Capturing the Multiple and Shifting Identities of Farm Women in the Northeastern United States

The identities of women on farms are shifting as more women enter farming and identify as farmers, as reflected by the 30 percent growth in women farmers in the U.S. census of agriculture (USDA 2009). This article draws from identity theory to develop a quantitative measure of the identities of farm women. The measure incorporates multiple roles farming women may perform and weights these roles by their salience to two farm identities, farm operator and farm partner. We use a sample of women on farms (n = 810) in the northeastern United States to assess the measures of role identity in relation to reported decision‐making authority, farm tasks, and farm and individual characteristics. The findings provide a multidimensional view of farming women in the northeastern United States, a far more complex view than traditional survey research has previously captured. This research provides a measure that other researchers can use to assess the multiple and shifting identities of farming women in other sections of the United States.     

Multiple Roles and Psychological Well-Being

Abstract

Role theory generally views the performance of multiple roles as a source of psychological stress. Recently, however, the concept of role strain resulting from multiple roles has been criticized. Marks (1977) and Seiber (1974) argue that multiple roles may lead to positive personal well-being. The present research is a test of these recent ideas. Measures of subjective well-being are correlated with the quantity and quality of roles enacted. Five role spheres are specified: Spouse, parent, worker, friend, and church member. The findings offer some support for the proposition that involvement in multiple roles does not necessarily lead to role strain. Instead, well-being increases with the number of roles enacted, and satisfaction in one role can help to compensate for deprivation in another role sphere. Support is thus found for both Marks' (1977) “expansionist” theory and Seiber's (1974) role accumulation theory.     

Social Work Education and Clinical Learning: Yesterday,Today, and Tomorrow

Social Work Education and Clinical Learning by Simpson, Williams, and Segall is a welcome and timely statement about the nature of clinical social work and its implications for educational curricula. The authors took on an awesome task. Educating students for clinical practice is increasingly more daunting than it has been previously and is in considerable disarray, if not a state of crisis. In addition to amplifying and expanding some of the major points the authors make, this discussion considers where we have been, where we are, and where we are going. It describes the educational landscape today, which the author views as bleak with respect to its preparation of students for clinical social work practice. In keeping with clinical social work’s inclusive definition that encompasses a broad knowledge base, diverse practice roles, and a wide range of interventions, this discussion emphasizes the importance of numerous unifying themes that help to distinguish clinical social work from other approaches or from the use of a fragmented assemblage of techniques. The paper considers the role of evidence-based practice and makes some suggestions about future emphases in clinical social work. It concludes with a call to alter the educational landscape.     

The complexity of roles in community action projects: The example of the evaluation of ‘alternatives’

Evaluation of community interventions is a special form of evaluation involving many roles that are key to accomplishing both the intervention and the accompanying research. The present paper describes the roles involved in the evaluation of a community intervention (‘Alternatives’) aimed at safer use of alcohol and depressant medications by seniors.The three core roles were the community developer who provided leadership in the implementation of the project, the researcher/evaluator, and the community committee that sanctioned and facilitated the project. Other roles on the project included: the project coordinator, the nurse-interviewers who collected the survey data for the evaluation, volunteers from seniors groups, local health service providers, the media, the funders, and others on the project team who provided specific technical expertise.The paper describes the competing interests among these roles as well as conflicts that arose and how these conflicts were handled. Although specific roles are described, the types of roles and the potential for competing interests and conflict are generally relevant to community level evaluations.     

Role distancing: Differentiating the role of the elderly from the person

Elderly participants in an extended care class at a senior citizen's center were observed to determine if some of them could continually distance themselves from the client role. Although earlier research suggests that people can use role distancing techniques to disassociate themselves successfully fromoccasionally played roles or certain aspects of a role, it is unclear whether or how people successfully disassociate themselvescontinually from enacted roles. Using a symbolic interactionist's definition of role, this paper attempts to 1) classify the circumstances which give rise to both occasional and continual role distancing; 2) specify the conditions under which disassociation from continually enacted roles may be successful; and 3) suggest the relevance of the data to studies on low-status occupations, deviance, and role theory.I am especially grateful to Melvin Seeman (UCLA) for his critical comments and extensive editorial advice and to Ralph H. Turner (UCLA) for his helpful comments on earlier drafts of this paper. I also would like to thank Shulamit Reinharz for editorial assistance.     

