Family Norms Research Articles

The production function socialization trend of rural housing land and its response to rural land planning in metropolitan suburbs from the perspective of rural space commodification

An investigation of the changing production function of rural housing land can help to guide appropriate land use adjustment and rural land planning. Taking into account the layout characteristics from 2005 to 2018, we employed the structural equation model and the theory of planned behavior to analyze the differentiation mechanism of rural housing land production function based on survey data of 613 typical farmers in Pinggu District of Beijing. Our results show that, first, the production function intensity of rural housing land in Pinggu District fell from 0.327 to 0.126, and the coefficient of variation increased from 0.15 to 0.54. This indicates that the overall production function decreased but the spatial heterogeneity increased. Second, the production function of rural housing land gradually withdrew and socialized in villages, following the socialization evolution process of agricultural production function, industrial and commercial service function, and public service function. Third, the internal land use pattern of rural housing land is significantly influenced by the subjective norms and perceptual behavior control of farmers. The demonstrative norms of family and the prescriptive norms of village collective have significant effects on subjective norms, and the perceived behavioral control is significantly affected by income scale and structure, family size, and employment type. Finally, to further promote rural housing land management, it is necessary to optimize its prescriptive norms of the village collective, improve the farmers’ income level and employment structure, and weaken the farmers’ perceived difficulties. According to the different function socialization stages of rural housing land, rural land planning should coordinate the relationship between the production function socialization of rural housing land and the commercialization of rural space, and boost the revitalization of rural industry.

From the practice of using clinical interviews in the study of mentality

Introduction. The relevance of the study is due to the depth and breadth of the concept of "mentality" in psychology. Based on this, the empirical study of mentality presents certain difficulties. In our study, we proceed from the understanding that mentality is a superstructure that determines the existential meaning of phenomena, processes that distinguish the psychological makeup of a particular society. The research is aimed at studying the yakut mentality through the prism of family relations. It is assumed that the family, as the primary institution of socialization, is the most important mechanism ensuring the continuity of traditional cultural values and the stability of mentality in a changing world.Materials and Methods. The article describes the results of a clinical interview conducted within the framework of psychological counseling. The advantages of a clinical interview in the study of the deep, qualitative features of the mentality of the people are revealed. The study was conducted in Yakutia from 2018 to 2021. The sample size is 99 people. The age of respondents is from 54 to 82 years. Of these, 87 are women, 12 are men.Results. The results of psychological consultations are presented in the form of detailed texts and tables reflecting the quantitative results of content analysis. Clinical interview protocols are analyzed using microsemantic analysis and content analysis.Discussion and Conclusions. It is revealed that the traditional values of the sakha people are preserved in the yakut mentality: respect for elders, family as an extended family. Modern yakut families adhere to the norms of the traditional yakut family: child-centrism, parenting in the children's system, the active participation of grandparents in the upbringing of children, the choice of an informal head of the family not by gender, but by personal characteristics. The participation of several generations in the upbringing of children, the expansion of family resources at the expense of the genus are mechanisms that ensure the continuity of mentality in the yakut culture.

Family Morality and Tolerance for Corruption

A tolerant attitude towards corruption is considered in connection with the norms of family morality, aimed primarily at maintaining the well-being of loved ones and relatives. Based on the obtained em­pirical data, it is argued that the norms of family morality compel the closest relatives of a corrupt offi­cial not to protest against illegal income and not to condemn their corrupt relative for his or her illegal activities. Family morality in this situation is opposed to public morality, aimed at the common good and the observance of laws. It is proposed to consider the conflict of the society norms and family norms as necessary in all those situations where the interests of a large social group (society) do not coincide with the interests of a small social group (family) included in it.

Deconstructing gender and family norms in new Tunisian cinema: A queer reading of Ala Eddine Slim’s Tlamess/طلامس‎(2019)

This article seeks to problematize the concept of queer cinema and then to illuminate conceptual nuances through the analysis of a specific film. The Tunisian feature film Tlamess can be read as queer on two levels. First, its queerness relates to the protagonist, a deserter who undergoes a fundamental metamorphosis: he frees himself from the patterns of military masculinity and, far from the normative world, takes on a maternal role. Second, the dissolution of the traditional gender and family order is staged through cinematic processes that introduce the viewers to a pre-verbal world outside of established symbolic and social patterns. Expressive audio-visual techniques transfer the viewers into this alternative world and create an experience of difference, a kind of mind game. Thus, queer cinema should not only be understood in terms of political activism, as an examination of characters supposedly deviating from gender norms. Rather, and crucially, it emerges in a much broader sense out of the strategies of aesthetic mise en scène.

