Intergenerational Boundaries Research Articles

Jewish-Muslim Friendship Networks: A Study of Intergenerational Boundary Work in Postwar Germany

Abstract This article presents a little-known story of Jewish-Muslim coexistence in Germany after World War Two. Using an ethnographic case study of Frankfurt am Main’s train-station district (Bahnhofsviertel), the analysis investigates long-term and partially forgotten Jewish-Muslim narratives, relations, and neighborhood encounters, paying particular attention to the changing political, spatial, and temporal dimensions that have blurred or closed symbolic boundaries between Jews and Muslims since the late 1960s. Bringing together the scholarship on symbolic boundaries and urban diversity, the theoretical discussion contributes to a more nuanced understanding of the variegated processes of Jewish-Muslim boundary-making and un-making over time, as well as the macro- and micro-level influences which shape these negotiations and outcomes. Studying Jewish-Muslim relations at the neighborhood level by adopting a boundary-related approach brings out more clearly the tensions over groupism and fluidity in theoretical debates and removes the current exceptionalism around Jewish-Muslim themes, making them more easily compared with other boundary processes within everyday life.

Age-inclusive HR practices and older workers' voice behavior: the role of job crafting toward strengths and negative age-based metastereotypes

PurposeUsing signaling theory, the overarching purpose of this study is to provide an insight into how age-inclusive HR practices (AIHRP) influence older workers' voice behavior through job crafting toward strengths (JCS) and how negative age-based metastereotypes (NABM) moderate these relationships.Design/methodology/approachUsing time-lagged data were obtained from 321 Chinese older workers. PROCESS MACRO and Bootstrapping were used to test theoretical hypotheses.FindingsOur results revealed the positive effects of AIHRP on both JCS and voice behavior, and the positive effect of JCS on voice behavior, as well as the mediating role of JCS in the relationship between AIHRP and voice behavior. Besides, results also found that NABM negatively moderate the effect of AIHRP on voice behavior, and the effect of AIHRP on JCS. Additionally, significant moderated mediation effect indicates that the indirect effect of AIHRP on voice via JCS will be weaker for employees with higher NABM.Research limitations/implicationsFirst, we take the lead in linking AIHRP and employees' voice behavior. This complements voice literature by identifying an important new factor in motivating older workers' voice behavior. Second, by exploring the mediating role of JCS, we reveal the “black box” of how AIHRP affect older workers' voice behavior. Third, this study responds to the call for more studies exploring the boundary conditions of AIHRP and expands the theoretical research framework of the relationship between AIHRP, JCS and voice, deepens our understanding of the mechanism of voice behavior.Practical implicationsOur findings have several practical implications. First, the leadership personnel throughout the firm should be conscious of the crucial role of AIHRP. Second, managers should provide older workers with opportunities to craft their jobs to use their strengths and achieve a better person-job fit, which will result in a series of positive outcomes. Third, organizations should blur intergenerational boundaries within the organization and provide older workers with mentoring opportunities to motivate their voice.Social implicationsOur findings have some social implications. Firstly, the results of this study are beneficial in demonstrating to society that older workers still have significant strengths and value. With reasonable methods, older workers can continue to contribute to the development of organizations and society, which in turn is conducive to changing society's perceived bias toward older workers, reducing age discrimination and promoting social harmony. Secondly, this study provides theoretical guidance for organizations and society to manage older workers, which is conducive to alleviating social problems such as youth labor shortage and increased burden of retirement.Originality/valueThis study is innovative as it first explores the influence, mechanism and boundary conditions of AIHRP on older workers' voice behavior, which not only deepens our understanding of older workers voice, but also enriches the research on AIHRP and JCS.

Intergenerational Interventions to Cultivate DEI-Champions: Increased Resilience and Accountability Through “Shipboard” Experiences

We developed All-ABOARD (Alliance Building Offshore to Achieve Resilience and Diversity) to meet the ever-increasing needs of cultivating a diverse geoscience workforce. All-ABOARD incorporates the Be the Messenger theoretical framework in all programmatic aspects to encourage participants to think about their own identities, positionalities, and privileges. Drawing from US-based institutions, we recruited four teams of four to five members who spanned a spectrum of positionality and career stages. To evaluate the efficacy of the program, we collected both quantitative and qualitative data at different intervals to measure changes in participants’ understanding and perception of identity, culture, respect, and diversity. The year-long core programming included regular webinars via Zoom and an in-person retreat. We found that immersive experiences and intergenerational teams led to the cultivation of a strong identity as a DEI-champion, enhanced group cohesion, and promoted feelings of resilience among participants. Our participants reported they felt most accountable to themselves and their teams, and that learning was accelerated by bringing together teams from multiple institutions to collaborate across intergenerational boundaries. Our program provides a model for training DEI-champions in geoscience who can advance strategic objectives in their home environments and demonstrates how frameworks from the social sciences can be effectively leveraged to transform geoscience.