Cohabiting Men’s Preferences for and Roles in Determining the Outcomes of Unexpected Pregnancies1

Growing numbers of men are fathering children within cohabiting unions. However, we know little about their desires for and preferred roles in making fertility decisions. To address this gap, I use data from 61 in‐depth interviews with working‐ and middle‐class cohabiting men to examine their stated preferences should their partners experience an unplanned pregnancy. For some men, the decision appears to be a relatively stable personal or political one, but most draw on their current relationships and/or financial or maturational situations when noting their desires. A subsample of 22 men from this group who have experienced pregnancies is used to explore men’s actual roles in negotiating whether a conception was terminated or carried to term. Despite the fact that most men would like to have input into decisions to abort or carry a pregnancy to term, the majority were not actually involved in making decisions with their partners (especially the decision to abort) when pregnancies occurred. Results are interpreted in light of social class differences in family formation processes.     

Upsetting ‘Others’ in the Netherlands: Narratives of Muslim Turkish Migrant Businesswomen at the Crossroads of Ethnicity,Gender and Religion

In this paper we use insights from postcolonial feminism to explore the identity narratives of three Muslim businesswomen of Turkish descent in the Netherlands. We identify some of the ways in which contemporary political discourse in the Netherlands constructs Muslim ‘Others’ and discuss how this discursive positioning impacts on the multiple identities these women create for themselves in response. Postcolonial feminism challenges the discursive and material relations of both patriarchy and Eurocentric feminisms, which work together to obscure the rich diversity of women's lived experiences, their agency and identities. By exploring how Othering impacts on these women's multiple identities, we aim to enrich understandings of women's migrant entrepreneurship. These identity narratives, shared by women who each describe quite different ways of experiencing, interpreting and responding to marginalization, shed light on the West's relationship to the Other and reveal some of the underlying relations of power that shape identity.     

Backup Parents,Playmates, Friends: Grandparents' Time With Grandchildren

Grandparents play varied roles in their grandchildren's lives. Prior work has focused mostly on historical trends in and implications of grandparent coresidence and has not considered more broadly how grandparents and grandchildren interact. Using time‐use diary data for 6,762 person‐years from the 1997 to 2007 waves of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics Child Development Survey, the authors examine patterns in the amount and activity composition of time American children spent with their grandparents, differentiated by family structure, adult employment, and child's age. Results showed that although only about 7% of children lived with their grandparents, many more children spent time with their grandparents: about 50% of young children, 35% of elementary‐age children, and 20% of teens spent at least some time with their grandparents in a typical week. This suggests that grandparents play a variety of roles in their grandchildren's lives, depending on the amount and kinds of support needed.     

Beliefs about alcohol and the college experience, locus of self, and college undergraduates’ drinking patterns

The purpose of this study is to assess the extent to which locus of self (institutional versus impulse), measured using the Twenty Statements Test (TST), moderates the relationship between beliefs about alcohol and the college experience (BACE) and alcohol use among college undergraduates. Although the majority of our respondents listed more idiosyncratic personal characteristics and preferences than consensual social roles in response to the TST, the number of students classified as institutionals was notably higher than what has been reported within the literature. In opposition to our hypothesis that BACE would affect levels of alcohol consumption primarily among these individuals, our results indicated that the perception that alcohol use is integral to the college experience had a relatively minimal effect on drinking among respondents who defined themselves in terms of institutional roles. Moreover, multiple social roles themselves appeared to reduce the effects of BACE on levels of alcohol consumption. More impulse-oriented personal characteristics and preferences did not exhibit this moderating influence. Thus, our findings suggest that role occupation may be more important than locus of self in shaping students’ susceptibility to beliefs about drinking and college life.     

