Intergenerational Family Ties Research Articles

Between Grandma and Granddaughter – The Process of Becoming a Black Woman in a Racist Society. Analysis of Intergenerational Transmission on the Example of bell hooks’ autobiography Bone Black: Memories of Girlhood

The aim of the essay is to discuss an intergenerational transmission of family history and its impact on the process of becoming a Black woman in a racist society. The example chosen for analysis is the autobiography of bell hooks, Bone Black: Memories of Girlhood (1996), which is a story about girlhood. (B)ell hooks is a pen name of Gloria Jean Watkins, an African-American scholar and writer whose childhood and adolescence were during the period of racial segregation and desegregation in the 1960s of the twentieth century. (B)ell hooks writes Bone Black to reflect on being a Black girl growing up in racially segregated American society in the 60s of the twentieth century. She shows the historical and political contexts of her growing up, however, it is the local community and intergenerational family ties that she places at the center of her process of becoming the woman: bell hooks. Relationships with women, particularly a relationship between grandmother and granddaughter are of great significance in this process. The essay begins with a brief summary of the biography of bell hooks and a description of Bone Black, with particular emphasis put on the author’s interand intragenerational relationships with women. Next, I will move on to discuss the intergenerational transmissions of family history and their impact on the process of becoming a woman. For this purpose, I will refer to the life story concept introduced by Daniel Bertaux (2016), and the notion of subjective resources created by Catherine Delcroix (1999, 2014), in order to discuss the importance of intergenerational transmission of life stories in the process of becoming the woman knowns as “bell hooks.”

Wellbeing among Black American adults living in low-resourced communities.

Very little is known about how Black Americans living in low-resourced communities define and maintain wellbeing. Utilizing a culturally tailored research design, we explored the phenomenon of wellbeing as it resonated with the lived experiences of our informants (N = 35). Using a thematic analysis, we found that existing conceptualizations and theorizing of wellbeing did not consistently emerge from our data. First, we noted paradoxical tensions between descriptions of wellbeing as indicated by the participants (e.g., being alive and having a pain-free life) and the Western, Eurocentric views evidenced in the wellbeing literature. Second, participants identified intergenerational family ties and community networks as ways that foster wellbeing. These findings suggest that we can no longer delimit and apply existing views in theorizing and measuring wellbeing. Our findings elucidated the mindsets, relationships, activities, and practices that define and foster wellbeing among Black Americans living in low-resourced communities.

The holistic benefits of education for Indigenous language revitalisation and reclamation (ELR2)

ABSTRACT This article explores research and practice on the holistic benefits of education for language revitalisation and reclamation – ELR2 – efforts that link home, school, and community in mutually supportive language work informed by a critical understanding of coloniality as the root cause of language endangerment. The article examines ELR2 in and out of school, asking what can be learned from these projects in light of their combined aims of language revitalisation and education parity and the broader goals of promoting cultural knowledge, identity, and continuance; strengthening intergenerational family and community ties; and anticolonialism, sovereignty, and self-determination. In pursuing these goals, ELR2 also recovers Indigenous practices of mutuality, relationality, respect, and equality – supportive factors in individual and collective wellbeing. As a pathway to these holistic outcomes, ELR2 holds the promise of sustainable diversity and social justice for all.

The Families ofLGBTQOlder Adults: Theoretical Approaches to Creative Family Connections in the Context of Marginalization,Social‐HistoricalChange, and Resilience

This article examines how families are theorized at the complex crossroads of age, sexuality, and gender, and explores theoretical innovations derived from analyses embedded in the families of LGBTQ older adults, who have lived outside the embrace of heteronormativity. To address the extent of theorizing, we conducted a content analysis of 36 studies from 2010 to 2019. The articles revealed a social justice orientation that contextualized the marginalization and resilience in the social‐historical framing of LGBTQ older adults' family life. Most articles used theory explicitly or implicitly, including life course, minority stress, and intersectionality theories, and demonstrated the intimate connection of theory and research. Future theorizing about the families of LGBTQ older adults requires more diverse samples, contextualization of LGBTQ older adults' families through critical approaches such as queer theory, and the opportunity to study new avenues into intra‐ and intergenerational family ties in this pioneering population.

