and income-generating activity. The lifestyles and relationships of homeless boys are discussed.
Breaking Rural Bonds Through Migration: The Failure of Development for Women in India
Authors: Srinvasan Shobha
Published: October 2019

This paper is about women and development in India. Despite many five year plans which have specifically focused on development in rural areas, the major thru st and rapid development has been in the urban centers. Thus capital and technology is concentrated in the urban centers with the rural areas totally dependent on the urban area for its sustenance. Since growth has been biased toward the capital intensive urban centers, the poor from the rural areas have no other options but to seek a livelihood in the urban centres resulting in an unparalled migration and an unprecedented growth of slums. This study focuses on women’s lives and opportunities and asks whether their opportunities are affected more by rural development programs than by migration.

I employed two methods of data collection in the study. First, I interviewed the oldest member of every household in th ree areas: a developed village, a less developed village and an urban slum. Second, I randomly selected and interviewed women from these areas, to collect information on their lives and opportunities.

Li stening to the narrations of the women, I di scovered th at the bonds of caste and gender, are more binding in the rural areas than in the urban are as. The lives and opportunities of women in rural India indicate that development programs have perpetuated the traditional gender and caste roles and thus marginalized or worsened the conditions for women in rural India. Migration to urban areas is inevitable unless rural planners and policy makers make it their first priority to develop policies that break the stranglehold of caste and landholding on the one hand and unequal gender relations on the other. If development is to reach the rural areas and benefit the women, planners and policy makers need to promote the autonomy of women in the rural areas and take into account the gender relations in a patriarchal society like India. The catalyst for change in the rural areas is the social organization of women.
Families and the Handicapped in Northern Jordan
Authors: Young William C.
Published: October 2019

Almost no research has been done on the impact of physical handicaps on family relationships in the Arab world. Fieldwork carried out in the north Jordanian town of Kufrinja sheds light on coping strategies adopted by parents of handicapped children. It shows that the task of care-giving falls on the child’s mother to the exclusion of other family members, and that the care-giving role is so closely linked to the mother that when she dies the handicapped child often can find no substitute. Cross-cultural comparison suggests that this is not a culturespecific pattern; on the contrary, the Arab family seems in this regard quite similar to American and English families. Another finding is that the presence of a handicap in a child disrupts the marriage strategies of the child’s family. Fear that the handicap is hereditary makes it much more difficult for the child’s sisters to find suitors. In Arab tradition, only the father of a handicapped child - not the mother or mother’s family - must bear the costs of therapy and medical treatment. Consequently, women who are thought likely to transmit a handicap to their chidren are viewed as a potential source of unusual expenses and difficulties by suitors and their families.
The Two-child Family: The Egyptian Model of Family Planning
Authors: Wisensale Steven K. , Khodair Amany A.
Published: October 2019

In 1994 President Hosni Mubarek of Egypt received the United Nations Population Award for both his national and international leadership on population issues. Despite decades of disappointments in addressing a rising birth rate and a maldistributed population, Egypt chose collaboration over coercion and embarked on an aggressive educational program in the early 1980s that set as its goal a "two-chi ld-family" by 2015.

To accomplish its goal, the Information, Education and Communication Center of the State lnfonnation Service has employed five techniques. These include the mass media, interpersonal communication, the enter-educate method, training of personnel, and research. As a result, between 1985 and 1994 the percentage of families using contraceptives,nore than doubled and the birth rate dropped from 39.8 per thousand to 27.5 per thousand.

Other nations can learn at least four important lessons from the Egyptian experience in family planning: (I) patience and persistence matter; (2) religious factions should be included in both the policymaking and plar.ning process; (3) a balanceneeds to be struck between the centralization of goal setting and_ the decentralization of program implementation; and (4) traditional family planning theory that states that economic development detennines the fertility rate can be reversed. That is, instead of economic development determining the fertility rate, Egyptian policy makers believe that control of the latter produces the fonner.
Asymmetry And Symmetry Of Conjugal Violence
Authors: Nakhaie M. Reza
Published: October 2019

General theory and research on conjugal violence have been generated around two empirical assumptions: first, that males are significantly more likely to engage in conjugal violence than females (the asymmetry assumption); and, se.:ondly, that this pattern is relatively stable over the life-course. These assumptions are problematic for two reasons. Recent research has demonstrated greater gender symmetry in conjugal violence than previously believed, and recent theoretical work in criminology has explicitly challenged the stability of such relationships. The present research seeks to further knowledge in this area by examining gender differences in conjugal violence during the life course. The research reveals that, consistent with research about crime among non-intimates, life-course trajectories have a significant impact on violent behaviour between intimates. The analysis shows that there is greater gender asymmetry in conjugal violence among the younger age groups and more symmetry among the older cohorts.
Consensual Unions In Two Costa Rican Communities: An Analysis Using Focus Group Methodology
Authors: Glaser Karen
Published: October 2019

This study uses focus groups to explore the nature of consensual unions and the relationship between union type and fertility in Costa Rica. Participants, both men and women, were drawn from two communities, La Cruz in the province of Guanacaste, and Cahuita, in the province of Limon.

