Introduction to the special issue: Family Support of Persons with Disabilities Across the Life Course

ABSTRACT

Family members are a key source of services and supports for people with disabilities across the life course, helping people to remain living at home and in the community. As part of an effort to generate a strategic plan for research on family caregiver experiences and supports, this issue includes four literature reviews on the current state of research, each specific to a life course stage. This introduction presents a framework that combines life course and ecological perspectives to organize the existing literature of family caregiver support and to identify gaps in existing research, as well as opportunities for future investigations.     

Arguments Against a Presumption of Shared Physical Custody in Family Law

ABSTRACT

The introduction of the “best interests of the child” standard as a legal presumption in family law in the 1970s signaled an important transition away from a maternal preference standard in child custody disputes, toward a recognition of the centrality and importance of both parents in the lives of children after parental separation. Paradoxically, this reform resulted in an increase rather than decrease in court-determined maternal sole custody. Despite robust empirical evidence in support of shared parenting, a gender convergence in child care roles, and increasing public support for shared parenting, the idea of shared parenting as a legal presumption has been met with skepticism and resistance among some legal and mental health professionals. This article traces the evolution of arguments against shared parenting since the concept was first introduced, from the early 1970s until the present day.     

Recent Developments in Aged Care Policy in Australia

Summary

A series of major reforms implemented through the mid 1980s sought to contain residential care and expand community care in Australia's long-term care system. While this goal has been maintained, a number of new policy initiatives followed the change of federal government in 1996. This article presents a systematic account of current policy objectives, implementation measures, and outcomes in three major policy areas: changing the balance between residential and community care, targeting in community care, and support for family caregivers. This analysis shows that while there have been shifts in emphasis from time to time, concerted policy efforts over the last 20 years have contained the growth of expenditure on long-term care and realized significant change in the service system.     

Divorce Among Muslim Arab Women in Israel

Abstract

One hundred fifty-one Muslim Arab-Israeli women divorced within the past two years, having children, and living in Arab rural areas, Arab cities, and mixed (Jewish and Arab) cities, were interviewed using a semi-structured questionnaire. Subjects encountered emotional distress and decreased socioeconomic status. All moved back to their parents' home. Levels of unemployment were high, perceived family support was high, and perceived community support was variable. Most anticipated little or no chance of remarrying. Level of education was associated with a tendency to initiate divorce. Living in an Arab city was associated with freedom of movement outside of the home, greater family support, and higher levels of employment. Implications for professional practice and policy development are considered.     

Internet-Based Clinical Services: Virtual Support Groups for Family Caregivers

ABSTRACT

Objectives: An internet-based psychotherapeutic support group intervention for family caregivers of persons with neurodegenerative diseases was developed in a series of pilot studies and subsequently evaluated in a feasibility study with 34 participants. The aim was to duplicate online group interactions typical of face-to-face support groups. Methods: A user-friendly web site was developed according to usability criteria for older adult users. Unique features of the web site included video conferencing in two formats, one-on-one and a group format with up to 6 participants and a facilitator. Following ten professionally facilitated sessions, each group evolved into a web-based self-help support group facilitated online by a group member. Results: Qualitative analyses of early, middle and late group video conferencing sessions yielded themes congruent with face-to-face group process. Follow up interviews six months following the initiation of the online groups showed overall positive participant responses in each of the following areas: learning to use computers, negotiating the web site links, obtaining disease-specific information from the website, using technology to communicate, bonding with group members, providing mutual guidance and support, and benefiting in terms of coping with the stresses of caregiving.     

Teaching Family Policy

Abstract

Preparing students to engage in family policy education and advocacy is a challenge and opportunity for departments that teach family studies and family policy courses. Students not only need to know theoretical implications of family policy and how research enhances the theory, but also understand the policy process and how research-based information about family can inform policymaking. These students also need to acquire advocacy skills in order to work effectively in different policy arenas. This article illustrates how university family policy educators can structure curricula to provide students with both knowledge and skills vital to effective participation in family policy formation, analysis and critique.     