Internal Migration and the Role of Intergenerational Family Ties and Life Events

AbstractObjectiveThis article examines how the migration behavior of older parents and adult children might be influenced by the geographical configuration of nonresident family networks and the emergence of “linked” life events.BackgroundResearchers have long pointed to the importance of intrahousehold family events as triggers for migration, yet few have detailed how choices over whether, when, and where to migrate are formed with reference to significant others outside of the household.MethodUtilizing geocoded register data for Norway, we identified intergenerational family networks comprising older parents (aged 55+) and their nonresident adult children living 20 km or more apart. We recorded the presence and location of various family ties, the occurrence of several life events, and analyzed their association with the propensity and direction of migration using multinomial logistic regression.ResultsApproximately 40% of all recorded migration events (≥20 km) were directed toward familial locations (i.e., within 10 km of a parent/adult child). The attractiveness of familial locations was strengthened by the colocation of multiple family members and increased with the emergence of life events typically linked to increased support‐needs (e.g., separation, widowhood, and childbirth). Beyond these general patterns, variations existed according to social class, immigrant background, and gender.ConclusionWith the estimated coefficients for nonresident family ties appearing larger than many conventional predictors of migration, we call for far more attention to be paid to the links between kinship networks, care provision, and migration in contemporary society.

Later Life Moves and Movers in Germany: An Expanded Typology

In times of ageing baby boomer cohorts and increasing regional disparities, residential choice in later life is important regarding family relations and the provision of social services. In this study, a new typology of later life moves is developed based on observed patterns and characteristics of residential changes. For this purpose, the German Socio-Economic Panel data has been linked to uniquely detailed neighbourhood information to study how aspects of both later life movers and moves are structured. The results suggest four types of moves, namely: residential improvement, family, residential adaptation and care moves. The typology expands rigid classifications based on age, health status or distance moved, and highlights intergenerational family ties, housing concerns and fragmented forms of partnership as key aspects. Family moves to one’s children are associated with the existence of grandchildren, showing that elderly people take on roles as both care-takers and care-providers. The residential consequences of being widowed or divorced are socially stratified and can lead to residential and economic instability.

Later Life Moves and Movers in Germany: An Expanded Typology

In times of ageing baby boomer cohorts and increasing regional disparities, residential choice in later life is important regarding family relations and the provision of social services. In this study, a new typology of later life moves is developed based on observed patterns and characteristics of residential changes. For this purpose, the German Socio-Economic Panel data has been linked to uniquely detailed neighbourhood information to study how aspects of both later life movers and moves are structured. The results suggest four types of moves, namely: residential improvement, family, residential adaptation and care moves. The typology expands rigid classifications based on age, health status or distance moved, and highlights intergenerational family ties, housing concerns and fragmented forms of partnership as key aspects. Family moves to one’s children are associated with the existence of grandchildren, showing that elderly people take on roles as both care-takers and care-providers. The residential consequences of being widowed or divorced are socially stratified and can lead to residential and economic instability.

Ageing and intergenerational family ties in Arab countries.

This paper explores the dominant issues in intergenerational ties in Arab countries with a view to highlighting patterns, trends and challenges as well as policy implications. The data were drawn from a review of scholarly work and published literature in Arab countries and from a regional mapping of ageing policies and programmes in 2012. Social and health ageing policies in the region have been set with the premise that the family represents the core safety net for older Arabs. Yet demographic, sociocultural and economic transitions, as well as political conflict in the Arab world, are bringing profound changes to familial structures. This review feeds into efforts to promote health and social reforms that approach intergenerational solidarity from several fronts: providing equitable old-age income security, fostering cross-generational interactions, embracing caregivers and home-based care, promoting age-responsive actions in emergencies and conflicts, and prioritizing context- and country-specific research on the levels, types and trends in intergenerational and familial support.