Transiting Representations of the Memory of the Hiroshima Bombing: Remediation as a Form of Intergenerational Boundary Crossing

Transiting Representations of the Memory of the Hiroshima Bombing: Remediation as a Form of Intergenerational Boundary Crossing

The Politics of Justice From Beloww: Human Rights Defenders and Atrocity Crime Trials in Latin America

This chapter discusses prosecution of past atrocity crimes as a site of political action that increasingly crosses state-non-state and intergenerational boundaries in post-authoritarian and post-conflict Latin America. It shows how the structure and politics of the formal justice field in the region have been made and re-made by relatives, survivors and others pressing for investigation and prosecution of enforced disappearance, extrajudicial execution and torture. In doing so, it contributes to understanding of how close attention to micro- and meso-level activist dynamics and biographies can illuminate interstitial aspects of post-authoritarian polities, complementing analyses focused on structural change, institutional culture, and/or the logic and drivers of collective action or movement politics.

Older workers’ representation and age-based stereotype threats in the workplace

PurposeThe purpose of this paper is to examine the extent to which negative age-based metastereotypes mediate the relationship between the representation of older workers and two forms of stereotype threat in the workplace: own-reputation and group-reputation. Adopting a social identity perspective, this paper also explores whether age diversity beliefs moderate the relationship between negative age-based metastereotypes and stereotype threats.Design/methodology/approachA cross-sectional design was adopted with bootstrapped mediation and moderation analyses. The data were collected from 567 older workers working in 15 manufacturing companies.FindingsThe analyses provide support for partial mediation and for a moderation effect of age diversity beliefs in the relationship between negative age-based metastereotypes and own-reputation threat. The results hold while controlling for age, objective organizational age diversity, and organizational tenure.Research limitations/implicationsThe limitations of this study include its cross-sectional nature and the need for further work regarding older workers’ metastereotypes about middle-aged workers.Practical implicationsFor stereotype threat interventions to be effective they must identify beforehand the target and the source of the threat. Moreover, interventions should aim for the development of a sense of identity on the organization as it may pave the way for members of different age groups to build bonds and for intergenerational boundaries to be blurred.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the literature by showing the importance of negative age-based metastereotypes in workplace age dynamics. It also provides further support for a multi-threat approach to the experience of age-based stereotype threats in the workplace.

Adaptation of the Boundary Violations Scale Developed Based on Structural Family Therapy to the Turkish Context: A Study of Validity and Reliability.

The purpose of this study was to adapt “The Boundary Violations Scale” (Madden et al., 2002), which was created to measure the intergenerational boundary violations in families from the perspective of children, to Turkish and to test the validity and reliability of the Turkish version of this instrument. This instrument was developed based on structural family therapy and aimed at measuring boundary violations in three areas: Promoting Maturity, Forming Coalitions, and Communicating as Peers. The research participants consisted of 511 students and 114 parents who lived in an eastern Mediterranean city in Turkey. To determine the validity of the scale, the students’ mothers were asked to complete the O’Leary-Porterand Dyadic Adjustment Scales. An explanatory factor analysis is conducted to examine the construct validity of the scale. The results of the analysis established the consistency between the adapted and original scales. The results of the study suggest that the Turkish version of the “The Boundary Violations Scale” is conceptually equivalent to the original and satisfactorily reliable and valid. Key words: Boundary violations, family, therapy, structure, Turkey.

‘Food is a funny thing within residential child care’: Intergenerational relationships and food practices in residential care

This article is based on an ethnographic study that explored everyday food practices and relationships in three residential children’s homes in Scotland. On the one hand, food practices in residential child care can be used to cross intergenerational boundaries in a positive, enabling and caring manner. On the other hand, food can be interpreted differently by children and staff, at times resulting in negative interactions which may involve control and resistance. Thus food practices in a residential care setting can be used both to develop a sense of unity across the generations as well as reinforcing intergenerational power inequalities.

Old Maps, New Territory

Family therapy models often do not reflect the realities and desires of many gay and lesbian couples. Therapists working with this population are left to decide whether to apply these models as they are, to discard them, or to attempt to modify them as they assist their clients. Using research findings and case examples that describe the intergenerational boundaries for gay and lesbian couples as well as the nonmonogamous relationships of gay men, this paper illustrates how therapists can adapt family therapy models to suit the needs and preferences of this client population.

Walls and bridges: how coupled gay men and lesbians manage their intergenerational relationships.

