Diverse Family Forms Research Articles

A ADOÇÃO POR CASAIS HOMOAFETIVOS SOB A PERSPECTIVA DO DIREITO DE FAMÍLIA

Adoption by same-sex couples, from the perspective of Family Law, represents a significant advancement in equality of rights and recognition of diverse family forms. In many countries, Family Law has evolved to include same-sex couples in the adoption process, allowing them to form families and secure rights similar to those of heterosexual couples. Historically, same-sex couples have faced legal and social barriers to adopting children. However, case law and legislation have advanced, reflecting greater acceptance and understanding of same- sex relationships. For instance, Brazil’s Supreme Federal Court has ruled favorably on adoption by samesex couples, recognizing the validity of these unions and ensuring they can legally form a family. The decision to allow adoption by same-sex couples is based on the principle that the child's best interest should prevail. The ability to provide a loving and stable environment is considered more important than the adoptive parents' sexual orientation. Studies have shown that children adopted by same-sex couples develop as healthily as those adopted by heterosexual couples. Furthermore, legal recognition of adoption by same-sex couples contributes to the protection of children’s rights, ensuring they have access to all legal and social benefits provided by law.

Doing Family Before the State. Does Recognition of De Facto Families Lead to More Inclusive Migration Law Practices?

Abstract Critical scholars have long called for state recognition of de facto families, beyond legal or biological ties, as a pathway toward inclusion of more diverse family forms. This article asks to what extent recognition of de facto families indeed leads to more inclusion, in the context of a restrictive immigration regime in which families need state permission to live together. It zooms in on migration law practice in the Netherlands, through an analysis of laws and regulations, work instructions of street-level implementers, and interviews with migration lawyers. It finds that conceptions of family-as-doing which focus on practices of dependency and care play a small but significant role in Dutch migration law, enabling inclusion of families beyond the nuclear model. However, recognition of de facto families may lead to new forms of state scrutiny of intimate lives, as well as to new forms of exclusion.

From Gender Re-Traditionalizations to Anti-Gender Mobilizations: Care for Family in Serbia and Croatia

This article focuses on the cases of Croatia and Serbia to demonstrate how the heteronormative model of family and the constructs of “protection of family and children”—which are central to anti-gender mobilizations—can be traced to the 1990s heteronationalist discourses of family in both countries. The authors argue that the crucial link between these two discourses is that they both increasingly problematize diverse family forms and imbue “traditional family” with special value as the structure that is “best for children” and therefore merits special legal and policy protection, with a view to its restoration as society’s unquestionable cornerstone. The analysis of narrative content in parliamentary and public debates about family-related laws and policies in Serbia and Croatia between the 1990s and the 2020s is guided by the following questions: What are the continuities in the legal framework and narratives on the family in post-socialist Croatia and Serbia compared with the period of socialist Yugoslavia? Who are the actors who create narratives of return to a traditional family in post-socialist Croatia and Serbia, and how do these actors define family and care for the family? The article calls attention to how what is “old”—narratives of return to the traditional family—forms the backbone of religious-conservative oppositions to gender and sexuality rights, including the most recent wave of anti-gender mobilizations.

‘Strengthening [the] family’ through adult education in Turkey: a critical discourse analysis of a family education programme

This paper discusses the scope of governmental interventions in families through adult education in the context of Turkey’s family-focused debates. The central question is to understand how ‘family’ is constructed in the family life education programme of the Ministry of Family and Social Services. Seven handbooks were chosen from the family education and communication module of the programme. Based on a critical discourse analysis of materials, we examined what textual devices and discursive practices were used to construct ‘family’ and what gendered messages were presented in the texts and visuals of the materials. This study revealed that the selected materials utilised several instruments to normalise the family as a privileged institution in society. In the texts, a heteronormative discourse with an emphasis on reproductivity was reinforced and no attention has been paid to diverse gender identities and family forms. The study also revealed that women were assigned as the primary care providers in the family. In this regard, it is argued that the lack of progressive or critical approaches to the conceptualisation of family limits the understanding of needs and educational practices available for families.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990 and Non‐Traditional Families

There is now a broad consensus that reform of the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 1990, as amended, has become necessary. Our focus in this legislation article is not on whether the Act needs to be reformed, but on the narrower question of whether the regulation of fertility treatment in the UK does enough to protect the interests of non‐traditional families. The 2008 reforms to the original 1990 Act took some important steps towards inclusivity, for example by deleting the requirement that clinics consider the child's ‘need for a father’ before providing treatment, and enabling two women to be a child's legal parents from birth. Our contention here is that any new legislation should go further in order to recognise and accommodate diverse family forms.