I hypothesize that women’s status, reflecting gender differences in power distribution, is an important determinant of the type of union chosen. Women with a weaker “bargaining position” in their relationships with men (reflected in their socioeconomic status, children from previous unions, age, etc.) are more likely to enter consensual than legal unions, which offer less legal and financial protection. The weaker “bargaining position” of women in consensual unions in turn is likely to affect the “marital relationship" so that women in consensual unions may have less say in fertility decisions than their partners.

The results show that while most respondents state that there are no differences between union types in terms of family obligations and responsibilities, women are nevertheless aware that consensual unions may end up providing them with little legal or financial support, and that they and their children risk being left on their own. The greater instability of the consensual union influences fertility in that women appear to use children to create a securer bond within such unions.

Further work in this area would benefit from more research into the cultural context within which decisions regarding union formation are made and the constraints on union choice.
Comment Of Coding Marital Status In Latin America
Authors: Vos Susan De
Published: October 2019

Although the value of information on marital status is often questioned seriously, this note assumes that it is valuable and comments on its rather distinctive but confusing nature in Latin American censuses. Latin American censuses often list “consensual union” as a marital status. This is confusing however, because one has to wonder what this means and how one is supposed to use the information in comparative studies. It would seem that “consensual union” is at once too inclusive and too limiting a term. Although one might consider consensual union theoretically to be a type of trial marriage, censuses and surveys also use the tenn for unions that might better be termed customary marriage, common-law marriage or childless cohabitation. Curiously perhaps, the term “consensual union,’ is usually not used to denote stable, child-producing “visiting unions" in which the partners do not share a common residence. Rather, people in visiting unions are usually called "single" although they are clearly in a stable sexual relationship. Should different kinds of unions ideally be allocated separate and more accurate labels?
Regional Differences in Household Composition and Family Formation Patterns in Vietnam
Authors: Belanger Daniele
Published: October 2019

This paper studies household composition in Vietnam from a regional perspective. The analysis is based on data from the Vietnam Living Standards Survey conducted in 1992- 1993 (VLSS 1992-93) on a nationally representative sample of 4800 households. The results point to a higher proportion of nuclear families in the North, while more extended and multiple family households exist in the South. Analyses suggest that young couples of the southern regions tend to live with their parents more often, and for a longer period, than young couples of the North. Couples of the South and of the Center display more flexibility as to whether to live with paternal or maternal kin, whereas couples of the North feature a clear preference for co-residing with paternal kin. The discussion attempts to characterize the Vietnamese family based on these findings and reviews explanations for regional differences, namely north-south differences in housing stock characteristics, political history, cultural influences and migration patterns.
Chinese Husbands’ Participation in Household Labor
Authors: Maume Zai Zai Lu, David J. , Bellas Marcia L.
Published: October 2019

A traditional saying in China is that “Men dominate the outside; women dominate the inside.” The first part of this saying has clearly changed, as Chinese women of working age show near universal participation in paid labor. To what extent is the second part of this saying still reflected in modern China? We examine this question using data from the China Health and Nutrition Study. We selected a subsample of 2,580 wives aged 20-55 and their husbands in order to analyze husbands’ participation in three traditionally female household tasks and child care. We examine absolute and relative measures of husbands’ participation for urban and rural residents separately, and we identify determinants of husbands’ greater participation. We find that urban husbands contribute more than rural husbands, but regardless of residency, wives do the vast majority of household labor and child care. Findings for the urban sample are most consistent with those of U.S. studies and show at least partial support for three major explanations of the division of household labor: time availability, gender-role ideologies, and relative power. We suggest possible ways to alleviate the “double day” experienced by Chinese wives.
Immigrant and Ethnic Minority families: An Introduction
Authors: Nauck Bernhard , Settles Barbara H.
Published: October 2019

