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As host to over one million Syrian refugees, Lebanon continues to experience challenges addressing the needs of refugee families. This research examined the experiences of Syrian families with the refugee support system in Lebanon. The purpose of this study was to better understand the strengths and gaps in existing mechanisms of support for these Syrian families, including informal support from family, neighbors and community and more formalized support provided through entities such as nongovernmental organizations and United Nations agencies.

Data were collected from 46 families displaced by the war and living in Lebanon (N = 351 individuals within 46 families). Collaborative family interviews were conducted with parents, children and often extended family.

The data identified both strengths and gaps in the refugee support system in Lebanon. Gaps in the refugee support system included inadequate housing, a lack of financial and economic support, challenges with a lack of psychosocial support for pregnant women and support for disabled youth. Despite these challenges, families and community workers reported informal community support as a strong mediator of the challenges in Lebanon. Furthermore, the data find that organizations working with Syrian families are utilizing informal community support through capacity building, to create more effective and sustainable support services.

This study provides an overview of strengths and gaps in supports identified by refugees themselves. The research will inform the development and improvement of better support systems in Lebanon and in other refugee–hosting contexts.

This study is a radical interactionist analysis of family conflict. Drawing on both a negotiated order perspective and Athen's theory of complex dominative encounters, this study analyzes the role that domination plays in conflicts among intimates. As the family engages in repeated conflicts over roles, the family also engages in negotiations over the family order, what role each party should play, interpretations of past events, and plans for the future. These conflicts take place against a backdrop of patriarchy that asymmetrically distributes power in the family to determine the family order. The data from this study come from a content analysis of mothers with substance use problems as depicted in the reality television show Intervention. The conflicts in these families reveal that these families develop a grinding family order in which families engaged in repeated conflict but also continued to operate as and identify as a family. These conflicts are shaped by and reinforce patriarchal expectations that mothers are central to family operation. The intervention at the end of each episode offered an opportunity for the family to engage in a concerted campaign to try to force the mother into treatment and reestablish the family order.

The literature on ‘mixed’ families (in which members are socially viewed as ‘different’ due to their varying ethnicities and/or nationalities) identifies several stakes of mixedness. One of them arises from childbirth, after which parents need to give name(s) to their offspring. How does the parent–child dyad understand the giving of names in their mixed family? What does naming children unveil regarding interpersonal interactions and the value of children within this social unit? The chapter delves into these questions through a case study of forenaming children in Filipino-Belgian families in Belgium. Interview data analysis reveals two modes of forenaming in these families: individualisation through single forenames and reinforcement of collective affiliation through compound forenames. Through the analytical framework of social relatedness, this chapter uncovers the way the act of naming a child bridges families based on biological and social ties, generations, and parents' nations of belonging in their transnational spaces. The complex process of naming reflects the power dynamics not only within the parental couple but also within the wider set of social relations. Although the use of forename(s) in everyday life and in legal terms differ, the value of children in the mixed families studied lies in their symbolic role as social bridges linking generations and non-biological relationships, the then and now, and the here and there.

Hazel Kyrk’s recognised contributions include a shift in analytic focus from production to consumption, pioneering work to measure household production as part of family income, empirical studies of family behaviour, and contributions to policy. But her account of ‘wise’ consumption and its intersection with ‘high’ living standards is not well understood. The three aims of this chapter are to explain ‘wise’ consumption across Kyrk’s three major books, to consider its role in Kyrk’s empirical studies, and to explain why it fell into oblivion. Tackling what Wesley Mitchell described as the ‘most baffling of difficulties’, Kyrk explained what constitutes a family’s ‘good’ in a manner that was critical of mere emulation. Her 1923 book required that wise consumption include new and personal elements. Her 1929/1933 book detailed five qualitative criteria (balance between interests, full and varied experiences, originality, rational sources of satisfaction, and the use of scientific information). But her 1953 book weakened this normative language, reflecting Margaret Reid’s view that Kyrk’s account was too demanding. Although Kyrk felt wise consumption avoided paternalism, her peers disagreed (Hoyt, 1938/1945; Reid, 1938/1945). We close with some problems with Kyrk’s account and a brief consideration of its continuing relevance.

Family–school partnerships are an essential component of the special education process for children with disabilities. Notably, recent legislative reauthorizations of IDEA (2004) have focused on increasing parent involvement. For many parents, participation occurs primarily through the individualized education program (IEP) meetings. Parent involvement often includes parent advocating for their children. However, many parents face barriers when advocating to obtain appropriate special education services for their children with disabilities. Culturally and linguistically diverse families face greater systemic barriers (e.g., language and cultural differences) to access services for their own children with disabilities. School professionals can foster opportunities to help families be active members of the IEP process. For example, school professionals should connect families with resources to learn about their special education rights. Specifically, school personnel can encourage families to reach out to their local Parent Training and Information (PTI) Center to be educated and empowered to advocate for services. In addition, parents can be encouraged to attend parent advocacy programs to help increase knowledge, advocacy, and empowerment to access and advocate for services for their own children. Advancing the values of working with parents of students with special education needs is discussed.

Families of children with disabilities experience many challenges, which Sparkle’s Family Liaison Service (FLS) aims to alleviate. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the impact of the service.

Qualitative interviews with ten families who had accessed the FLS and 14 professionals working with children with disabilities were conducted in 2020. Interview transcripts were analysed using inductive and deductive thematic analysis.