Work–family conflict: comparing the experiences of Turkish and native Belgian women

ABSTRACT

While research has focused on a number of dimensions of work–family conflict (WFC), hardly any literature exists that analyses how differences in family systems might help to explain variations in WFC experiences. By employing Reher’s typology of strong and weak family ties to integrate existing research and identify unaddressed features, this study finds that researchers have generally understudied the role of structural family ties on WFC. Qualitative data gathered from interviews with highly educated native Belgian and Turkish immigrant women living in Belgium are used to analyse variation in the WFC experiences and coping strategies of these two groups. The results suggest that a number of interconnected factors related to family systems – including internalisation of gender roles, division of family-related responsibilities, support mechanisms and external pressures from family and society, and socialisation processes of minority women in both family structures – are highly significant in explaining variations in women’s WFC experiences.     

Has Family Policy Come of Age? A Decade Review of the State of U.S. Family Policy in the 1990s

Family policy has come of age in the 1990s, yet it has not achieved a status commensurate with that of economic or environmental policy. Because family policy has been difficult to define, this review proposes an explicit definition of the term family policy and a companion implicit term, a family perspective in policy making It updates the rationale for family policy, arguing that family commitment at its core is particularly consequential in an individualistic market economy with a small social safety net. It chronicles recent developments including philanthropic commitments, state and federal policy initiatives, and the use of research to inform family policy making. Selected family policy issues including family and work conflict, long-term care, family poverty, and marriage, are overviewed. The paper concludes with developments during the decade in theory, methods, and dissemination that hold the potential for capitalizing on the current popularity of families as a theme in policy making.     

Through a Different Lens

Abstract

Violence in the family does not exist in a vacuum. It is situated in a context of language and values that express society's ambivalence toward this phenomenon. This article begins with a discussion of the theoretical dimensions of this ambivalence focusing on violence as a means of social control and on behavioral-genetic theory as a lens through which to view this issue. It suggests that Traditional American Values underlie the social sanctioning of family violence and offers judicial and social policy decisions that support and result from this ideology. It concludes with implications for social work policy practice.     

A Cross-National Test of Propositions from the Neo-Pluralist Perspective on Social Security Expenditures

Abstract

Much of the existing literature on cross-national differences in retirement wage policy has focused on the inception of programs and the factors leading to their introduction. The explanations may be less adequate in accounting for post-war changes in social security programs. To interpret the evolution of programs in the postwar period, we stress the importance of divisions among workers themselves. We argue here that such divisions may occur along three fault lines: (1) ethnic, racial, and linguistic differentiation (2) the split between heavily urbanized and other segments of the working population and (3) fractionalization brought about by domination of a single industry. Using a longitudinal design to measure changes in social security expenditures in 34 nations between 1965 and 1983, we test hypotheses asserting that fragmentation among workers is inversely correlated with expanded investment in benefits for workers. We find general support for these hypotheses.     

Lesbian-Headed Stepfamilies

Abstract

This paper examines the lesbian stepfamily. It considers the family structure, parenting roles, gender composition of the couple, the distribution of family labor, and the impact of familial and community support. It discusses some of the challenges facing lesbian-headed stepfamilies, their strengths, capacities and competencies, and the strategies these families use for coping with stigma and intolerance. The paper concludes with implications for policy and practice with lesbian stepfamilies.     

Austerity and the lives of people with learning disabilities. A thematic synthesis of current literature

Abstract

The Financial Crisis of 2008 resulted in many western economies implementing cuts in health and social care. This systematic review provides a holistic picture of the impact of austerity policy on the lives of people with learning disabilities (LD) and the collateral effects on the people who support them. Our review suggests that in the current climate of economic austerity, available funding to support people with LD is no longer aligned to their care needs. Cuts in disability services have adversely affected the well-being both of people with LD and their informal carers. Individuals with LD have lost social support and are experiencing increased social isolation. Heightened demands on family carers’ time have negatively influenced their wider roles, including parental functioning, and labour market participation. Our review provides the foundations for further discourse and research on the effects of austerity on people with LD and their family carers.     