The impact of intergenerational transmission processes on the intercultural contact and ethnic identification of second generation adolescents is studied in five different groups of migrant families: Italian, Greek, and Turkish work migrants, German repatriates from Russia, and Jewish immigrants from Russia to Israel. In each group, 400 dyads of parents and adolescents with the same sex were interviewed with a standardized questionnaire in the language of origin or of the receiving society. Four possible outcomes of intercultural contact are distinguished: integration, assimilation, segregation, and marginalization. An explanatory model is proposed that relates these possible outcomes systematically to the availability of social and cultural capital in migrant families and to intergenerational transmission processes. The empirical analysis compares measurement for ethnic identification and network characteristics for the parent and the child generation as an indication of intergenerational transmission. It reveals considerable variability between migrant groups which can not be explained by classical assimilation theory and thus demonstrate the adequacy of the suggested model.
A Demographic Analysis of Family Households in China, 1982-1995
Authors: Yi Zeng
Published: October 2019

Analysis based on censuses and mini-census data shows that while the nuclear family household was the mainstream in China in the 1990s, extended family households with 3+ generations also constituted a substantive proportion: 19.4% and 18.3% in 1995 and 1990, respectively. A large majority of elderly men (69%) and women (75%) lived with their children. As compared with the early 1980s, in the 199.0s, the number of one-person households decreased; the number of 3+ generation extended family households increased; the proportion of elderly persons living alone decreased; living with spouse and children increased. Explanations to interpret this phenomenon, which is contradictory to theoretical expectations, are given. We believe that family structures in China in the 1990s were not more traditional than those in the early 1980s were; the traditional norm regarding family structure and living arrangement of the elderly changed little, if at all, between 1982 and 1995. Previous expectations that Chinese families might give way to the Western pattern have not been met.
Life Course, Households and Institutions: Brazil and Mexico
Authors: Da Conceiçaã Maria Christina Gomes
Published: October 2019

This paper analyzes how increases in life expectancy have, in several ways, reorganized the individual life-course during the last century ( 1900-1990) in Brazil and Mexico. In each society, couple and family relationships, domestic positions, household’s composition and structure, domestic resources and institutional mediations are in interplay with survival and generational patterns. A higher life expectancy extends the duration of the individual trajectories, successive cohorts of men and women survive longer, different generations survive together, differences by gender emerge, and domestic relationships conform a mix of types of households. The household structure has changed while people survive until advanced ages, their adult children leave the parents’ household and older people live alone as a couple and then, after the death of one of the partners, they live as a widow or widower. On the other hand, socioeconomic and institutional conditions are different in each society, drafting specific settings that can promote or limit the household members’ opportunities. Individuals of different cohorts reproduce norms and resources according to different phases of the demographic transition and institutional properties in specific historical time.
The Elder in the Cuban American Family: Making Sense of the Real and Ideal
Authors: Martinez Iveris Luz
Published: October 2019

Much of the literature on family networks of Hispanic elders in the United States assumes that the family is the natural support network without considering the structural, cultural, and psychosocial impact of immigration, or exile, on the family. However, there has been an increasing tendency of elder Cuban immigrants in the United States to live alone. With increasing mobility and varying degrees of acculturation across generations, it is important to understand how older people make sense of their rapidly changing familial life to themselves and to others. This paper compares the results of structured interviews of 79 Cuban elders in Miami-Dade County, Florida (U.S.) and focus groups on intergenerational relations held among a subset of fifteen of these elders using content analysis. Themes covered include desired family size, actual family size and its perceived effect, reasons for family size and roles of the family. The aim was to explore the ideal verses the real of Cuban elder family life and how elders themselves make sense of it. Results indicated that the ideal is larger families, but not co-residence. Migration and related economic necessity are understood as the primary reason for smaller families, as well as changes in intergenerational exchanges. The concept of the family, however, expands beyond the nuclear unit to include extended kin in the absence of co-residence and regular exchanges with children. The ideal family relations and perceived affect of migration on this dynamic were more likely to be expressed in the focus group setting than in the individual interviews.
Cross-Cultural Studies of Families: Hidden Differences
Authors: Walters Lynda Henley , Warzywoda-Kruszynska Wielislawa , Gurko Tatyana
Published: October 2019

In family research, detecting differences between or among countries depends on the use of measurement that is comparable across countries and relevant within all countries. Measurement is affected by theory, by the level at which measurement is considered, e.g., word or construct; and by time it is necessary to have enough time for all researchers to have both a scholarly understanding of families and an experiential understanding of families in all countries included in a study. An equally important issue affecting the detection of differences is the strategy used to find similarities and differences. Our experience suggests that it is best to examine differences within countries and compare patterns of differences across countries. Using this strategy it is possible to detect subtle differences that can be lost in global tests of cross country differences. We illustrate this point with data from a study of families in the former Soviet Georgia, Poland, Russia, and the United States.
Perceptions of Arranged Marriages by Young Pakistani Muslim Women Living in a Western Society
Authors: Zaidi Arshia U. , Shuraydi Muhammad
Published: October 2019