Entering Youth Justice: Comparing the Views of Human Services and Criminology Students

Abstract

The present paper explores how undergraduate students who are relatively new to the field of youth justice conceptualise their possible future work roles. The research compared the views of students who were commencing two undergraduate courses (subjects) concerned with working with young people. One course was taken by human services students and the other was taken by criminology students. Findings indicated that there were significant differences between these two groups in terms of their views about crime causation, as well as how they see the roles of youth justice workers. Students entered their respective programs and youth courses with differing professional orientations. The findings raise some intriguing questions at a time when universities and employers look to the potential benefits of “double degrees” and “joint degrees” that span supposedly complementary professional areas. However, contrasting beliefs about “troubled and troublesome” young people may resist easy accommodation within the same program of professional preparation.     

Undergraduate Activists in the Woman's Movement and Their Public: Attitudes towards Marriage and the Family

Abstract

This paper compares the attitudes towards women's home and famiy roles of two groups of undergraduate women: undergraduate activists in the Women's Liberation Movement and a random sample of non-activist undergraduates. Data from both of these groups pertaining to career aspirations, marital and fertility expectations, communal living arrangements, and possible strains between future family and work roles are examined. While the desire to combine family and career roles is typical of undergraduate women in both groups, there are important differences between activists and non-activists in their plans for integrating the two role constellations. Activist women's responses are also compared with positions on women's family roles indicated by spokeswomen of the wider radical Women's Movement, and some important differences are suggested by the data. The paper concludes by briefly exploring the implications of the findings for future social change in the family and in the society of which it is a part.     

The therapist who is perceived as "spiritually correct": strategies for avoiding collusion with the "spiritually one-up" spouse

Marital and family therapists who are perceived by the community as having a strong spiritual orientation face unique and difficult challenges. Clients who seek their help often bring a mix of expectations that can create a situation in which the therapist may struggle with multiple roles, some not of his or her choosing. These expectations are especially challenging when one spouse views him-or herself as "spiritually one-up" and wants the therapist to form a spiritually based coalition against the other partner. This paper describes the various dilemmas that therapists may face when clients perceive them as having spiritual expertise and presents strategies that can be used for avoiding these dilemmas. A case study illustrates the use of these approaches.     

Practicing as a postmodern supervisor

In this article, aspects of postmodern supervision are explored that highlight the blurring of boundaries that occurs between the multiple roles performed by supervisors. An approach to supervision is detailed that shows how a supervisor who navigates between roles can assist supervisees in constructing identities congruent with the stories they tell about themselves as successful therapists. Six of the many possible roles that supervisors play are illustrated through dialogue taken from a group supervision session. In the last part of this article, concepts that inform a postmodern approach to supervision, borrowed from the literature on narrative and constructionist therapy, are discussed.     

Beliefs about unions and what they should do: A survey of employed canadians

I use IR theory to identify five roles that have been associated with unions in North America and then report the findings from a 1995 survey of employed Canadians, asking them their beliefs about the amount of effort unions place on each of twenty-four activities associated with these roles, the amount of effort unions should place on each, and the amount of success unions have on each. Basically, Canadians want unions to continue to perform their traditional activities, and they view unions as having an important conflict role, but they also want unions to place more effort into more consensual workplace democratization and participation activities. These results are consistent with the notion of “adversary participation,” and are interpreted as suggesting a new “model” of unions, one which enables workers to have greater control over their working lives. Jack Fiorito, Joe Rose, and Corliss Olson made valuable comments on an earlier draft of this paper. Toni Ostroman was primarily responsible for the data collection.     