Embodiment, Time, and the Life Review in Jeff Lemire’s Ghost Stories

Embodiment, Time, and the Life Review in Jeff Lemire’s Ghost Stories Katie Mullins (bio) Jeff lemire’s graphic novel trilogy, Essex County (2009), has received much critical attention: the trilogy won the Joe Shuster Award and awards from the American Library Association and was also one of Canada Reads’ top five selections in 2010. It has also been nominated for two Eisner Awards, an Ignatz, and a Harvey Award. Perhaps surprisingly, however, little to nothing has been written about the trilogy in the way of scholarly study. Divided into three interconnected books, the trilogy explores the history, personal hardships, and intergenerational family ties that bind a collection of characters in a small rural community in Essex County, Ontario. Although I address aspects of the trilogy as a complete work, I focus on Book Two, Ghost Stories, and its representation of the aging body in connection with memory. Ghost Stories focuses on Lou Lebeuf, a once successful hockey player, who finds himself alone in old age and estranged from his younger brother Vince, with whom he once shared a close relationship. Elderly, deaf, and suffering from alcoholism and dementia, Lou attempts to tell his story as he recalls his earlier life in fragments of memory that emerge sometimes from triggers (photographs or places, for example) and sometimes spontaneously. The visual juxtaposition of youthful and aging bodies highlights [End Page 29] the effects of time on the body and foregrounds Lou’s struggle to maintain a sense of his identity in old age. In addressing Lou’s process of remembering, I explore how the narrative’s visual rhetoric and complex spatial configuration of time work to express Lou’s recourse to memory and his relationship to the past, as well as the vital role of the body within the process of remembering and storytelling. Ghost Stories presents Lou’s experience of isolation and alienation as a central issue in the narrative. Yet, while the narrative depicts the traumas of aging, it also shows how Lou’s body enables him to remember and tell his story; how, for instance, physically being in a certain place or adopting a particular posture aids his memory of a past event. Lou’s body also allows him to experience fleeting but positive moments of engagement with his present embodied experience and the external world. In other words, Lou’s embodied, sensory experiences (sight, vision, smell, and touch) often pull him out of his solitary reflections on the past and into an appreciation of his experiences in the present time. I argue that Essex County presents a model of aging that ascribes significance to the aging body by suggesting the ways in which embodied experiences are inseparable from processes of remembering. I also argue that, although Lou frequently dissociates from his aging body, his embodied experiences in the narrative’s present time allow him to experience fleeting, but life-affirming, moments of connectedness to others and to the external world, which counter his sense of isolation. My reasons for examining these issues with reference to a graphic novel are twofold. I am interested in probing the ways that experiences of the body and remembering are visually recorded but also in the medium’s ability to convey moments of time—past, present, and future—on the same page and the recursive effects that result from such (almost) concurrent temporality.1 In an interview with comics scholar Hilary Chute, comics artist and theorist Scott McCloud states that “comics is the only form in which past, present, and future are visible simultaneously” (“Scott McCloud”). In her own work on trauma and autobiographical comics, [End Page 30] Chute suggests that the effect of this simultaneity is to cause the reader to “look, and then look again” and thus the work “builds a productive recursivity into its narrative scaffolding” (Graphic Women 8). The interaction between text and image, which requires the reader to read back and forth between both, also works to this effect. Such recursivity becomes crucial to the work of confronting issues of subjectivity and selfhood and thus to my focus on the body in relation to time and remembering/storytelling, as it avoids reducing embodied experience to a...

Bystander Apathy – An Enquiry Into The Expression Of Humanity And Empathy In China (2013-2014)

Aim To explore the apparent lack of personal concern for the welfare of others in China? To develop concepts to understand this social phenomena in natural settings using ethnographic and participatory research. Research Question How can the knowledge derived from qualitative research be used to improve the welfare of the poor in Shanghai? Ethics The study was carried out within the guidelines of the declaration of Helsinki. The study was characterised by anonymity, beneficence, non maleficence, and the maintainence of the dignity of participants Method Collection of data. The principle data source was “observation” spot observation”(Baksh 1990)”,participant observation”(Hammersley and Atkinson 1983)vignettes(Finch 1987,Sani Bin Gabi 1990), oral history(narrative) Conclusion The study was conducted ethically. It was a worthwhile study attempted to deal with current problems. The publication of this paper can be used to stimulate further enquiry into the problem of those in need of social welfare in Shanghai and China ,in the hope it will improve services where they are needed. Suggested solutions In a country where intergenerational family ties are so strong and “guanxi” exists it is paradoxical there is little empathy for others. Confuscian values ,changed family beliefs, and education at school and university may assist in increasing empathy . Learnt conditioning, to ignore or dissociate ,from another human being in need of help, can be slowly overcome by implementing universal and improved changes in societal living conditions. This can be achieved by improving social welfare programs, spearheaded by a compassionate government. There is a view that it is an egregious and transparent fiction, to promulgate and publically promote, the philosophies and policies of communism ,yet allow these curable social ills to remain. ”Rex ipsa Loquiter”.The healthy should help the sick,the rich should help the poor and the employed should help the unemployed ,Proportionately,in accordance with what they have they should give. The promotion of a “ forward thinking, humane , listening and open society ,rather than a closed, narrow ,opaque, inward looking “weltanschaung” would assist societal reform. We “bystanders”, we must all try to imagine we are in the place of those in need, and feel aas they do , in their situation. We must follow the advice of Mencius (372-289BC) and develop and use “empathy” As Mencius said,”a developed human heart is the basis of a moral life”