Families valued an accessible service and a neutral individual who could empathise with them. Professionals highlighted the FLS relieving pressure they felt to provide informal support for families they work with, resulting in considerable time saving.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first evaluation of the novel FLS meeting the unmet needs of families of children with disabilities. The service equips and empowers caregivers to enhance their own lives and the lives of their children and family.

People with autism and their families struggle with travel because of its complexity. This study aims to promote travel participation by exploring the travel needs and patterns of people with autism and their families.

A total of 28 participants were interviewed. Data were analyzed via constructivist grounded theory.

People with autism and their families displayed five travel patterns: mutual support, relatives’ visitation, independent travel, expanded socialization and package tours. These patterns were adopted in a stepwise fashion as the autistic individuals’ abilities improved. The travel challenges and support needs of Chinese autistic people and their families were identified.

The findings can inform accessibility tourism, promote an understanding of autistic people’s tourism activities among the public and industry marketers and offer strategic guidance about family travel for this population.

This effort responds to a call to investigate disability-related issues. The study evaluated the travel behavior of people with autism and their families, from a developmental perspective, presenting a new angle in research on accessibility tourism.

This paper aims to investigate the effect of parent–adolescent conflict in step versus biological families on family communication patterns (FCPs) and the conflict resolution strategy adopted by adolescents during family destinations or holiday planning (where to visit?).

The literature on family conflict (i.e. parent–adolescent conflict) and the different types of families (step vs nuclear) supported the proposed framework. The survey was conducted in the Indian subcontinent with a sample size of 437 adolescents. SPSS 22.0 was used for factor analysis (exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis) and structural equation modelling was used through AMOS 26.0 for data analysis.

Significant relationship was observed between the types of families (step and biological), FCP and the resolution strategy chosen by Indian adolescents. Adopting a resolution strategy by adolescents in both families depends on the type of FCP in the family. Adolescents in stepfamilies have socio-oriented FCP and use “positive problem-solving” and “conflict withdrawal” as a resolution strategy. In contrast, adolescents in biological families have concept-oriented families and use “conflict enhancement” as a resolution strategy. It has also been found that adolescents who fall into high-stress categories used conflict enhancement strategies. In contrast, those who fall under low-stress categories used positive problem-solving and withdrawal strategies.

This study will add a new chapter to adolescents’ decision-making literature in line with the previous research. It has practical implications for tourism marketers, academicians/researchers and policymakers. Marketers can segment adolescents into step versus biological families, and the choice of resolution strategies may introduce efficient and competent marketing strategies and promotional campaigns.

This study favours that family type is a robust construct to predict adolescents’ choice of resolution strategy. So, it is one of the most influential variables in adolescents’ resolution strategy adoption.

Prior to Covid, family involvement was on a forward movement of becoming a more involved, collaborative relationship between teachers and families of students. Just as family involvement was beginning to gain momentum with student-led conferences, in and out of school volunteer opportunities and families being seen as a valued perspective regarding student learning, Covid happened. This one event changed how families were seen within the school system. Through reflection with clinical candidates experiencing the effects of Covid and engagement experiences with families in the classroom, two different themes emerged regarding how schools have moved forward since Covid. Some schools found families to be a valued partner in student learning where other districts chose to use Covid as a reason for shutting the doors to family involvement. This article aims to address the family engagement timeline beginning prior to Covid, the perceptions of clinical candidates based on their experiences in classrooms, and innovative strategies for supporting future engagement with families.

The work provides a summary of family involvement pre-existent to Covid, during the pandemic and post-Covid through a review of the literature and emerging from teacher candidate experiences in the school setting.

After a careful review of literature and reflection of current teacher candidate experiences in the school system, two clear movements have emerged as Covid restrictions have been lowered. Where some districts are relieved by a lowering of visitor restrictions with the increased involvement of families in the building, other schools have tightened restrictions on families, causing increased tension on parent-teacher relationships. These schools are left caught in the pandemic, unaware or unsure of how to proceed in a post-pandemic world. This article provides key aspects to include in creating a plan for engaging with families and creating strong reciprocal relationships.

Valuing families in the school setting is crucial for developing strong relationships among teachers, students, student supports and the families who are raising these children. With increased social emotional needs in students, post-Covid, allowing families to contribute to discussion and planning regarding their children is mutually beneficial. Including families in school learning, planning and opportunities leads to positive family engagement and overall increased success in students, extending to the value educators place on involving these families. In addition, modeling how to postively engage families in school learning supports clinical partnerships with area universities. Where schools and classrooms are developing intergrated plans to include families in school learning experiences, future educators are able to better see and value the role of the family in education. When clinical candidates are not able to observe positive interactions between schools and families, there is a disconnect between school learning and home life that may never be explored.

The legalization of same-sex marriage changed the parenting landscape for LGBTQ parents in a variety of ways. Parenthood is presumably different now that same-sex marriage is officially legal. Experiences among LGBTQ couples in the post-legalization of same-sex marriage era raise questions about the context of growing recognition and cultural acceptance of same-sex relationships. I conducted in-depth interviews with LGBTQ parents to learn how they navigate parenting and the construction of parenting roles in the context of a society that has legalized same-sex marriage, yet still is rooted in heteronormative notions of family and parenthood. Specifically, I ask: How do LGBTQ couples construct and make sense of their roles as parents, particularly within the contemporary context of the legalization of same-sex marriage? Understanding the contexts that shape LGBTQ parents’ experiences aids in not only understanding the lives of LGBTQ parents and their families better, but also developing a deeper understanding of contemporary parenting identities and experiences more broadly.