Welfare reform: challenges for grandparents raising grandchildren

This paper examines the impact of Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF) on a growing constituency that may require welfare assistance: grandparents raising grandchildren. A brief review of the demographics of grandparent caregivers is followed by an exploration of welfare reform legislation, including work requirements and the Healthy Marriage Initiative (HMI). The importance of state-level policies in assisting grandparent-headed households, particularly health care, school enrollment, and housing policies, are also discussed. The paper concludes by offering implications for welfare policies in terms of their impact on intergenerational households headed by grandparents.     

Healing bittersweet legacies: revisiting contextual family therapy for grandparents raising grandchildren in crisis

Over the past decade, grandparents have become primary caregivers for their grandchildren at an unprecedented rate. Drug/alcohol abuse, poor mental health, financial instability, chronic illness, and early death have left parents unavailable for childrearing, leaving their elder generation responsible for tending vulnerable children. While grandparents' resources have been overtaxed with this arrangement, family therapists have been caught off guard in adapting traditional family therapy methods to this population. This paper revisits Contextual Family Therapy for what it has to offer grandparents in crisis. The purpose is to restore appropriate "give and take" while compensating for a "skipped" parenting generation.     

A case study of an African American stepgrandmother raising adopted grandchildren

Research on the perspectives of older African American stepgrandparents raising adolescent grandchildren is underdeveloped. This case study research uses a culturally sensitive conceptual framework to explore the experiences of one African American stepgrandmother raising adopted grandchildren. The participant was identified in a larger study of older grandparents raising adolescent grandchildren. An in-depth, face-to-face interview was conducted in a public place. The themes described by this older African stepgrandmother included (1) strong family ties overlaid with family conflict and emotional difficulties, (2) traditional philosophies of parenting and childrearing that conflicted with her spouse, (3) reliance on a constellation of support including her religious community, and (4) recommendations for improving resource development. The findings of this case study identify critical issues for this older African American stepgrandmother. Although the findings are not meant to generalize, social workers and other helping professionals can benefit from the increased knowledge gained from this stepgrandmother’s experiences that can inform issues for exploration with similar caregivers.     

Impacts of welfare reform on California grandparents raising grandchildren: reflections from the field.

Debate over the potential impacts of welfare reform largely has ignored the implications of these changes for the growing number of grandparents who are raising their grandchildren. Results of a qualitative study involving 36 key informants who were intimately involved in the crafting and/or implementation of California's welfare reform plan are presented. Particular attention is focused on time limits on aid, work requirements, and sanctions regarding teenage parenthood as these may impact on grandparent caregivers and their families. Cross-cutting themes also are presented. A case is made for greatly stepping up data collection and evaluative research that may help in determining the actual impacts of the legislation on intergenerational households headed by grandparents.     

When grandchildren grow up: Role transition and family solidarity among baby boomer grandchildren and their grandparents

Research on grandchild-grandparent relationships has largely focused on juvenile and adolescent grandchildren. However, this research examines the connection between adolescent-to-adult role transition by grandchildren, and perceptions of intergenerational solidarity with their grandparents. What are the effects of grandchildren's changing employment, marital, and family status on family solidarity with grandparents? Using OLS multiple regression analysis, pooled data from five waves of the University of Southern California Longitudinal Study of Generations spanning 23 years between 1971–1994 are constructed into a subsample consisting of 3,210 grandchild person-intervals. The model of role transition across the life course suggests a negative relationship between adult role acquisition and intergenerational solidarity. However, the data are not consistent with the role transition hypothesis. Rather, the effects of adult role transition are dynamic. In other words, role acquisition did not necessarily lead to declines in family cohesion; nor did role loss always result in greater family solidarity. The findings indicate that overall, adult role transitions are stronger predictors of grandchildrens' solidarity with grandfathers, than with grandmothers.     