Exploration of attitudes towards arranged marriages were examined from the perspective of second generation Pakistani Muslim women living in a western society. Symbolic Interactionism and Interpretive Interactionism were the theoretical and methodological considerations respectively. Twenty single females, between the ages of 16 to 30 years, living in Canada or the United States, were interviewed utilizing an unstructured schedule interview. The main research question addressed the role of western values in influencing mate-selection practices. Other questions centred around the Pakistani women’s definition of the situation with regards to arranged marriages.***The results indicated that even though Pakistani parents, especially fathers, are perceived to be resistant to cultural change, western values are playing a determining role in the process of mate-selection for second generation Pakistani Muslim females. Most Pakistani women are adapting and modifying attitudes which reflect the ideas of western ideology of greater self-expression and personal gratification.
Social Support for Two Generations of New Mothers in Selected Populations in Korea, Hong Kong, and the United States
Authors: Lee On-Kang Hyun And Wanjeong , Yoo An-Jin , Cho Bok-Hee , Yoo Ka-Hyo , Miller Brent C. , Schvaneveldt Jay D. , Lau Sing
Published: October 2019

When a first child is born into a family, major changes occur in the lives of first time parents, and this is especially the case for new mothers. Previous research has illustrated that social support can help new mothers better understand and meet the demands of child care and parenting. In this study, the sources and types of social support reported by new mothers were compared to that of the grandmother in two generations of 301 mother-daughter pairs in three cultures (Korea, Hong Kong, and the United States). The results show that for young mothers in Korea, the primary source of support came from mothers or mothers-in-law; whereas the primary source of support for young mothers in both Hong Kong and the United States came from their husbands. The Korean data from the grandmothers reflects a patriarchal pattern, in that the husband’s mother provided the most support and help. This was not the case in Hong Kong or the United States. Content of support for new mothers (categorized into physical care, active interaction with the child, and emotional support) differed greatly by source of support (e.g. husband, mother, or mother-in-law) and by culture. These generational and societal differences are interpreted as reflecting both rapid social change and contrasting cultural emphases on marital and extended family relationships. Kin support is more evident in Korea, whereas in Hong Kong and the United States, the relationship between husbands and wives is emphasized.
Violence by Children Against Mothers in Relation to Violence Between Parents and Corporal Punishment by Parents
Authors: Ulman Arina , Straus Murray A.
Published: October 2019

This article examines violence by children against parents, with particular emphasis on violence against mothers. The data are from interviews with parents of a nationally representative sample of American children age 3 through 17 (N=l,023). Analyses of rates for the previous 12 months found that: (1) The younger the child, the higher the rate of child-to-parent violence (CPV). (2) At all ages, more children were violent to mothers than to fathers. (3) Both boys and girls hit mothers more than fathers. (4) At all ages, slightly more boys than girls hit parents. Tests of the theory that CPV reflects violence by the parents found that CPV was associated with violence by parents, regardless of whether the violence was husband- to-wife, wife-to-husband, corporal punishment, or physical abuse. In the absence of parent-to- child violence, CPV is rare. Because corporal punishment had the strongest relation to CPV, the findings suggest that steps to end violence against women cannot be limited to efforts to eliminate wife-beating, but should also include steps to end corporal punishment. Primary prevention is needed in the form of helping parents set an example of non-violence by not using corporal punishment.
Fatherless Costa Rica: Child Acknowledgment and Support Among Lone Mothers
Authors: Budowski Monica , Bixby Luis Rosero
Published: October 2019

Much debate is going on in Costa Rica about the increase of out-of-wedlock births and unestablished paternity in particular with regard to the elaboration of social policy measures. No systematic empirical data on the issue has been available to date, leaving the various discourses in public without foundation. Our work contributes to this gap in knowledge.

Data and methodology: Using representative data sets we outline the national situation. A qualitative study based on 140 qualitative in-depth interviews with lone mothers in various cultural settings within Costa Rica offers a “grass-roots” view of the issue.