Non-birthing mothers’ experiences of perinatal anxiety and depression: Understanding the perspectives of the non-birthing mothers in female same-sex parented families

ObjectivePartners of birthing mothers can themselves experience perinatal mental health (PMH) difficulties. Despite birth rates increasing amongst LGBTQIA+ communities and the significant impact of PMH difficulties, this area is under-researched. This study aimed to examine the experiences of perinatal depression and anxiety of non-birthing mothers in female same-sex parented families. DesignInterpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was used to explore the experiences of non-birthing mothers who self-identified as having experienced perinatal anxiety and/or depression. Setting and participantsSevenparticipants were recruited from online and local voluntary and support networks for LGBTQIA+ communities and for PMH. Interviews were in-person, online or via telephone. Measurements and findingsSix themes were generated. Distress was characterised by feelings of “Failure and Inadequacy in Role” (i.e., parent, partner and individual) and “Powerlessness and Intolerable Uncertainty” in their parenting journey. These feelings were reciprocally influenced by perceptions of the “Legitimacy of (Di)stress as a Non-birthing Parent”, which impacted help-seeking. Stressors that contributed to these experiences were: “Parenting Without” a parental role template, social recognition and safety, and parental connectedness; and “Changed Relationship Dynamics” with their partner. Finally,participants spoke about “Moving Forward” in their lives. Key conclusionsSome findings are consistent with the literature on paternal mental health, including parents’ emphasis on protecting their family and experiencing services as focusing on the birthing parent. Others appeared distinct or amplified for LGBTQIA+ parents, including the lack of a defined and socially recognised role; stigma concerning both mental health and homophobia; exclusion from heteronormative healthcare systems; and the importance placed on biological connectedness. Implications for practiceCulturally competent care is needed to tackle minority stress and recognise diverse family forms.

Reinvigorating research on divorce: reflexivity, agency and regulation in marriage and civil partnership dissolution

There is a dearth of research on the dissolution of legally formalised same-sex relationships, which can be partly explained by same-sex marriage and civil partnership being relatively recent possibilities. However, it is also the case that divorce as a topic of research has been marginalised in the renewed interest in family and relationships that has focused on diverse intimacies, family forms, family practices, friendships and personal life. This article analyses data from a qualitative study of same-sex divorce and civil partnership dissolution to consider the reasons that partners give for the ending of their formalised relationships. We argue that our analysis illuminates the need to reinvigorate research on divorce and dissolution more generally to fully understand changing social norms as they concern marriage and similar legal arrangements. We do this by analysing the three main reasons our study participants gave for the dissolution of their relationships: finances, infidelity and wellbeing. Such reasons can be read in part through a gendered lens as previous research has tended to do, but they also go well beyond gender to provide insights into how marriage and relationship ideals, aspirations and practices are being reconfigured contemporarily.

What Decides the Well-Being of the Relationship between Parents and Adolescents.

The literature indicates a variety of factors that contribute to adolescent well-being: among these, the parent-adolescent relationship has a key role. The present article offered an overview of studies on parent-adolescent relationships across diverse family forms, not limited to the traditional family but also including "non-traditional" and "modern" families. To do so, this article described the evolution of the concept of family over the last fifty years and traced the significant family variables that guarantee adolescent well-being. Additionally, this article discussed the changes that occurred in family research, shifting from studies that considered only the family structure to more recent studies that investigated family processes and contextual factors. Overall, the reviewed studies indicated that the quality of parent-adolescent relationship, the interparental conflict and the consequent spillover effect on the child subsystem, and the changes in the economic situation following parental separation/divorce override the effect of the family structure. Finally, this article pointed out the need to examine, in the future research, adolescent well-being across diverse families by adopting more fine-grained methodologies, collecting data from the entire family system, and using a multi-method assessment to obtain a more ecological view of family complexity.

The Influence of Interparental Conflict and Violence on Parenting and Parent–Child Relationships

AbstractThis conceptual review summarizes two decades of research on conflict management behaviors and their implications for family functioning. We review the accumulated research on the impact of three common conflict resolution strategies – destructive interparental conflict, constructive interparental conflict, and intimate partner violence – on parenting and parent–child relationships, including child abuse. Our review is based on published peer‐reviewed articles that include families with minor children of various ethnic and racial compositions and diverse family forms. We also provide a brief overview of the literature covering correlates of specific conflict management behaviors and comment on the effectiveness (or lack thereof) of intervention programs that focus on improving family well‐being. We conclude with suggestions for future research.

Assisted Conception Socialization Self-Efficacy Among Israeli Lesbian, Gay, and Heterosexual Parent Families and its Association with Child Externalizing Problems.