Redefining Fatherhood: The Lived Experiences of Stay-at-Home Fathers in a Filipino Transnational Family

The Filipino family dynamics have evolved because of globalization and migration. This has changed the traditional family norms in the Philippines. As a result, the number of Stay-At-Home-Fathers (SAHFs) has increased, with fathers becoming primary givers and mothers becoming breadwinners. A phenomenological qualitative study was utilized in this study to understand the lived experiences of SAHFs focused on their life history, present experiences, and their reflections on hopes and aspirations. Reasons for becoming a SAHF are largely based on the socioeconomic status of the family and the readiness to end the cycle of poverty. Though there is an increased number of SAHFs, they continue to face isolation, stereotypes, and stigma. They expressed a desire for greater appreciation and understanding of their parental and emotional lives as fathers while finding balance in their new role and contribution to the family.

A home-to-school approach for promoting culturally inclusive family–school partnership research and practice

In this article, parental role construction is framed from a sociocultural perspective. Applying this perspective foregrounds the need for researchers and practitioners to gain an insider’s understanding of how families themselves construct their roles in supporting children’s education. By doing so, the field can reimagine family–school partnerships that are inclusive of normative family practices across ethnoculturally diverse families and develop interventions that build on cultural heritage, community strengths, and families’ funds of knowledge. In this article, a home-to-school, strengths-based conceptualization of family engagement that challenges deficit-based and school-centric orientations toward families is described. Evidence from three innovative research projects will be discussed that shows by being curious about how parents construct their roles and support their children at home (both directly and indirectly), researchers and practitioners can gain useful information to co-create more culturally inclusive and welcoming school environments, as well as more meaningful home–school connections.

The Wrong Tools for the Job: Teachers' Voices on Cultural Capital Mismatch

This case study investigates how teachers in a school with a large population of low-income students of color in the U.S. perceived students’ cultural capital and associated teachers’ roles. Twenty-seven teachers were interviewed and discussed four domains of cultural capital mismatch between students and teachers: behavioral, experiential, academic, and family norm. Teachers often characterized these misalignments as students’ deficits and undertook parenting or friendship roles. This study highlights the need to support and train pre-service and in-service teachers’ critical consciousness, so that teachers leverage students’ cultural tools to enhance instruction and to counteract deficit views of students of color.

Solo Fathers and Mothers: An Exploration of Well-Being, Social Support and Social Approval.

Research has begun to explore the experiences of single mothers by choice who choose to start a family alone and do so using donated gametes. However, very little is known about the experiences of single fathers by choice, and even less is known about how their experiences might compare to mothers in the same position. This exploratory study of single mothers (n = 19) and fathers (n = 17) by choice examined mental health and social support among mothers who used sperm donation, and fathers who used egg donation and surrogacy, to become parents. Data relating to their reasoning for pursuing solo parenthood, mental health, and social support were analyzed quantitatively. To further explore fathers’ experiences of being a solo parent, a thematic analysis was conducted exploring their descriptions of social responses to their family type. Regarding parental mental health, no statistically significant differences were found between mothers and fathers, and both groups of parents had sought out supportive networks, both before becoming a parent, and as a single parent. Fathers’ responses indicated that they received both supportive and negative reactions, although they generally perceived the majority of interactions to be positive. However, frequent references made by members of the public, or by the media, to their family type being new or different served to reproduce social scripts about normative family types. The study findings, despite the small sample size, contribute to a new understanding of the well-being and experiences of both mothers and fathers who choose to start their family and parent alone.

Loneliness before and during the COVID-19 pandemic—are unpartnered and childless older adults at higher risk?