Adolescent Daughters of Mothers with Breast Cancer: Impact and Implications

While the literature supports the view that a parent's illness will have an impact on a child, less specific attention has been given to the impact of a mother's breast cancer on her adolescent daughter. In this paper, clinical vignettes derived from interviews with adolescent daughters (ages 12–19) living with mothers who have breast cancer are presented to illustrate some of the concerns daughters have about themselves and their mother's illness. The daughters express anxiety about changes in family roles, but seem more concerned about the potential loss of the mother/daughter relationship. They describe their fears of recurrence of the disease as well as getting the disease themselves. The girls also demonstrate great strength; resilience and hope in the face of the challenges presented by the changes in their lives. Girls who had mothers die of the disease are not included in this article. Implications for treatment are discussed.     

The effects of federalism on policies for care of the aged in Canada and the United States

Debates about who should care for the elderly often center on the relative responsibilities of the state and family. In federal societies such as Canada and the United States, however, multiple governments are involved. This article compares and contrasts federalism in these two nations and its effects on the division of fiscal, administrative, and programmatic responsibilities for care of the aged between the national and regional (i.e., state, provincial) governments. Two major policy arenas, health care and social services, are examined, with particular attention focused on the roles played by the nongovernmental sector. Because most care of the aged is provided informally--a situation firmly rooted in the value systems and public policies of both nations--national and regional policies that assist family caregivers directly are examined. Policymakers at the regional level have been more active and often more innovative in constructing policies that are supportive of family caregiving, but in general, few programs of direct assistance exist in either nation and these largely depend on their geographic location. The article concludes with a discussion of the continued effects of federalism for future policies affecting care of the aged and suggests some approaches that can be undertaken to empower families in their caregiving roles.     

Work and Family in the 21st Century: Four Research Domains

During the last half of the 20th century, married women with children moved into the labor force in large numbers. This change, which occurred throughout the industrialized world, dramatically altered work, family, and gender roles. Working parents today juggle demanding jobs and busy family lives and find it increasingly difficult to balance these activities. Work‐family conflict has become a pressing social issue. This article examines four areas of social science research on work and family, including: work‐family conflict, spillover, and multiple roles; work‐family policies in organizations; effects of work on family life; and cross–national research on work and family. Although much is known about all of these topics, more research is needed to address the work‐family challenges of the 21st century.     

Foster fathers performing gender: the negotiation and reproduction of parenting roles in families who foster

ABSTRACT

Foster care research and social work practice tend to focus on how women look after children living in foster care. This focus has limited our understanding of what it is that men do within foster caring families and they are automatically assigned secondary or breadwinning roles. Families who foster involve some form of renegotiation of roles to care for children they foster. While foster caring arrangements are internationally diverse, foster carers often work with social workers. It would therefore seem important for social workers to understand how foster carers negotiate their parenting roles. This paper reports findings from seven main caring foster-fathers who took part in a wider study involving twentythree foster-fathers. The evidence provided by these foster-fathers demonstrate they are highly motivated to care for children and, alongside delivering traditional parenting roles, they negotiate new, non-traditional parenting roles as foster-fathers. These new roles, taken on by foster-fathers, often challenge stereotyped masculinity while they also concurrently enact parenting norms. This study applied Judith Butler’s work on performing gender to foster caring families to theorise on the process whereby foster-fathers negotiate diverse masculinities and continue to reproduce gendered relations in foster caring families.     

Theory,practice and the psychology of expertise

The following paper examines the contribution that relatively recent discoveries about the nature of expertise can make to an understanding of the relationship between theory and its application. Commencing with an example of how a theory might be developed, it takes elements of this example, such as the creation of generalisations based on pattern recognition, learning over time from experience, intuitive practice and so on, and provides a commentary on them using what is known of the movement from novice to expert. With the foregoing background the paper then goes on to explain some of the processes that lead to a failure to explicitly apply theoretical principles to practice. Finally, it examines the role played by differing levels of experience in determining the readiness with which theory may be applied and ways in which the intuitive use of theory can be developed.