This questionnaire-based study compared 36 Israeli lesbian mother families (n = 72 lesbian mothers) formed by donor insemination, 39 Israeli gay father families (n = 78 gay fathers) formed by gestational surrogacy, and 36 Israeli heterosexual parent families (n = 72 heterosexual parents) formed by assisted reproduction (without donated gametes), all with a target child aged 3–10 years. The families were examined for parents’ assisted conception socialization self-efficacy, depression, negative and positive affect, life satisfaction, positivity, resilience, social support, and child externalizing problems. Multiple factors associated with child externalizing problems were also examined. Multilevel modeling analyses indicated that parents’ assisted conception socialization self-efficacy did not differ between family groups; however, lesbian mothers and gay fathers reported fewer child externalizing problems and greater social support, relative to heterosexual parents. Also, lesbian mothers—but not gay fathers—reported lower levels of depression, greater life satisfaction, and more positivity than did heterosexual parents. Finally, irrespective of family type, greater assisted conception socialization self-efficacy was associated with fewer parent-reported child externalizing problems. Findings are interpreted in light of the cultural socialization framework and Israel’s familistic and pronatalist environment. Implications for health professionals, educators, and policymakers working with diverse family forms are discussed.

Just-ish? An analysis of routes to justice in family law disputes in England and Wales

It is widely documented that the formal family justice system in England and Wales is in crisis. The family courts are plagued by delays and backlogs, whilst parties struggle to secure access to advice and representation due to cuts to public funding. Increasingly, litigants face economic, physical and cultural barriers to courts brought about by rising court fees, reforms to the court system and demographic changes which have resulted in diverse family forms for whom the family courts may have little legitimacy. The first part of this article examines how recent changes to family law and policy in England and Wales have reduced the ease with which parties are able to achieve procedural and substantive justice through the family courts. The second part of the article analyses how forums of dispute resolution which are delivered by non-state actors, but which rely on the state for their authority, have evolved to fill this justice gap and are therefore indicative of a move towards ‘weak’ legal pluralism in the context of family justice. It is argued that although the family courts are still an important cornerstone of the justice landscape, alternative forums of dispute resolution increasingly play a positive role in enabling disputants to achieve their procedural and substantive goals and this is strengthened by a weak approach to legal pluralism which upholds the autonomy of the parties whilst also ensuring necessary protections and safeguards for vulnerable litigants. The article therefore challenges critics of weak pluralism, who perceive that reliance on state recognition precludes institutions playing an important role outside of the state hierarchy.

Exploring Family Service Providers Perceptions of Working with Recoupled Parents in Stepfamilies

We explore the perception of family service providers’ opinions and personal experiences working with recoupled parents in stepfamily forms. We examined service providers’ specific knowledge, attitudes, and practical responses to working with stepfamily forms that functions very differently to nuclear family forms. We interviewed four family service providers who work with individuals, couples, and families from a multiplicity of diverse family forms. Four main themes came out of the data collected: challenges family service providers identified when working with stepfamilies; complex relationship connections in stepfamilies; working within the boundaries and limitations of legislation and policies relating to both families in general and stepfamilies; and understanding and working within the parameters of how the family functions as a stepfamily. Our research demonstrates the importance of family service providers having a platform to discuss issues impacting family service providers working relevantly and effectively with stepfamilies.

The ART of performance: engaging young people with assisted reproductive technologies

ABSTRACTMore children than ever before are conceived with the use of assisted reproductive technologies and many are raised in families that are structurally different from most. Research on the experiences of children growing up in diverse families has shown that children may face disapproval, a lack of understanding, and in some cases, bullying by those outside of their home environment, including from their peers at school This study evaluated the use of theatrical performance and post-performance discussions as a method of informing young people about different families. Findings indicated that performance was an effective and engaging learning tool, as it presented first-hand experiences of family diversity. Post-performance discussions were important in enabling young people to improve their understanding of different methods of Assisted Reproductive Technologies and diverse family forms. Young people were found to value engagement activities that are unbiased, interactive, and do not make them feel awkward or uncomfortable.

Zoned Out: How Zoning Law Undermines Family Law's Functional Turn

A fatal conflict in the legal definition of family lurks at the intersection of family law and zoning law. Family law doctrines have increasingly embraced the claims of “functional families”—those whose bonds can be traced to cohabitation and shared domestic life. At the same time, zoning laws have narrowed to recognize only formal families, effectively restricting residency to individuals related by blood, marriage, or adoption. As a result, family law’s “functional turn” remains vulnerable in at least thirty-one states. Using original legal analysis and historical research, this Note illuminates that contradiction, explains how it arose, and argues that it must be resolved to protect diverse family forms. This Note surveys the “functional turn” in state family law and develops a novel historical account of the shifting definition of family in zoning law, documenting its “formal turn.” It then offers normative and practical reasons why the definition of family should be loosened, offering recommendations for legislative and judicial reform.