COVID-19 mitigation efforts had the potential to exacerbate loneliness among older adults, particularly for the unpartnered or childless, yet specific studies on loneliness among these groups during the COVID-19 pandemic are lacking. Using data from the Survey of Health, Ageing and Retirement in Europe (SHARE) collected before (October 2019–March 2020) and during the pandemic (June–August 2020), we examine two loneliness outcomes: (1) “have you felt lonely recently?” (both datasets) and (2) “have you felt lonelier than before the pandemic?” (2020), and examine differences by partnership and parenthood status. Before COVID-19, those who lacked one tie but had the other (unpartnered parents or partnered childless) were at highest loneliness risk. During COVID-19, unpartnered and childless—especially unpartnered—remain at higher risk for loneliness, entering loneliness, and not “exiting” loneliness. We discuss these findings in light of family norms and needs in pandemic and non-pandemic times and provide recommendations for future research.

“Normal” childhood in the lives of financially struggling white daughters and mothers

AbstractObjectiveThis study identifies the ways low‐income white daughters negotiate normative childhood when describing their responsibilities while growing up.BackgroundThough family scholars have long theorized the power of family norms, we know little about the ways children navigate those norms. Using insights from scholarship about social class, whiteness, and childhood, this study explores the ways whiteness, classed experiences, and family life intersect in daughters' and mothers' lives.MethodThis study uses 40 in‐depth retrospective interviews with financially struggling white mothers and adult daughters to understand how daughters and mothers negotiate classed, aged, gendered, and racialized norms about childhood responsibilities.ResultsA majority of daughters hold major family care responsibilities at some point in their childhood, caring for siblings, parents, and themselves for long stretches of time. Though daughters explain why their responsibilities make sense given their classed circumstance, most daughters come to explain their own family work around some version of a “normal” childhood that they do not explicitly tie to class. Mothers may explicitly class the norm more, but also come to express agency and guilt over their daughters' responsibilities.ConclusionThis work reveals how class, childhood, whiteness, and gender intersect in the lives of financially struggling white mothers and daughters, and shows how family difference becomes coded language for classed experiences.

Family arrangements, identity verification, and happiness

We study how the family structural arrangements individuals inhabit, the cultural meanings that accompany these structures, and individuals' experiences of identity verification within these structures are related to their general happiness. We use data (N = 1304) from the 2014 General Social Survey Identity Module to study the normative and non-normative family arrangements in which individuals reside, their experience of verification of the parent/non-parent identity, and their happiness. We find that parent/non-parent identity verification is positively associated with happiness for normative family arrangements but not non-normative family arrangements. We discuss how social structural arrangements and a culture that supports them may assist the identity verifying outcome of happiness, while structural arrangements and a culture that is not as supportive of certain family forms may undermine the identity verifying outcome of happiness. The findings provide insights into how social structure and culture at the macro level coalesce with the identity verification process at the micro level in affecting the emotional tenor of people's lives.

Achieving Their Goals and Adopting New Norms: Polish Immigrant Women and American Institutions in Early Twentieth-Century and Interwar Chicago

Abstract This paper examines paradoxes and ambiguities in the interactions of Polish immigrant women with American institutions in early twentieth-century and interwar Chicago. I argue that these interactions were far more multi-faceted than described by William Thomas and Florian Znaniecki in The Polish Peasant in Europe and America. Although American institutions did intervene within the Polish immigrant family, proposing “American” solutions to issues pervading immigrant family life, Polish women often requested these interventions in order to achieve individual goals or solutions they deemed best for their families and marriages. However, as this paper examines, assistance from American institutions did at times require adherence to disciplining and normative narratives and behaviors and adoption of certain new family, gender, and sexuality norms. The case study in this paper is the Northwestern University Settlement, established within the largest Polish community in Chicago in 1891, which cooperated extensively with the city's municipal courts, police, and various voluntary associations. This paper analyzes three types of case histories—those of mistreated wives, “wayward” daughters, and out-of-wedlock mothers—with a particular focus on gendered and family-related norms as well as the relations between Polonia mothers and daughters as showcased in their interactions with American private and public institutions.