Bystander ApathyyAn Enquiry into the Expression of Humanity and Empathy in China (2013-2014)

Aim: To explore the apparent lack of personal concern for the welfare of others in China? To develop concepts to understand this social phenomena in natural settings using ethnographic and participatory research. Research Question: How can the knowledge derived from qualitative research be used to improve the welfare of the poor in Shanghai? Ethics: The study was carried out within the guidelines of the declaration of Helsinki. The study was characterised by anonymity, beneficence, non-maleficence, and the maintenance of the dignity of participants Method Collection of data. The principle data source was “observation” spot observation”(Baksh 1990)”, participant observation”(Hammersley and Atkinson 1983) vignettes (Finch 1987, Sani Bin Gabi 1990), oral history (narrative). Conclusion: The study was conducted ethically. It was a worthwhile study attempted to deal with current problems. The publication of this paper can be used to stimulate further enquiry into the problem of those in need of social welfare in Shanghai and China, in the hope it will improve services where they are needed. Suggested solutions In a country where intergenerational family ties are so strong and “guanxi” exists it is paradoxical there is little empathy for others. Confuscian values, changed family beliefs, and education at school and university may assist in increasing empathy. Learnt conditioning, to ignore or dissociate, from another human being in need of help, can be slowly overcome by implementing universal and improved changes in societal living conditions. This can be achieved by improving social welfare programs, spearheaded by a compassionate government. There is a view that it is an egregious and transparent fiction, to promulgate and publicly promote, the philosophies and policies of communism, yet allow these curable social ills to remain. ”Rex ipsa Loquiter”. The healthy should help the sick, the rich should help the poor and the employed should help the unemployed, proportionately, in accordance with what they have they should give. The promotion of a “forward thinking, humane, listening and open society, rather than a closed, narrow, opaque, inward looking “weltanschaung” would assist societal reform. We “bystanders”, we must all try to imagine we are in the place of those in need, and feel as they do, in their situation. We must follow the advice of Mencius (372-289BC) and develop and use “empathy” As Mencius said, ”a developed human heart is the basis of a moral life”.

Family Ties and Health Cross-Nationally: The Contextualizing Role of Familistic Culture and Public Pension Spending in Europe

Although previous research theorizes that cross-national variation in the relationship between family ties and health is due to nation-level differences in culture and policy/economics, no study has examined this theorization empirically. Using data from the Survey of Health, Ageing, and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), this study uses multilevel modeling to analyze individual-, nation-, and cross-level effects for 30,291 older adults in 14 nations. Family ties to spouses/partners and parents are associated with better health, but ties to coresident children are associated with poorer health in certain contexts. Familistic culture and public pension spending have a weak but statistically significant moderating effect on the relationship between intergenerational family ties and health. This article underscores the complexity of family and highlights the need for continued theorization and measurement at the nation level to promote older adults' health in diverse contexts.

The Impact of Elderly Parents on the Female Labour Market Participation in Turkey

This study examines the role of intergenerational family ties on the female labor market participation in Turkey. The data used in this study are obtained from the Household Labour Force Survey, conducted by Turkish Statistical Institute in the first period of 2003. Recursive bivariate probit model is estimated, which explains the decisions of both participation in the labour market and receiving help from elderly parents. The results show that correlation coefficient is statistically significant and two decisions are determined jointly. The elderly parents have dual role on female labour market participation as both help received and care-provided in Turkey. While the care provided for elderly parents decreases the female labour market participation, the care provided from elderly parents increases the probability of female labour market participation in Turkey.

