Contemporary Perspectives in Family Research – serie

Contemporary Perspectives in Family Research (CPFR) provides a forum for the very latest in family research; examining family structures, behaviours, and relationships from a variety of theoretical, methodological, and disciplinary viewpoints.Published annually, each volume focuses upon a ‘hot topic’ at the leading edge of family research, providing in-depth coverage from expert authors. Previous volumes have covered issues such as economic stress, family relations in the 21st Century, and parent-child relations in later life. Each annual volume recognizes the mainstream of family research topics and provides detailed investigations within those topics. In addition, each annual volume honours the internationalization of family research, and provides perspectives on each topic from a truly cross-cultural point of view.

"Contemporary Perspectives in Family Research" is a series of volumes that features scholarly work on the frontiers of interdisciplinary research on families and family life. Volume 2, "Families, Crime and Criminal Justice" reflects this pioneering orientation by bringing together new empirical research that examines the various ways that families intersect with and are affected by crime and the criminal justice system. The interdisciplinary nature of the volume is reflected in the diversity of disciplines represented, including developmental psychopathology, criminology, sociology, family studies, psychology, social work and demography. The inclusion of qualitative studies based upon observational techniques and in-depth, long interviews as well as quantitative work using demographic and survey approaches demonstrates the wide methodological range employed by the authors. The topics examined include the involvement of children in crime, the patterns and impact of violence in the home, the impact of criminal involvement on parenting strategies and youth development, the experience of families of victims and perpetrators, and responses of the criminal justice system to the needs of families.

We are directed to "mind the time" on occasions when diligence to the clock is important. However, to deliberately invoke "mind your time" is to remember how quickly time, and the clock which serves as its agent, can so quickly recede into the mundane and taken for granted parts of our lives. The experience of time in families can both permeate all activities but nevertheless be hidden. The papers in this volume, representing a range of disciplines (history, sociology, psychology, family therapy, leisure studies, family science) intentionally foreground the way that time shapes everyday family worlds. Each chapter offers different insights into the way that we conceptualize time including analyses of pace, rhythm, negotiation, politics, timetables, schedules, social interaction and support. The meaning of time is illustrated through analyses of a variety of family issues including father involvement, infertility, work and family, mothering and care work, housework, family time, single parent families, family life education and gender.

This book is an in-depth, cutting-edge report on the intergenerational ambivalence perspective: an innovative framework for understanding parent-adult child relationships that has emerged from work in several disciplines such as sociology, psychology, history, and family therapy in the US and Europe over the past ten years. It is an excellent starting point for anyone interested in the ambivalent feelings experienced between adult children and their parents. With dramatic increases in the life span, many people now have adult relationships with their parents that last 30, 40, or even more years. These intergenerational bonds are perhaps the most stable and enduring ties people experience in our rapidly changing world. At the same time, social norms for how these relationships "should" be conducted have weakened, and many parents and adult children are struggling to understand their roles and responsibilities toward one another. Studying the nature and dynamics of intergenerational ties has now become a key task for social scientists, and a remarkably vigorous area for research. The perspective offered here draws on theory and research that highlight ambivalence as a key organizing concept for the study of intergenerational relations. Rather than focusing on consensus and support on one hand, or conflict on the other, this volume reveals parent-adult child relationships as a complex mix of positive and negative emotions, thoughts and attitudes. This volume's 13 chapters lay out the conceptual and methodological framework for this new perspective, and report on a number of empirical studies. The multidisciplinary group of leading researchers examines core dilemmas facing parents and adult children in the new millennium, the ambivalence such dilemmas create, and how people manage and cope with it.