National citizenship, migrant deportation and gender/sexual logics of home

ABSTRACT This article highlights deportation when imagining the futures of citizenship studies and nation-based citizenship. I center Beloved Home, one of the pillars of the Trans Agenda for Liberation, in order to discuss how nation-state citizenship and migrant deportation regimes converge to make home impossible for many living in the United States. Beloved Home especially foregrounds genders and sexualities, in their interactions with (settler) colonialism, racial capitalism, and slavery, as generating and legitimating ‘unhoming’ through logics of normative family and home, and highlights transgender, queer and feminist scholarship and activisms as resources/tools for transformation.

O-282 Is the poly parenthood the new type of parenthood?

Abstract Is multi-parenthood the new type of parenthood? Conceiving and raising a child with someone who is not a committed conjugal partner has long been disapproved of and is still regarded by some with concern or disdain. However, this way of having children, also referred to as ‘co-parenting’, has increasingly become a family-building option in itself. Originally describing the cooperation of parents in raising their children after divorce, this term now also designates people who deliberately pursue this type of family arrangement and commit to raising a child together, possibly with their respective partners. This parental path is usually chosen to provide a child with a mother and a father with whom they can develop long-lasting relationships. This paper explores some of the opportunities and challenges presented by co-parenting involving more than two parental figures, by focussing on the experiences and accounts of lesbian women and gay men engaged in such family arrangements in Belgium. Drawing on work by social theorists of the family, the main features and advantages of these arrangements are examined to show that while co-parenting might at first seem marginal and complicated, it appears particularly well adapted to contemporary social constraints and parenting expectations. It can facilitate the achievement of a number of ideals and expectations valued in contemporary society, including: the biological heteronormativefamily model; the possibility to negotiate and implement reflexive parentalpractices; the need for a committed but personalised parenthood; and the desire for a betterand more flexible life-balance. Despite these advantages for those involved, multi-parental arrangements raise a set of social, ethical and legal questions that challenge broader legal and ideological family norms.

Long‐term trajectories of intergenerational coresidence: Evidence of living arrangements patterns in Chile

AbstractObjectiveThis study examines long‐term trajectories of intergenerational coresidence (IC) among a cohort of individuals aged 65 and 75 in Chile, focusing on their diversity, prevalence, internal dynamism, and sociodemographic characteristics.BackgroundIC is comparatively high in Latin America and is related to both family norms and social vulnerabilities. However, empirical evidence on this topic comes mostly from cross‐sectional studies using aggregated population data, which neglect the inherently dynamic nature of coresidential arrangements across the life course.MethodWe use representative life‐history data in Santiago, Chile (N = 802), sequence analysis to reconstruct long‐term trajectories, and bivariate analysis to examine their associations with sociodemographic factors.ResultsOur findings show that, first, IC in Chile may be more prevalent and diverse than suggested in previous cross‐sectional studies. Second, our findings indicate patterns of long‐term IC and stable conjugal cohabitation are compatible. Third, the results shed new light on the association of IC with particular sociodemographic groups.ConclusionThis study analyzed patterns of living arrangements among family members based both on intergenerational and conjugal cohabitation and their dynamic character throughout the life course. Our results challenge interpretations of contemporary living arrangements among family members at an international level.ImplicationsThis study shows that IC in Chile has been largely underrepresented, both in magnitude and heterogeneity. This finding informs public policies about the reality of family configurations that require specific care, housing, and financial support.

Perceptions of Barriers to Motherhood: Female STEM PhD Students’ Changing Family Plans

Despite recent pronatalist policies in Hungary, the country has not boosted birth rates at the expected rate. Higher educated women still delay the transition to first birth, a smaller proportion of planned children are born than in Western European countries, and the level of childlessness has also been increasing. As a post‐socialist legacy, prevailing traditional family and gender norms strongly constrain the reconciliation of work and family roles, which can prevent women from realizing their childbearing intentions or drive them to live a childfree life. Qualitative studies about how the fertility decisions of women are formed are scarce, particularly in relation to male‐dominated high‐skilled professions, where the realization of family plans can be especially challenging. The present article explores the barriers to motherhood among female engineers. Results of 27 semi‐structured interviews with mainly childless female PhD students in 2014–2015 show that the women were subject to strong social expectations that negatively influenced their fertility plans. On the family side, these involve becoming a mother and being responsible for child care and household chores; on the work side, challenges include the knowledge‐intensiveness of jobs and a male career model that hardly tolerates the role of motherhood. As a result, the respondents had further delayed childbearing, forecast reconsidering family plans after first childbirth, and in one case, opted for voluntary childlessness. Women also reflected on how their fertility is at stake due to their postponed motherhood and the cumulative effects of hazardous laboratory work. Several intervention points are suggested to stakeholders.

