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Article
Publication date: 1 December 1996

Maximiliane Szinovacz

This study, based on data from the National Survey of Families and Households, confirms normative preference for nuclear households across all cohorts and racial/ethnic groups…

Abstract

This study, based on data from the National Survey of Families and Households, confirms normative preference for nuclear households across all cohorts and racial/ethnic groups throughout this century. However, a noteworthy minority (about 30%) did live with grandparents at some time during their childhood. Living with grandparents as well as having a grandparent live in one's parental household were somewhat more prevalent during the 30's and 40's, indicating that extended households may have been formed in response to the Depression and especially World War II. There also is a significant effect of nuclear family structure: living arrangements with grandparents predominate among those who did not live with both parents at some time during their childhood. The data also suggest that it is important to differentiate between grandparental living arrangements that are oriented toward the care of the grandchildren and those arrangements that imply care for the grandparent: the former arrangement predominates among Blacks, whereas the latter is more common among Whites. During the past decade there has been increased interest in extended family living arrangements and particularly in households including grandparents and/or grandchildren. This interest reflects several demographic trends during the latter part of this century, especially increases in divorce and in parental problems (drugs, AIDS) that preclude parents from taking care of their own children as well as increases in longevity and in the survival of frail elderly, many of whom come to live with their adult children. Census data offer information on the prevalence of extended family arrangements at any one point in time, but they are insufficient to estimate a person's lifetime “risk” of living with grandparents and provide only limited information on the duration of such living arrangements. Data from the National Survey of Families and Households (NSFH) include information not only on whether individuals ever lived with their grandparents but also on the type and the duration of such arrangements. Based on this data set, this article assesses trends in living arrangements with grandparents, and variations in these trends by race and childhood family structure.

Details

International Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, vol. 16 no. 12
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0144-333X

Article
Publication date: 15 August 2008

Keith Morrison

The purpose of this paper is to describe an in‐depth study of indigenous Samoan economic systems, to ascertain what aspects of the systems enable community values and innovation;…

1333

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to describe an in‐depth study of indigenous Samoan economic systems, to ascertain what aspects of the systems enable community values and innovation; what are the effects of neo‐colonial globalisation on the functionality of the systems, and what can be deduced about the best ways to ensure sustainable economic development of Samoan villages in face of globalisation.

Design/methodology/approach

Participatory action research has been carried out continuously within two Samoan villages between 1995 and 2006. Grounded theoretical approaches have been critically utilised, based on primary data from within the villages, local Samoan literature and academic literature from multiple disciplines, including human ecology, postcolonial literature; indigenous knowledge (IK); entrepreneurship, and post‐Keynesian and development economics. Ethnographic detail is included in the presentation of grounded theoretical constructs.

Findings

Community values are incorporated into business activities within the Samoan villages researched. Community values operate at two levels: that of an extended family and of the village comprising of extended families. Different sets of resources are available and managed by extended families and villages. The chief of each extended family is an entrepreneur as well as manager to ensure the economic viability and independence of their family, and that their capital base is enhanced. The chiefs of extended families form a village council which determines how village resources are utilised. The systems, based on IK, are functional to fulfil community values of equity and lack of poverty. Samoan indigenous entrepreneurship operates to ensure the independence of all extended families, including their capacity to be innovative. This appears to be possible because of the customary land tenure system that does not allow alienation of natural capital. Such a conclusion contradicts the commonly expressed view that economic development requires the creation of tradable property rights.

Research limitations/implications

Only two Samoan villages were researched in depth. They are both traditional and from the same district. Even though this enables high‐quality data to be obtained about indigenous economic systems in Samoan village, it did into provide data about what may be more generally occurring among Samoan villages. Notwithstanding this, data were gained about what are the deep cultural pressures and challenges as Samoan indigenous economic systems face neo‐colonial globalisation.