Familial fictions: families and food, convenience and care

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to explore the way diverse family forms are depicted in recent TV advertisements, and how the ads may be read as an indication of contemporary attitudes to food. It focuses particularly on consumers’ ambivalent attitude towards convenience foods given the way these foods are moralised within a highly gendered discourse of “feeding the family”.Design/methodology/approachThe paper presents a critical reading of the advertisments and their complex meanings for diverse audiences, real and imagined. The latter part of the paper draws on the results of ethnographically-informed fieldwork in the north of England.FindingsThe research highlights the value of food as a lens on contemporary family life. It challenges the conventional distinction between convenience and care, arguing that convenience food can be used as an expression of care.Research limitations/implicationsThe paper makes limited inferences about audiencing processes in the absence of direct empirical evidence.Originality/valueThe paper’s value lies in its original interpretation of TV food advertising within the context of contemporary family life and in the novel connections that are drawn between convenience and care.

Children and Families in the Workhouse Populations of the Antrim, Ballymena, and Ballymoney Poor Law Unions in the Mid Nineteenth Century

This article is a workhouse population study of the Antrim, Ballymena, and Ballymoney Poor Law Unions in County Antrim, Ireland, in 1850–1851 and 1860–1861. Under the Irish Poor Law, the workhouse was the central institution for the welfare of the destitute poor during the nineteenth century. Beyond national trends and a broad regional framework, however, little is known of how workhouse populations varied at the local level or the place of poor relief within the economies of makeshifts of individuals and families. The article draws upon statistical returns to show that changes in the workhouse populations in this area of Ulster diverged from the national pattern as a consequence of local economic and social conditions. The familial circumstances of children in these workhouses are explored through analysis of the admission and discharge registers. Far from presenting a monolithic group, children were admitted to the workhouses in a wide variety of family forms which used the workhouses of this locality in multiple ways.

Diverse family forms and quality-of-life in sub-Saharan African countries

ABSTRACTFamily is the foundation on which other institutions are built. Its quality has resultant effects on the quality of the society in its entirety. It is, therefore, expedient to examine the relationship between diverse family forms and quality-of-life in sub-Saharan African countries. Demographic and Health Surveys for four countries were used for the study. The study reveals a significant relationship between cohabitation, marriage and wealth status in all the four countries, while marriage remains significantly related with education in all the countries except Kenya. Poisson regression revealed a higher effect of education on diverse family forms except single parents in Mozambique and Nigeria, while with the adjusted data divorce/separated women in Kenya have a significantly higher coefficient (β = −1.03, p-value = 0.000) compared with other countries in the study area The study concludes that family formation cannot be overlooked, as it relates to the wellbeing of women in sub-Saharan Africa.

The (In)Visibility of Grandparents in Family Leisure Research: A Call for Expanded Conceptualizations of “Family”

ABSTRACTThe continued focus on the individual as a unit of analysis, along with the privileging of the nuclear family over the past two decades of family leisure scholarship, has rendered grandparents virtually invisible in family leisure scholarship. In this commentary, I examine the position of grandparents in leisure research and suggest that the implicit acceptance of the status quo has been detrimental to the state of family leisure research. Drawing on literature from both leisure studies and family relations, I assert a more nuanced understanding of the complexities of diverse family forms is vital to the progression of family leisure scholarship.

Adoption Competency and Trauma-Informed Practices with Adoptive Families

The tides of national and international adoption policy and practice have shifted remarkably in the past decade. Examples of the sea change include the recognition of the extent of adoption- and trauma-related needs that a great many children experience; the influence that the internet and social media have on shaping the future of pre- and postadoption experiences; and the ways adoption has reconceptualized the extended family, including diverse adoptive family forms and a renewed emphasis on sustaining the child's connections with biological kin and/or the country and culture of origin. Additionally, open adoption has increased across public and private agencies to encourage relational stability and attachment with previous foster families and kinship guardians, even after adoption. Internationally, there are fewer children adopted into the United States from foreign countries, and America is sending fewer children with disabilities to receiving countries abroad.

Attitudes Toward Parenthood, Partnership, and Social Rights for Diverse Families: Evidence From a Pilot Study in Five Countries

ABSTRACTAttitudes toward the civil and social citizenship rights of individuals in diverse family forms are underresearched. We use cross-national data from a pilot study among students in Denmark, Spain, Croatia, Italy, and the Netherlands to explore cross-country differences in beliefs about partnership, parenthood, and social rights of same-sex couples vs. heterosexual couples or married vs. cohabiting couples. The results suggest a polarization in students’ attitudes between countries that appear more traditional (i.e., Italy and Croatia) and less traditional (Spain and the Netherlands), where the rights of married heterosexual couples are privileged over other family forms more so than in nontraditional countries. Moreover, equality in social rights is generally more widely accepted than equality in civil rights, particularly in relationship to parenthood rights and in more traditional countries. We discuss the implications of these findings and the implications for further research in this underexplored area of attitudinal research.