Eastern Europe has been recognized as a region that has experienced major socio-political and economic changes in the last decades. The impact of these transitions on families and their functioning has also been significant. Although understanding of families in different cultures in the last years has been considerably increased, little has been written on Eastern European families. This book fills the void in literature and provides a timely and comprehensive analysis of family issues in Eastern Europe. It brings together scholars from fourteen Eastern European countries: Bulgaria, Czech Republic, former East Germany, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Macedonia, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Russia, Slovakia, Slovenia, and Ukraine. The authors explain family processes in that particular country focusing on the historic, social and economic contexts and the impact they have on families. The authors also provide demographic information about families and discuss cultural traditions, marital and gender roles, parenting processes, family policy and programs within the society, and the state of research on family issues. As the society is trying to adopt a global perspective of the family, there is a need for people to gain an in-depth understanding of the world from a historical, socio-economic, political and cultural framework. This volume is an important reference work to be used by scholars and undergraduate and graduate students. It is a reader appropriate for use in courses and seminars on families and cultural diversity. The book also constitutes an excellent source of information for policy makers, foundations, governments and leaders of international family and/or youth organizations. Finally, the volume could be used by general readers interested in the dynamics of families in Eastern Europe. The book develops new insights and understandings on family issues.

In the fall of 2008, a global recession struck, leaving many families in dire financial situations. Families around the world found themselves experiencing forms of economic stress unlike any which had been seen in recent generations. This volume focuses on how families and family members have been affected by economic and financial stress. Using a variety of methodological and theoretical perspectives, the family scholars in this volume examine the various ways in which families have adapted in the face of financial stress. Through research studies from around the world, it provides a comprehensive examination of how economic stress and financial difficulties affect family structures, family behaviours, and family relationships. Topics covered include: the persistent economic consequences of single motherhood; financial stress and child care subsidies; the American family 2012; migration and family; parental discipline style and academic achievement; economic stress and marital quality; family financial stress and adolescent substance use; and poverty and family well-being.

One undeniable fact about families is that they keep changing, both in terms of structure and behavior. Many factors have served to bring about such changes, including social, cultural, political, and institutional change, resulting in family forms which perhaps may represent the new 'traditional' in the not-so-distant future. Through research studies from around the world, this volume examines these changing structures and behaviors, and attempts to better illustrate the ever-changing nature of families. Topics covered include: transracial adoption, lesbian parenting, intergenerational relationships, procreative identities, ex-spouse relationships, military couples, the meaning of remarriage, and gender roles within contemporary families, among other topics. This volume, along with future volumes of CPFR, utilizes a wide variety of methodological and theoretical approaches, and attempts to provide a comprehensive examination of change in family structures and behaviors.

Around the globe, families are often faced with a variety of health issues, often as a result of social, political, religious, and economic forces. Health issues affect not only individual family members, but also impact family relationships and structures. Illnesses, injuries, and health problems can strike at any time, and can have long-lasting consequences for families. When a family member's health is in jeopardy, it can bring about a wide variety of dilemmas. This multidisciplinary volume addresses the impact these issues have on the family as a unit; how they impact family relationships as well as how the family as a whole responds. The chapters cover a wide range of health related topics including illness in adults and children, sexual relationships, mental health, and disability. Through the use of a wide variety of methodological and theoretical perspectives, the family scholars in this volume provide considerable insight into the ways in which families are affected by health, as well as how they adapt to and cope with health-related dilemmas.

This Book Set consists of:*9781784410155 - Family Relationships and Familial Responses to Health Issues (Part A)*9781784411268 - Family and Health: Evolving Needs,Responsibilities, and Experiences (Part B)Around the globe, families are often faced with a variety of health issues, often as a result of social, political, religious, and economic forces. Health issues affect both individual family members and the family unit as a whole, as well as impacting family relationships and structures. Illnesses, injuries, and health problems can strike at any time, and can have long-lasting consequences for individuals and their families. This multidisciplinary two part volume addresses the impact health issues have on both individual family members and the family as a unit. The chapters cover a wide range of health related topics including illness in adults and children, long term illness, sexual relationships, mental health, disability and international perspectives. Through the use of a wide variety of methodological and theoretical perspectives, the family scholars in this volume provide considerable insight into the ways in which families and their members are affected by health, as well as how they adapt to and cope with health-related dilemmas.

In virtually all societies, crime is an ever-present problem. Although families are often envisioned as a 'safe haven,' criminologists and family researchers have found the familial context to be at the core of many forms of crime and violence. Family members often find themselves as victims of crime and violence, often perpetrated by yet another family member. The unique nature of family relationships, such as those between children and parents, sometimes lead to intergenerational patterns of violence within families. Understandably, societies often struggle to address crime and violence within families; as such behaviors are often unreported and even concealed. Even beyond the family, crime and criminal behavior can often directly impact familial relationships, such as with the incarceration of a spouse or parent. This multidisciplinary volume of CPFR will address topics such as: child abuse and neglect, spousal violence, incarceration and parenting, community crime and family well-being, family life and delinquency, intrafamily violence, and policy-related issues pertaining to family violence.