Practical implications

In contradiction to what is commonly argued in development economics literature, the research has found that the instituting of tradable property rights is likely to degrade economic development. The reason is because the IK constituting the Samoan indigenous economic systems implicates inalienable property rights for extended families and villages. Even though access to development capital through the opportunity to mortgage property may bring initial increase in economic development, community values to ensure equity and lack of poverty are likely to be compromised. The research concludes that the best option for the sustainable development of Samoan rural villages is to maintain customary land tenure, but to ensure there remains an ongoing emphasis on education, comprising of both IK and all knowledge pertaining to the new global economy and the opportunities it provides.

Originality/value

All aspects of the research are original. All data were collected by the author, and all grounded theoretical development was carried out by the author.

Details

Journal of Enterprising Communities: People and Places in the Global Economy, vol. 2 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1750-6204

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 14 October 2022

Britni L. Adams

This chapter illuminates the central role of kin networks and the routines they construct to maintain family ties and support young fathers in jail. Recent research demonstrates…

Abstract

This chapter illuminates the central role of kin networks and the routines they construct to maintain family ties and support young fathers in jail. Recent research demonstrates variation in incarcerated fathers’ contact with children. There is less focus on variation in contact with extended kin networks and how kin networks contribute to father–child contact during an incarceration period. Forty-three incarcerated young fathers (ages 19–26) in three Southern California jails, 79% of whom self-identified as Latino, were interviewed to explore fathers’ descriptions of family contact during jail. Incarcerated young fathers rely on kin networks to coordinate routines for contact during jail, including father–child contact. Father inclusion in family life during jail depends not only on the mother of the child but – perhaps integrally – extended paternal kin. Available paternal kin can facilitate connectedness between children and incarcerated fathers in family contexts of complicated parental circumstances (e.g., parental relationship dissolution). Family members mitigate family challenges to maintain ties despite carceral policies meant to isolate fathers from families and children. A continued focus on kin networks and their role in maintaining family connectedness is crucial to understanding and reducing the collateral consequences to family members and incarcerated persons following release from jail.

Details

The Justice System and the Family: Police, Courts, and Incarceration
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80382-360-7

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 14 December 2023

Chuka Onwumechili and Unwana Samuel Akpan

This chapter examines changes in Nigerian family roles because of the gap that exists in communication between left-at-home footballers' wives and their absentee husbands who are…

Abstract

This chapter examines changes in Nigerian family roles because of the gap that exists in communication between left-at-home footballers' wives and their absentee husbands who are working at significant distances from their families' permanent residence. Based on a study of 12 football (i.e., soccer) players in the Nigeria Professional Football League (NPFL) and contextualized within the field of sport labor, the study adds knowledge about the impact of footballer migration on left-behind families. The interview data produced five major themes: long-distance marital communication, effects of a paternalistic family culture, extended family issues, effects of father's absence on children, and effects of loneliness and loss of intimacy on wives. The results demonstrate changing roles among the married couples and extended families who were investigated in this study, perhaps indicating what is happening among similar families in Nigeria. It is notable that although the demands of professional football create this impact on families, there is considerable cultural resistance to role changes, because these changes grant the women new and possibly unexpected roles and increased domestic power. Their husbands, despite being away from home, appear to resist these changes and struggle to assert traditional power from afar. In many cases, the women expertly maneuver around this struggle and, in cases where disagreements emerge, they often use effective strategies to resolve problems and maintain a united family.

Book part
Publication date: 3 September 2015

Preethi Krishnan and Mangala Subramaniam

The practices and arrangements within a family can create grounds for violence. Although we agree that family processes are important, we think that these explanations downplay…

Abstract

Purpose

The practices and arrangements within a family can create grounds for violence. Although we agree that family processes are important, we think that these explanations downplay the structure of families (nuclear, extended) and thereby the ways in which gender relations are organized. In this paper, domestic violence is explored as an intra-family dynamic that extends beyond the intimate partner relationship and which seeps into court rulings of cases of such violence.

Methodology/approach

Using archival data from 164 Supreme Court case decisions on domestic violence in India for the period 1995–2011, we examine both the patterns of conviction and the complexities of gender relations within the family by systematically coding the Court’s rulings.