Eighty respondents in 20 gay male and 20 lesbian couples were interviewed in depth to determine the nature and influences of their intergenerational relationships. Most respondents reported that their partner relationships were not affected by parental disapproval. Both the lesbian and gay male participants assertively defended the emotional, intergenerational boundaries around their unions. However, the gay men emphasized the importance of independence from their parents, whereas the lesbians sought harmonious intergenerational connections. The findings suggest how Bowen's ideas about intergenerational relationships may need to be modified to reflect the gender-specific ways coupled gay men and lesbians manage their family relationships.

The Boundary Violations Scale: an empirical measure of intergenerational boundary violations in families.

This article reviews the development of a new measure to assess children's perceptions of intergenerational boundary violations in families. The Boundary Violations Scale is a theoretically derived instrument consisting of 12 items. Principal components analysis using data from 119 young adolescents from diverse ethnic backgrounds (i.e., 56% Hispanic and 44% non-Hispanic) revealed three factors (promoting maturity, forming coalitions, and communicating as peers) that are consistent with the behavioral manifestations of this construct as posited by structural family theory. The validity of the measure was supported by significant correlations with theoretically relevant measures of family processes and child adjustment as reported by children and their mothers.

The family and anorexia nervosa: examining parent–child boundary problems†

AbstractObjectiveTo examine parent–child boundary dissolution in anorexia nervosa using a measure that treats boundary phenomena as multidimensional and distinct from highly cohesive relationships.Method30 women with anorexia were recruited from an eating disorders programme and compared with 65 control women on reports of intergenerational boundary problems using the Parent‐Child Boundaries Scale. This measure conceptualizes boundaries as multidimensional and can address both mother–daughter and father–daughter relations. Family cohesion was also measured using the FACES III. A subset of parents completed these measures.ResultsWomen with anorexia reported more boundary problems with mothers and fathers than did control women, both in terms of global and some specific violations. However, parents of anorexic women did not endorse more boundary problems with their daughters.DiscussionDaughters' views suggest that boundary violations are problematic in anorexia. Results suggest that boundary problems can be treated as multidimensional and should be viewed as distinct from high levels of familial cohesion. These results also suggest that it is important to ascertain individual family members' viewpoints on family dynamics. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd and Eating Disorders Association.

Gay Male Couples

This exploratory study applied grounded theory methodology to examine what coupled gay men thought were the relationship impacts of being out to parents and in-laws. Data were collected from an accidental sample of 40 men in 20 homosexual couples using a standardized, open-ended interview. Virtually all of the respondents who had come out to their parents experienced initial and ongoing parental and in-law disapproval for their lifestyles and relationships. However, most men believed that it benefitted their unions to be out to their parents and partner's parents. Not having to hide the relationship was seen as a primary relationship advantage. Inclusion of one's partner in family events also emerged as a significant benefit. In contrast to the existing literature, a large proportion of respondents believed that pa-rental/in-law antagonism had no adverse impacts on their dyads. They shielded their relationships by maintaining a strong sense of independence and in turn solid intergenerational boundaries. This study provides evidence to suggest that disclosure of sexual orientation to parents may be a distinctive, important developmental task for gay men which is critical to their relationships with their partners. Based on the findings of this research, mental health practitioners would be advised to assist gay men in the establishment and maintenance of strong intergenerational boundaries to protect their unions from parental/in-law disapproval.

Rethinking Relationships between Divorced Mothers and Their Children: Capitalizing on Family Strengths