While the family remains a core social institution in every society, it is, nonetheless, an institution which continues to evolve. In many societies, divorce, separation, and remarriage have become a normative part of marriage and family life. These changes have, understandably, led to a great diversification of the behaviors, attitudes, and norms concerning marriage and family. In order to better comprehend these issues, this multidisciplinary volume of CPFR addresses topics including: marital instability, cohabitation and remarriage, step-parenting, divorce in later life, impact of divorce and separation on children, employment and the risk of divorce, marital dissolution and health, the role of extended kin in the process of divorce, the quality of relationships with former spouses, race/ethnicity and remarriage, economic factors and divorce/remarriage, and extra-marital affairs, among others.

Over the past few decades, there has been a dynamic world-wide societal shift away from traditional routes for finding a partner and establishing intimate relationships. This multidisciplinary volume investigates the impact of online dating and the role of technology in relationship formation; the nature of cohabitation and its relative meaning with marriage; assortative mating patterns; the role of parents and siblings in the selection of a partner; gender and sexuality within dating and mating; evolving forms of non-traditional marriage; the interplay of personality and sociodemographic traits within partner selection; and the role of race, ethnicity, and religion in dating and mating. Together, this collection provides a unique and truly global collection of research on the nature of dating, mating, and coupling, as they occur across a variety of cultures.

The work-life balance of fathers has increasingly come under scrutiny in political and academic debates. This collection brings together qualitative and quantitative empirical analyses to explore fathers’ approaches to reconciling paid work and care responsibilities. Taking a global perspective, contributors explore how fathers realize and represent their gendered work-care balance and how enterprises and experts, in country specific institutional context, provide formal and informal resources, constrains, expectations and social norms that shape their practices.  Chapters explore how fathers from different social and economic backgrounds fullfil their roles both within the family and in the workplace, and what support they rely on in combining these roles. Further, the collection explores an area of research that has been little investigated: the role played by organizational cultures and experts (such as obstetricians, gynaecologists, paediatricians and psychologists) in shaping notions of ‘good’ fatherhood and fathering, to which individuals are required to confirm, and to which they, variously, comply or resist.

Family researchers have long recognized the interconnected nature of work and family. Around the globe, there is a clear recognition that the paid labor experiences of individuals will affect their families and familial relationships, often in unanticipated ways. Likewise, family relationships and family structures can significantly influence the work experience of individuals. As experiences of both families and work vary considerably across cultures, and over time, the nature of the work-family interface continues to change. The work-family interface impacts not only adults within families, but also children, and the interwoven nature of work and family yields significant consequences for all family members and relationships. In order to better understand these issues, this multidisciplinary volume addresses such topics as: parental employment and parenting, paid labor and marital quality, the integration of work-family domains, childcare and child development, dating and mate selection at work, work stress and family violence, health consequences of work-family conflict, relationship roles among dual-earner couples, family determinants of job performance, gender differences in work-family demands and consequences, and work stressors and family functioning; among others. The chapters in this volume provide substantial insight into our understanding of the work-family interface, and provide meaningful directions for both future research and policy.

Over the past half of a century, Chinese societies have undergone a tremendous amount of social, political, and economic change, which have also been a catalyst for substantial shifts in fundamental structures and processes within Chinese families. This edited collection focuses on the continuities and changes in gender and intergenerational relations of Chinese families in Greater China. Paying close attention to families in Greater China, including the People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong, and Taiwan, the authors address a wide array of topics, including marriage patterns, cohabitation, rural-urban variations in family structures, fertility aspirations, spousal relationships and marital quality, and more. Collectively, the chapters point to the dynamic, diverse, and evolving nature of Chinese families, and also provide considerable insight into their future trajectories.