Findings

Analysis of court rulings show that mothers-in-law were convicted in 14% cases and the husband was convicted in 41% cases. We call attention to the collective nature of the domestic violence crime in India where mothers-in-law were seldom convicted alone (3% of cases) but were more likely to be convicted along with other members of the family. Two dominant themes we discuss are the gendered nature of familial relations beyond the intimate partner relationship and the pervasiveness of such gendered relationships from the natal home to the marital family making victims of domestic violence isolated and “homeless.”

Research limitations/implications

Future research may benefit from using data in addition to the judgments to consider caste and class differences in the rulings. An intersectionality perspective may add to the understanding of the interpretation of the laws by the courts.

Social implications

Insights from this paper have important policy implications. As discussed in the paper, the unintended support for violence from the natal family is an indication of their powerlessness and therefore further victimization through the law will not help. It is critical that natal families re-frame their powerlessness which is often derived from their status as families with daughters. Considering that most women in India turn to their natal families first for support when they face violence in their marriages, policy must enable such families to act and utilize the law.

Originality/value

By examining court rulings on cases of domestic violence in India we focus on the power exerted by some women particularly within extended families which is central to understanding gender relations within institutions. These relations are legitimized by the courts in the ways they interpret the law and rule on cases.

Details

Violence and Crime in the Family: Patterns, Causes, and Consequences
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78560-262-7

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 February 2015

David S. Jacobson, Caroline McMullan and Christos Minas

The purpose of this paper is to show the relationship between food as a shared good (or public within the household) in the economic sense, and food as a shared meal in the…

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to show the relationship between food as a shared good (or public within the household) in the economic sense, and food as a shared meal in the sociological sense.

Design/methodology/approach

Quantitative data derived from a household budget survey (HBS) in Cyprus are used to set up questions to which answers are suggested using the qualitative approach of in-depth interviews.

Findings

The main finding is that the relatively high expenditure by elderly couples on food for home consumption may be explained by frequent inter-household, intra-extended family meals in Cyprus.

Research limitations/implications

The paper provides evidence that household expenditure on food may not be directly indicative of household consumption of food. Researchers interested in household consumption of food should therefore be aware of the differences between household and extended family and, where extended family continues to be significant, they should be wary of using data from HBSs to analyse food consumption. One limitation is that the results are derived from in-depth interviews with a purposive sample of nine households. It may be appropriate to replicate the study, either in Cyprus or in similar societies where extended family remains significant, at a larger scale.

Practical implications

The evidence that household expenditure may not be indicative of household consumption suggests that questions on social context of consumption should be included in HBSs.

Originality/value

This paper draws together, for the first time, economic ideas on expenditure on food derived from the quantitative research of Ernst Engel on one hand and implications of the theories of Georg Simmel on the sociology of the meal on the other. The paper shows that some issues arising from quantitative analysis of HBSs cannot be explained using data from that source; this is particularly so where consumption of food is inter-household.

Details

British Food Journal, vol. 117 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0007-070X

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 16 March 2021

Paula Fomby

Ambridge residents live with extended kin and non-family members much more often than the population of the United Kingdom as a whole. This chapter explores cultural norms…

Abstract

Ambridge residents live with extended kin and non-family members much more often than the population of the United Kingdom as a whole. This chapter explores cultural norms, economic need, and family and health care to explain patterns of coresidence in the village of Ambridge. In landed families, filial obligation and inheritance norms bind multigenerational families to a common dwelling, while scarcity of affordable rural housing inhibits residential independence and forces reliance on access to social networks and chance to find a home among the landless. Across the socioeconomic spectrum, coresidence wards off loneliness among unpartnered adults. Finally, for Archers listeners, extended kin and non-kin coresidence creates a private space where dialogue gives added dimensionality and depth to characters who would otherwise be known only through their interactions in public spaces.