Rethinking Relationships Between Divorced Mothers and Their Children: Capitalizing on Family Strengths* Based on interview data from 58 young adult children who experienced parental divorce, this study examines qualitative aspects of mother-child relationships and strengths in these relationships. Boundar issues and roles shifts between children and their divorced mothers are particularly emphasized. A content analysis revealed that often times, mothers were i iewed as friends, especially by daughters, and their withdrawal from caregiving was generally welcomed. Implications of mothers ' reliance on their children for emotional support are explored from the child's perspective. While such behavior has largely been pathologized in the clinical literature, this data suggests that mothers' leaning on children for emotional support and advice contributed to a sense of equality, closeness, and friend status. These qualities appeared to be valued by the participants in this study. Implications for family practitioners and scholars, as they relate to notions of boundary violation and adolescent development, are discussed from a family strengths perspective. Key Words: adolescence, boundaries. divorce, parenting. single-mothers. Emphasis in the area of mother-child relationships during and after divorce has tended to focus on the negative implications of mothers' eroding discipline, parenting stress, and role strain for children's adjustment (Capaldi & Patterson, 1991; Forehand, Thomas, Wierson, Brody, & Fauber, 1990; Hetherington, 1989). While the consensus is that divorce does not greatly damage children's relations with custodial mothers (Acock & Demo, 1994; Aquilino, 1994; Peterson & Zill, 1986) compared to children and mothers in two parent families, many scholars fail to address the transformational qualities divorce might bring to mother-child relationships. As with the fathers literature, little is known about qualitative aspects of the relationships divorced mothers have with their children, especially from children's perspectives. Guttman (1993) comments on the dearth of in-depth studies of single mother-child relationships. He observes that what we do know about children's relationships with their divorced mothers often involves comparisons between single mothers and married mothers, and is based on the belief that a marriage is necessary in order for a family system to be defined as legitimate. Such stigma, according to Guttman, ignores the potential diversity of experience for family members and misrepresents the relationships in many single-mother households. Even in the most benign sense, positive findings are interpreted within a deficit framework, emphasizing success despite the hardships of divorce and stress of single parenting (Aquilino,1994). It is a rare study that considers single mothers' strengths with regard to parenting and household management (see for example, Arditti & MaddenDerdich, 1995; Richards & Schmiege, 1993). One of the central concerns about parenting after divorce involves the implications of shifting boundaries between parents and children resulting from the ending of the spousal system. Such a consideration is rooted in family systems theory whereby the characteristics of relationship subsystems (e.g. parent-child; spousal) shape the boundaries that separate them. Family therapists have particularly emphasized the problems that can be associated with boundary which might occur when the intergenerational boundaries between parents and children are weak or distressed (Fish, Belsky, & Youngblade, 1991). Examples of boundary violations include drawing children into marital disputes as well as shifts in power between parents and children (Minuchin, 1974). Satir (1967) emphasized the danger of elevating the child to a level of false equality with the parents, which in turn leaves the child's developmental needs unmet and leads to distrust in their later relationships. …

STRUCTURAL ELEMENTS IN FRANZ KAFKA'S THE METAMORPHOSIS

Kafka's The Metamorphosis is not only a masterpiece of modern literature, but also a work that exemplifies many ideas of structural family therapy. In this essay I have examined how this novels embodies concepts such as parentified children, enhancement, intergenerational boundaries, coalitions and triangles, structural dysfunction, and structural thinking on anorexia nervosa.

The Transition to Young Adulthood: Generational Boundary Dissolution and Female Identity Development

This research explored links between differential qualities of family connectedness and young adult females' development of an independent identity. Identity development involves exploration of possible roles and choices in particular domains such as occupation, dating, and friendship, followed by commitment to a set of values and behaviors in one of these areas. In this study, women who reported that their parents encouraged autonomy while still maintaining closeness also reported more exploration in their friendship and dating relationships. In contrast, reports of parent-child boundary dissolution, characterized by role-reversal, enmeshment, and overinvolvement, were related to less exploration, particularly in dating relationships. Mother-daughter boundary dissolution, specifically, was linked to women's tendency to base their commitments to a career and relationships with others on parental values and expectations without ever exploring alternative choices. Father-daughter boundary dissolution was related to lower exploration as well as lower commitment to values and beliefs in any area. These findings lend support to theoretical and clinical impressions that intergenerational boundary violations hinder the development of an independent identity.

Parenting Behaviors of Women Who Were Sexually Abused As Children in Their Families of Origin

This research explored links between a childhood history of family sexual abuse and current parenting behaviors of mothers of school-age children, using observations of family interaction and interviews with the mothers. Videotaped family interaction tasks, analyzed with Benjamin's Structural Analysis of Social Behavior, showed that women who had been sexually abused in their childhood families were more self-focused, rather than child-focused, compared to nonabused women. In interviews, the women who had been abused gave strong evidence of greater reliance on their children for emotional support. These findings lend support to theoretical and clinical impressions of highly permeable intergenerational boundaries, including parent-child role reversal, in family systems marked by child sexual abuse, even when the abuse occurred in the previous generation.

Developmental antecedents and measurement of intergenerational boundary violation in a nonclinic sample.

Developmental antecedents and measurement of intergenerational boundary violation in a nonclinic sample.

Developmental antecedents and measurement of intergenerational boundary violation in a nonclinic sample.

Developmental antecedents and measurement of intergenerational boundary violation in a nonclinic sample.

When Parent Becomes Peer: Loss of Intergenerational Boundaries in Single Parent Families

This paper describes characteristics and treatment of one subtype of divorce produced single parent family, namely one in which intergenerational boundaries have become blurred and role expectations ill-defined. Characteristics include: (a) a late latency age child who typically resides with hislher mother, (b) abdication by the mother of the parental role, and (c) a parent-child relationship in which the mother functions as a peer/partner. Clinical intervention involves: (a) helping the mother return to her parental role and learn how to better resolve conflicts, (b) permitting the child to express thoughts and feelings more appropriately, and (c) examining and modifying parent-child communication patterns.