As family structures continue to evolve, aging relatives have caused increasing concern for family members as they attempt to manage complex issues such as health, caregiving, emotional and instrumental support, and intergenerational relationships. This multidisciplinary volume focuses on how aging interacts with family structures and relationship dynamics. Including research from around the globe, the authors address a wide array of topics, including family support networks, elderly care, grandparenthood, marital dynamics and satisfaction, elderly divorce, cohabitation, gender, and intergenerational relationships, and more. Paying homage to the fact that the manners by which aging affects families can vary considerably from one culture to another, this collection makes a crucial contribution by collating research on aging and the family from an international perspective. Providing this wide scope of quality research, the volume equips readers to better assess how aging and its related issues are affecting families from multiple backgrounds.

With the largest population in Africa, Nigeria truly embodies the concept of diversity. Home to hundreds of different ethnic groups, speaking an equal number of languages, and each bearing their own specific norms and values, Nigerian families exist across virtually the entire spectrum of size and structure and maintain unique family ties which have endured the nation's long and complicated history.This collection focuses upon the diversity, adaptability, and strengths of Nigerian families. Examining intimate relationships, both preceding and within the context of marriage, as well as the particular dynamics among family members, this volume investigates how Nigerian families have responded to societal factors, modernization, and change.Societal factors, such as increasing conservatism, poverty, unemployment, and the like have created considerable strains, yet Nigerian families have shown a particular ability to adapt to and overcome many of these problems, thus revealing their substantial strengths.

While rituals surrounding death may vary by geography, culture, and time, experiencing the loss of a loved one is a universal experience. Death has become a focal point during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, forcing many to unexpectedly confront the profound and enduring reality of loss. Understanding death from a multidisciplinary approach, Facing Death compiles contributions from across fields, methodologies, locations, cultures, and circumstances.Facing Death explores beyond loss solely on an individual level, considering instead helpful or harmful emotional reactions from others. Delving into how older adults who experience loss may find themselves without a support system, while those at a young age might find that their peers do not understand or know how to support them in their bereavement, the authors also consider how causes of death can also affect grieving loved ones on a personal and societal level. For example, how might death by suicide complicate the grieving process as family and friends not only have to contend with the loss itself, but also the associated stigmas and judgements surrounding suicide? How might individuals experience fear and anxiety about death during a prolonged illness?Exploring responses to familial illness and death, this edited collection is a detailed investigation of the subject for any scholar interested in discussions and decisions surrounding end of life care and the grief trajectory after loss.

Around the globe, millions of individuals are entangled in justice systems daily. For individual offenders, contact often begins with the police, frequently leading to court involvement, and for offenders found guilty, to correctional supervision or incarceration. But how do these encounters affect the family? How do police and justice entanglements result in tremendous strains upon families economically and socially? Do they endanger family relationships?To better comprehend how involvement at any level of the justice system affects families, this multidisciplinary edited collection focuses on the justice system and the family. Chapters include topics such as how court processes impact family members and their support networks; how prolonged incarceration impacts children and parenting processes and family coping; how intimate relationships are impacted during and after incarceration including marriage, divorce and partner violence; and, whether system involvement leads to unintended consequences among family members such as heightened fear of crime and victimizations and fears of the police.An enlightening insight into the family dynamics surrounding contact with the justice system, Police, Courts, and Incarceration is interesting reading for researchers and students of family, sociology and criminology.

Many societies are experiencing substantial change in family forms and structures. For both families and individuals, conjugal trajectories continue to be a core element of life under the pressures of societal conventions, prompting many toward some variety of conjugal relationship. However, a combination of factors, including decreasing marriage and fertility rates and an increase in cohabitation and singlehood, have brought about more variety in conjugal relationships than ever before.Conjugal Trajectories: Relationship Beginnings, Change, and Dissolutions covers a wide range of topics related to conjugality including the growing rejection of marriage, the impact of education and employment, cultural perceptions of couple-hood, dating and relationship formation, migration and transnational conjugality, peer versus familial pressures, marriage-divorce-marriage trajectories, tradition versus modernity, generational differences, gender identities, divorce status, conjugal violence, aging, and parenthood.Multidisciplinary in scope and using predominantly qualitative approaches, Conjugal Trajectories: Relationship Beginnings, Change, and Dissolutions focuses upon relevant trajectories to better comprehend the evolving nature of conjugal relationships and its implications for family life moving forward.