Details

Flapjacks and Feudalism
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-80071-389-5

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 24 October 2008

Samuel O. Salami

This paper seeks to examine the roles of personality, vocational interests, academic achievement and some socio‐cultural factors in educational aspirations of secondary school…

2799

Abstract

Purpose

This paper seeks to examine the roles of personality, vocational interests, academic achievement and some socio‐cultural factors in educational aspirations of secondary school adolescents in southwestern Nigeria.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey research design was adopted. The sample comprised 430 (males = 220, females = 210) secondary school students. Data personality, vocational interests, academic achievement, socio‐cultural factors and educational aspiration were obtained from the students. Hierarchical multiple regression analysis was used to analyse the data.

Findings

The paper finds that specific personality, interest dimensions, academic achievement, socio‐economic status and demands from extended family were significantly related to the students' educational aspirations.

Research limitations/implications

The cross‐sectional correlational research design does not permit cause‐and‐effect inferences to be made. Use of a single‐item survey to assess educational aspirations may limit the results. Future research may add more items to assess educational aspiration.

Practical implications

The adolescents' personality, vocational interests, academic achievement and socio‐cultural factors should be identified and included in the career counselling process by counselling psychologists.

Originality/value

This research provides basis for the need to consider personality, interests and socio‐cultural factors in addition to cognitive attainment when explaining the adolescents' educational aspirations.

Details

Career Development International, vol. 13 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1362-0436

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 1 September 1998

Baljit Kaur Rana, Carolyn Kagan, Suzan Lewis and Usha Rout

Even though an increasing number of British South Asian women have moved into paid employment over the years as a reflection of social and cultural mobility and change, their…

2382

Abstract

Even though an increasing number of British South Asian women have moved into paid employment over the years as a reflection of social and cultural mobility and change, their work‐family experiences are not widely reported. This paper examines the experiences of British South Asian full‐time managerial or professional women combining work and family life. A qualitative study based in the north‐west of England was conducted utilising semi‐structured interviews with 17 women. Five themes are discussed: cultural influences on domestic responsibilities; additional responsibilities and commitments to extended family and community members; work‐family priorities and “superwoman syndrome”; stereotypes of roles and responsibilities at work; and experiences of discrimination. Managerial or professional British South Asian women are subjected to the same cultural family commitments and expectations as other non‐professional British South Asian working women. Practical implications of the findings are related to managing diversity approaches and organisational culture change.

Details

Women in Management Review, vol. 13 no. 6
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0964-9425

Keywords

Book part
Publication date: 10 April 2019

Lydia Ottlewski, Johanna F. Gollnhofer and John W. Schouten

Purpose: Market logics have increasingly dominated consumer life worlds. Consumers may embrace marketization, or they may resist it, try to escape it, rebel against it, or

Abstract

Purpose: Market logics have increasingly dominated consumer life worlds. Consumers may embrace marketization, or they may resist it, try to escape it, rebel against it, or actively manage its effects. This chapter examines the marketization of elderly care (in the form of transactional service provider relationships) and how consumers apply humanizing strategies to market relationships.

Methodology/Approach: This is a qualitative interpretive study using in-depth interviewing, observations, and the analysis of media coverage.

Findings: Drawing on institutional theory, this study shows how consumers humanize a marketized service relationship by weaving social logics into existing market logics. Our research finds consumers engaging in three humanization strategies: (1) moving beyond transactional relationships; (2) sharing consumption experiences; and (3) reinforcing social bonds through giving. The end result is the do-it-yourself (DIY) creation of extended family relationships from market resources.

Social Implications: The context of this study is a government-supported, non-profit, exchanged-based retirement support scheme that addresses the challenges of global population aging and the increasing anonymization and estrangement in our society. The authors tentatively suggest that our findings represent a move to mitigate adverse effects of neoliberalism.

Originality/Value of the Paper: Prior research has shown that consumers embrace marketization, resist it, try to escape it, rebel against it, or actively manage its effects. The authors identify another strategy used by consumers to address the increasing marketization of their life worlds, namely humanization. This study shows that consumers assemble market resources and humanize transactional service provider relationships by weaving social- into market logics resulting in the creation of a DIY extended family.

Details

Consumer Culture Theory
Type: Book
ISBN: 978-1-78754-285-3

Keywords

1 – 10 of over 71000