Results: A macro-level analysis of official data shows 49% of births in 1998 were non-marital ones and that the proportion of births with unestablished paternity accounts for more than one quarter (28%) of the children. The rise in births with unestablished paternity results from a rise in the number of non-married women and a change in the population structure of Nicaraguan immigrants. Strong regional differences exist. Among individual factors are nationality, age, birth order, and social and marital status. Information from the qualitative study shows that the majority of women relate unestablished paternity to desertion or abandonment of responsibilities by the father of their child. Other reasons are interference by parents or in-laws and not wanting legal acknowledgement. Only one quarter of the women receive official child support and one third receive voluntary contributions. The women’s assessment of their situation in the different cultural contexts is varied and enables identifying areas worthy of reflection for efficient national social policy measures, presented as the conclusions of the paper.
Family Size Control by Infanticide in the Great Agrarian Societies of Asia
Authors: Caldwell John C. , Caldwell Bruce K.
Published: October 2019

There is now sufficient historical demographic analysis of India, Japan and China to show that infanticide has traditionally been employed to shape families. The driving force has often been the need to preserve family property from division by inheritance or dispersal by the payment of high dowries, although, especially in China, current subsistence problems have also been important. The practice has often been more frequent among the rich than the poor and may have increased as economic advancement became more possible. Nevertheless, it is probable that high child mortality ensured that most families did not have to practise infanticide, which probably played only a modest role in determining the level of population equilibrium. The factor making infanticide more likely than in hunter-gatherer societies is the possession of land. The Judaeo-Christian-Muslim outlawing of infanticide provided the incentive both to try to eliminate the practice and to record its existence.$$infanticide, historical demography, population control, agricultural societies, land, inheritance, dowry, India, Japan, China.
Above All, Farming Means Family Farming: Context for Introducing the Articles in This Special Issue
Authors: Hildenbrand Bruno , Hennon Charles B.
Published: October 2019

This Special Issue presents research and theoretical developments concerning farm-family transitions. Specifically, how qualitative methods sometimes combined with quantitative approaches can bring new understanding to farmfamily functioning and the transitions experienced over several generations or years. The research provides rich details about transition points such as marriages and succession, and changes in production techniques or commodity. This information supports theory building about the family response to ecological (e.g., physical, economic, political, social) opportunities and constrains. The Special Issue authors offer useful conceptualizations, research strategies, and theory building that can enhance knowledge about the interplay of farm and family, business and lifestyle. Information is presented about family farming in a dozen or more countries. In this article the authors present background information about family farming as a context for introducing the articles in the Special Issue. An attempt is made to explain why the family farm is still a significant organisational element in farming, even in the industrialised-capitalist west. An explanation is given of how different farming paradigms (yeoman, entrepreneur) and farm-family types (Traditional farmers on the break-even point; Modernizers out of necessity, Part-time farmers, Innovative entrepreneurs) can lead to diverse strategies for responding to issues of modernity and changing agricultural conditions.
The Persistence of Family Farming in the Wake of Agribusiness: A New Brunswick, Canada Case Study
Authors: Machum Susan
Published: October 2019

This article explores how and why small (subsistence, hobby, and small scale commercial) farms have persisted in the face of agribusiness and the pressure to “get big or get out” of fanning. Drawing on semi-structured interviews conducted for a case study of dairy and potato farming in New Brunswick, Canada, the article argues off-farm employment, mixed farming, and inter-/intra-generational family farming are strategies families have used to stay in farming despite pressures to expand and modernise. The article contends smallscale operations that have followed these strategies are the farms that have essentially maintained the vistas and agricultural infrastructure of rural New Brunswick. They are not a residual or marginal category of farm operations left behind by modernisation, but a conscious economic strategy and approach to rural life. It is these farms that are critical for the long-term maintenance of local communities and food production, yet they tend to be marginalised by agricultural policy makers.
Styles of Pig Farming and Family Labour in the Netherlands
Authors: Commandeur Monica A. M.
Published: October 2019

In a survey conducted in 1998 of pig production farmers in the east of The Netherlands, labour division amongst family members appeared to depend on style of farming. The role of the men on the farm is connected to the attitude to hired labour: the more hired labour, the more the men become farm managers. The role of women on the farm is primarily connected to the age of their children. Women with young children perform farm activities that can be more easily combined with childcare. The role of women who are less occupied with young children varies amongst styles of farming. At the time of succession, it is often the women who initiate extra farm activities, like home procession and sales of farm products, involvement with tourism, et cetera. In the research five styles of farming were defined and given metaphoric names: entrepreneur, craftsman, steward, stockman, and shifter. Every style of farming showed a specific coherence in the organisation of the farm work.