Constituent elements of masculinity taught/learned in childhood and adolescence of men who are being criminally prosecuted for violence against women/partners

The scope of this article was to understand the constituent elements of masculinity taught/learnt in childhood/adolescence and reproduced by men in criminal proceedings for conjugal violence. Oral Life History was used as a methodological reference. Interviews were conducted with 13 men in criminal proceedings for domestic violence. The data were organized according to thematic content analysis and interpreted in the light of the theoretical framework on masculinity. Based on male orality, the constitutive elements of masculinity that were taught/learnt in childhood and adolescence and reproduced by men in criminal proceedings for conjugal violence went through infidelity, overvaluation of work, family provisioning, imposition of family norms and dominance of power in relation to women. Considering that these elements are rooted in the hegemonic model, preventive actions with a focus on social, financial and health commitment are a pressing requirement.

HPV vaccine delay and refusal among unvaccinated Mexican American young adult women: a qualitative investigation of Mexican-born and US-born HPV vaccine decision narratives.

Low HPV vaccination rates among Latina young adults perpetuate HPV-associated cancer disparities. Using qualitative methods, this study explored individual, interpersonal, and community factors that influence HPV vaccine delay and refusal among Mexican- and U.S.-born Mexican American young adult women. Participants (N = 30) between 18 and 26 years old were purposively sampled from two federally qualified health centers in Orange County, California. The National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities research framework and narrative engagement theory guided semi-structured phone interviews coded inductively and deductively. Participants primarily attributed vaccine status to individual and interpersonal reasons. Emerging themes included low HPV vaccine knowledge, insufficient provider communication, negative perceptions about HPV and the vaccine, motherhood responsibilities, mother’s communication about HPV, cultural family norms, health care access, and misinformation. Compared to U.S.-born Latinas, Mexican-born participants more frequently expressed avoiding health care discussions with family. HPV vaccine recommendations for young Mexican American women should include socioculturally tailored messages that may improve HPV vaccination acceptance and uptake.

A test of the maintenance of the effects of imagined contact framed with supportive social norms as a teacher-led field intervention

As the arrival of refugees and asylum seekers continues to increase, schools continue to become a vital center for children to develop positive intergroup attitudes. Teacher-led activities can become useful tools in sustainable prejudice reduction. A field intervention incorporated normative in-group influence with imagined intergroup contact to reduce children's anti-refugee bias. Ten primary school classes (N = 269, Mage = 10.69 years) were randomly assigned to one of four conditions: (a) class norm-framed imagined contact (n = 88), (b) family norm-framed imagined contact (n = 49), (c) religious in-group norm-framed imagined contact (n = 51), or (d) standard (n = 80) imagined contact. Teachers facilitated a series of four imagined contact activities over 4 weeks, with anti-refugee bias measured at baseline and 2 weeks after the final activity. Imagined contact framed in the class context was associated with significantly lower post-intervention contact intentions bias as compared to standard imagined contact. There were no significant effects of family or religion norm framed imagined contact conditions. Findings are discussed in relation to the feasibility of teacher-led school-based interventions and the importance of a supportive normative context in the classroom for anti-refugee bias.

‘It is important that my kids see us all spending time together and that we do spend time together’: Pacific mothers and fathers displaying post-separation family connections

In this article, we draw on Finch’s (2007) concept of family display to examine how collectivist understandings of family intersect with gender to shape mothers’ and fathers’ post-separation displays of family life. Drawing on interviews with fifteen separated Pacific parents (ten mothers and five fathers), we explore how mothers and fathers navigate how, when, with and for whom they display family relationships and family life following separation. In pursuing this inquiry, we pay particular attention to how family imaginaries and norms in Pacific cultures affect participants’ post-separation family displays. We found gender differences among our participants, with mothers displaying post-separation family connections in child-centred and collectivist ways, while the post-separation family displays by fathers were child-related and more individualistic.