Generational interdependencies in families

We identify four research themes where MULTILINKS, a programme of research on intergenerational family ties funded through the Seventh Framework of the European Commission, has brought new and unique insights. Key premises of the MULTILINKS approach involv

Intergenerational Relationships and Union Stability in Fragile Families

Using data from the Fragile Families and Child Well being Study (N= 2,656), we examined the association between intergenerational relationships and parents' union stability five years after a baby's birth. Results showed that more amiable relationships between parents and each partner's parents, and more time children spent with paternal grandparents, were associated with increased odds that parents were co-residing by the time their focal child was age five. More time that children spent with maternal grandparents reduced union stability, although this result was not robust to methods that better address selection. These findings underscore the importance of the broader social contexts affecting couple stability. Findings further suggest that even amidst changing demographic conditions, intergenerational family ties are important for couples-and by extension-their children.

Intergenerational family ties and the diffusion of cohabitation in Italy

Abstract Cohabitation has been spreading in the population during the last thirty years, and this is one of the most striking aspects of wider social changes that have taken place throughout the industrialized world. However, this change did not take place uniformly across Europe. The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the current debate around the compatibility of cohabitation experiences with the Italian cultural context. Using an individual-level diffusion approach we obtain results that are consistent with the crucial role that family ties play in the choice of cohabitation in place of (or before) marriage. 1. Introduction Cohabitation has been spreading in industrial societies during the last thirty years, and this is one of the most striking aspects of general social changes that have taken place throughout these countries. The sudden gain in the popularity of cohabitation at the beginning of the 1970s as an informal way of starting a union can be explained by several factors. Cultural elements, such as rising individualism and secularism (Lesthaeghe and van de Kaa 1986), as well as economic aspects, such as changes brought by industrialization, changes in gender roles, and rising female labor-market participation, may have contributed to its increase (for a review, see Smock 2000). At the same time, the sexual revolution helped in removing the stigma surrounding premarital sex (Bumpass 1990). However, this change did not take place uniformly across Europe, one large exception being the Southern European countries. In the mid-1990s, about one in three women aged 25-29 in Sweden and Denmark was cohabiting; this compares to more than one woman in four in France, about one woman in six in Germany and the Netherlands, and less than one woman in 20 in Italy (Kiernan 1999). Demographers disagree on whether the country differences in the prevalence of cohabitation are likely to disappear over time or whether they will persist, as there are fundamental structural and cultural differences between the societies (Bernhardt 2004). Recent results from an analysis on the adoption of cohabitation among young Italian and German women (Nazio and Blossfeld 2003) seem to support researchers who do not see the differences disappearing over time, claiming that the diffusion of cohabitation among broad groups of the population in Italy is blocked. This differs from the empirical evidence presented in other recent studies (Rosina 2002, Rosina and Billari 2003, Rosina et al. 2003, Barbagli 1997, Barbagli et al. 2003, Rosina and Micheli 2006). They show that cohabitation starts to spread also in Italy and they argue that mechanisms related to the relationship between generations - and specifically between Italian parents and their children - are at the basis of the adoption or rejection of new behaviors (Rosina and Fraboni 2004). The purpose of this paper is to contribute to the current debate around the compatibility of cohabitation experiences with the Italian cultural context. We show that in Italy, this relationship is not influenced solely by the characteristics of the country's young adults but also by some of their parents' characteristics. The strong ties between parents and children and a welfare state that provides very limited direct help to youth are at the basis of the relatively scarce diffusion of non-marital cohabitation in Italy (Rosina and Fraboni 2004). Using an individual level diffusion model, we obtain results that are consistent with the crucial role that family ties play in the choice of cohabitation instead of (or be-fore) marriage. The paper is organized as follows: The next section presents the theoretical back ground and argues that the study of cohabitation in Italy needs to consider the role of family ties. To test our hypothesis, we use an approach proposed by Nazio and Blossfeld (2003), and slightly modify it in order to catch adequately the specificity of the Italian context, as will be highlighted in Section 3. …

The Garcia Family: Using a Structural Systems Approach with an Alcohol-Dependent Family

The authors examine the impact of sociocultural and environmental stressors on alcohol abuse and dependence in the Hispanic family system. General characteristics of Hispanic culture emphasize gender and age hierarchies and stress cooperation, collectiveness, and strong intergenerational family ties. Given the cultural values of this population, a structural systems approach is proposed as an adjunct to other forms of treatment when working during the recovery process. As an illustrative guide, the primary author presents portions of an actual case study involving a multigenerational Hispanic stepfamily.