Recognising the distinctive context of the Philippines, with its unique long history, and peculiar population distribution across thousands of islands, this edited collection analyses its decidedly familial culture. Why do Filipino families maintain perhaps the strongest family bonds of any culture? How have shown a unique ability to persevere, even when faced with the direst of circumstances?Covering a broad range of topics, chapters and commentaries delve into changing gender roles, poverty and family dynamics, mothering in prison, teenage fatherhood, dating and mate selection, rural family norms, the interweave of family and community, media representations on families, new forms of parenthood, remittances and familial support systems, and how overseas employment affects spousal and parent-child relationships.A highly comprehensive ethnographic analysis, Resilience and Familism demonstrates in a specifically Filipino context how strong familial ties can affect inner strength and outer determination.

In societies around the globe, couples are increasingly opting to live together without going through the formal and legal complications of marriage. Given the tremendous diversity in cohabiting couples, as well as the increasing prominence of this form of intimate relationships, Cohabitation and the Evolving Nature of Intimate and Family Relationships provides a more thorough comprehension of the structures, effects, and intimate practice of cohabitation around the world.As a richly edited collection, the chapters delve into a wide array of topics including transitions into cohabitation, parenting and parental roles, division of domestic labor among cohabitors, sharing of economic resources, elderly cohabitors, legal complications of cohabitation, intimate partner violence, interconnections between cohabitation and marriage, sex and sexuality, assortative mating among cohabiting partners, premarital cohabitation and its consequences, relationship dissolution, gender ideologies, changing patterns of cohabitation, cohabitation and remarriage, and parental cohabitation and child development, among others. This is compelling reading for scholars of family research for better comprehending the structural, affectional, and other characteristics of cohabitation around the world.

National strategies with the aim of facilitating a better work-family balance have increased pressure on work organizations to offer arrangements that are more family-friendly. Flexible work, such as telework or flexitime, has been argued to facilitate a better integration of work and family responsibilities, and to provide protections from career penalties to care. The spread of digital technologies has further facilitated the flexible execution of work tasks, a phenomenon that has escalated more recently due to the global COVID-19 pandemic.Within this context, where flexible work has become more widespread than ever before, Flexible Work and the Family provides a wide range of insights into current developments in the study of flexible work. Demonstrating both the facilitators and the barriers to a positive work-home environment, chapters delve into the relationship between working from home and family in light of the pandemic, as well as gender, parenthood, and status-specific patterns of the interrelation between flexible work and the family. Finally, studies from a linked-lives perspective show how flexible work impacts employees’ partners and parenting behaviour.Building upon the recent global escalation of the remote work phenomenon, Flexible Work and the Family provides timely insights into flexible work’s implications for the increasingly blurred work-life divide.

There are a multitude of reasons for migration: war, natural disaster, famine, poverty, or political oppression, among others. Immigrants or immigrant families commonly face many challenges in starting a new life in completely different cultural contexts. This edited collection provides a broad examination of immigrant families, with a particular focus on the causes, processes and consequences of migration. Families and Migration: Examining the Causes, Processes, and Consequences of Migration sheds light on the emotional, social, and economic impacts of migration on individuals and families, highlighting key themes such as mental health, labor dynamics, transnational care, and cultural adaptation. The chapters explore various contexts, from the mental health challenges of unaccompanied Latino adolescents in the United States to the global mobility of middle-class families from Hong Kong. They delve into the labor experiences of Nicaraguan mothers in Spain, the transnational care practices of Romanian families during COVID-19, and the cultural navigation of interracial families moving from the UK to Zimbabwe. Chapters also examines the role of family in Vietnamese labor migration to South Korea and the temporality of Ukrainian refugees in Romania. This collection is a timely resource for scholars interested in migration studies, family dynamics, and the socio-cultural impacts of global mobility.