Adoptive Family Adjustment and Its Relation to Perceived Family Environment

ABSTRACT

Fifty-one adopted college students from three mid-sized East Coast universities participated in interviews structured to gather information regarding adoptees' perceptions of adoptive family life. Additionally, subjects completed a scale which measured their perceptions of general characteristics of family environment. Multiple regression analysis revealed that of ten adoption-specific factors derived from interview data, overall satisfaction with one's adoptive status and family life was the strongest predictor of perceived general family environment. Adoptee satisfaction predicted high levels of family expressiveness, ethical focus and involvement in shared activities as well as low levels of family conflict. Adoptees' perception of adoptive fathers' and mothers' communication styles predicted different aspects of family environment. Adoptees' acknowledgment of life differences due to their adoptive status did not relate to family expressiveness. The latter finding lends support to recent research suggesting that acknowledgment and expressiveness are independent aspects of adoptive family functioning.     

Military spouses speak up: A qualitative study of military and Veteran spouses’ perspectives

ABSTRACT

The purpose of this qualitative study was to examine military family life through the lens of military and Veteran spouses. Twenty-two female, active-duty military and Veteran spouses provided extensive written responses to essay questions as part of an online survey that were analyzed with qualitative data analysis methods. Findings revealed seven main themes: how military life has influenced health care access, spouses’ identities as caregivers, marital relationships, health outcomes, social support, spouses’ educational and career opportunities, as well as their personal growth. In summary, their experiences indicate that military service affects all aspects of their lives. Spouses gave numerous suggestions as to how service providers can address their unique experiences to improve the supports they offer military families, including ensuring the spouse is involved in health care, and providing support programs that focus on the entire family.     

Public Policies and Father Involvement

SUMMARY

The last two decades have been marked by a series of social and policy developments that are changing both how men see themselves as fathers and how policies conceptualize and encourage their involvement in the lives of children and families. This paper focuses on several areas of intersection between research on fathers and policy. The paper first summarizes the research that led to the current political and social interest in fathers. The paper then describes the Fatherhood Initiative, a set of activities that stemmed from a 1995 memorandum from President Clinton. This Initiative led to coordinated efforts by U.S. Federal Statistical agencies to collect better data about fathers. The paper concludes with a discussion of what we know about the effects on father involvement of policies such as welfare reform, child support, work place policies, responsible fatherhood programs, and other fatherhood interventions. Examples of new programs and initiatives on father involvement are also given.     

Learning from Experience in Family Support Programs

ABSTRACT

The paper describes three related California family support program initiatives representing field experiments in program development and policy related to reducing adverse outcomes for vulnerable families through replicating known “best practices” models. The ways in which the three initiatives were affected by the context of implementation are used to demonstrate the difficulty both of identifying the “best” program models and the need for leadership at all levels in order to develop programs and policies, which achieve the intended effects.     

Community Care in Taiwan

SUMMARY

This article explores the policy definitions and the funder roles of central and local governments in community care in Taiwan. The notion of community care has been adopted in Taiwan following the model of Hong Kong but the main question of the article is whether this has resulted in actual service provisions at the community level, forming an alternative to institutional care. The data has been collected from several sources: policy documents, official statistics, surveys, general reports, funding provision reports, and empirical studies. The results show that neither central nor local authorities are seriously involved in caring for elderly people or persons with disabilities in Taiwan's communities. In Taiwan, community care for these groups of people still means, in practice, informal care provided by female family members without any support from public policies.     

The Black Family in the 21st Century and the Church as an Action System: A Macro Perspective

Abstract

The Black church has played a leadership function for African Americans during times of crisis such as slavery and the civil rights movement. This article suggests that the current crisis in the African American community is the disintegration of the African American family because of economic, social and value shifts, as well as misguided social policy. The Black church must again mount a spiritual and political campaign to save African American families, thereby ensuring their prosperity.     

Family Policy and Fertility Intentions in 21 European Countries

European countries show substantial variation in family policy and in the extent to which policies support more traditional male‐breadwinner or more gender egalitarian earner–carer family arrangements. Using data from the European Social Survey, the authors implemented multilevel models to analyze variation in fertility intentions of 16,000 men and women according to individual‐level characteristics and family policy across 21 European countries. Both traditional and earner–carer family support generosity were positively related to first‐birth intentions for men and women. In contrast, only earner–carer support maintains its positive relationship with second birth intentions. Family policy is not in general related to third and higher order parity intentions.