Families and Migration: Examining the Human Meaning of Migration provides a broad examination of immigrant families, with a particular focus on examining the human meaning of migration. Chapters analyze the complex interplay between migration and family dynamics across various global contexts, addressing key themes such as integration, cultural identity, mobility aspirations, and caregiving.This edited collection explores diverse case studies, including the integration perspectives of Ukrainian refugees in East Germany and the theoretical frameworks for understanding the family-migration nexus. It delves into the cultural significance of traditional clothing across generations, the mobility aspirations of young migrant descendants in Portugal, and the settlement experiences of a Bangladeshi family in Canada through arts-based ethnography. Further, the authors examine migration trends, policy implications, and well-being among transnational families in North America, and the caregiving experiences of Polish immigrants caring for individuals with Alzheimer's disease.Offering significant contributions to the field of migration studies by providing a nuanced understanding of how migration shapes and is shaped by family dynamics, Families and Migration: Examining the Human Meaning of Migration is an essential resource for anyone interested in the socio-cultural impacts of global mobility and the intricate dynamics of migrant families.

The legal and societal implications for individuals experiencing infertility and considering various types of assisted reproductive technology have become increasingly complex in recent decades. New regulations surrounding surrogacy agreements have attempted to provide more protection to both surrogate mothers and prospective parents. To better understand this nuanced experience, this multidisciplinary volume focuses on families navigating these methods of reproduction.In Pursuit of Parenthood: Infertility, Assisted Reproductive Technology, and Surrogacy covers a wide array of topics including infertility (e.g., psychological consequences, the social context, and relationship coping; surrogacy (international and domestic surrogacy, formal and informal surrogacy negotiations, LGBTQ+ families choosing surrogacy,) and fertility treatments (decisions to pursue in vitro fertilization, intrauterine insemination, and sperm donation, including financial, religious, and political limitations).

Drinking and drugs have long led to a multitude of problems within families. Given the availability of various forms of substances, and the potential harm to families, it is essential that greater research be focused upon substance use and addiction. This edited volume offers a broad examination of substance use and the family.Featuring a broad variety of chapters across the many issues pertaining to substance use and addiction, topics include those such as spousal addiction and marital quality, parenting and substance use, financial tolls of addiction upon families, coping with adolescent substance use and addiction, multi-generational patterns of substance use in families, substance use and family violence, child neglect and substance addiction, family interventions, addiction concealment within families, role modeling among siblings, gender differences in parental substance use, and child abuse, among others.Substance Use and the Family is appealing reading for scholars of family sociology, the sociology of health, and childhood and youth alike.

The use of online matchmaking has increased dramatically over recent years and has become a popular means for individuals to find an intimate partner. While such online services have increased, the inherent variations across the different types of consumers and service providers have outpaced researchers’ understanding of them. Further, the consequences of such services, for both individuals and the larger society, remain largely unknown. This edited volume features scholars around the globe to address the nature and complexities of online matchmaking.Looking specifically at online dating and its intersections with family life, topics covered in the chapters include those such as online dating and social skills, the consequences of mismatches in online matchmaking, the demography of online matchmaking, relationship development in the online realm, the impact of online matchmaking on marital quality and marital duration, sexual orientation and online matchmaking, and other related issues.Providing an international view, An Examination of Mate Selection in the Online Realm is appealing reading for scholars of family sociology, media sociology and youth studies.

Around the globe, two of the more fundamental attributes of families and households have been changing, as both rates of marriage and fertility have been steadily decreasing. These declines have numerous associated causes – among them, increases in singlehood, increases in cohabitation, and greater emphases upon individualism and materialism. The Retreat from Marriage and Parenthood seeks a broad examination of the retreat from marriage and parenthood.Featuring diverse theoretical and methodological chapters exploring the many issues pertaining to these seismic changes, the authors chronicle the many dramatic impacts from shifts in attitudes to marriage and family. The chapters include discussion of pressing issues such as increasing ages at marriage, singlehood, cohabitation and alternative forms of intimate relationships, the impact of financial stress upon marriage and fertility, consequences of changing age structures, racial and ethnic variations in marriage and parenthood rates, changing meanings of family lineage, the impact of marriage and fertility declines upon other social institutions, and gender differences in the appeal of marriage and parenthood.Acknowledging the reality of these shifts in marriage and fertility rates, and that they warrant greater attention by researchers, this is an insightful edited collection for scholars of family research.