Grandparenting across borders: American grandparents and their Israeli grandchildren in a transnational reality

Families are increasingly dispersed across national borders. Americans in Israel are one migrant group that represents the worldwide phenomenon of transnationalism. Grandparents separated geographically from their grandchildren develop new means of communication with them and new kinds of relationships. This study uses ethnographic interviews with the grandparents of transnational, American-Israeli children and youth to offer an in-depth examination of the experience of grandparenting across borders. We find that grandparenting children who are both geographically distant and raised in a foreign culture necessitates the development of new ways of maintaining relationships with grandchildren. This study considers the impact of transnational migration on the extended family, on those left behind, who struggle with redefining their roles as grandparents and with the sense of being deprived of the roles they had expected to play.     

The experiences of grandparents who have limited or no contact with their grandchildren

Purpose of the studyThe matrilineal advantage theory suggests that paternal grandparents are more at risk of having little or no contact with their grandchildren. However, there is significant family diversity within Australia and we wished to understand the experiences of a wide range of grandparents in order to determine if the matrilineal theory can be effectively used in practice to identify those grandparents most at risk for estrangement.Design and methodsA convenience group of grandparents with little or no contact with grandchildren (n = 38) told their stories in their own words using narratives obtained through interview or writing.Results and implicationsWe found that paternal grandparents, as per the matrilineal advantage theory, were more likely to be estranged from their grandchildren when their son divorced, particularly when he was not the resident parent or when he re-partnered. However, in contrast, we found that maternal grandparents who experienced conflict in their relationship with their daughter were also at risk for estrangement. This occurred even when grandparents had previously been highly involved in the lives of their grandchildren. Some estrangements appeared to result from a cultural bias towards the nuclear family form. We argue that practitioners need not only to expand their understanding of the risk categories for estrangement, they also need to actively support parents and grandparents in creating and maintaining wider family support networks in order to improve family resilience.     

Internet use among college students: an exploratory study

The author and associates surveyed 1,300 college students in classrooms at eight academic institutions to identify how the students' use of the Internet has affected their social or academic lives. Although the typical Internet-using student uses the Internet for 100 minutes per day, a small group of students use the Internet to a degree that interferes with other aspects of their lives. Most of them are men and are found among the hard science academic majors. Some ideas for dealing with this problem are suggested.     

Russian perspectives on elder abuse: an exploratory study

The purpose of this exploratory study was to analyze Russian perceptions of elder abuse as reflected in their examples of abusive behavior from an adult child to an aging parent. Also of interest was the possibility of gender differences in the Russian perspectives on elder abuse. The convenience sample consisted of 21 Russian participants (10 males, 10 females, and one without gender identified), who provided examples of extreme, moderate, and mild abuse from an adult child towards an aging parent. Most examples of extreme abuse were forms of physical violence. Typical examples of moderate abuse were instances of psychological aggression-particularly verbal aggression-and neglect. The most common examples of mild abuse were verbal aggression and neglect. One-way analyses of variance revealed statistically significant gender differences in the number of references to psychological aggression in general and to verbal aggression in particular in the examples of moderate abuse, with females giving more examples than males.     

Public relations practice in Japan: an exploratory study

Ninety-four (62%) survey responses in the Japanese language from 151 corporate public relations professionals in Japan were analyzed to investigate how Japanese management styles have changed since the recent economic recession, and how present management styles have impacted public relations practice in Japan. Findings suggest today’s Japanese management styles are not a static system unaffected by the economic pressures, and that current public relations practices in Japan align more closely with mixed models of public relations practiced in Western societies.     

Recombinative generalization: an exploratory study in musical reading

The present study aimed to extend the findings of recombinative generalization research in alphabetical reading and spelling to the context of musical reading. One participant was taught to respond discriminatively to six two-note sequences, choosing the corresponding notation on the staff in the presence of each sequence. When novel three- and four-note sequences were presented, she selected the corresponding notation. These results suggest the generality of previous research to the context of musical teaching.     

Smoking and persistent mental illness: an exploratory study

The rate of smoking is alarmingly high among persons with persistent mental illness and they are no less susceptible to the harmful effects of smoking. Nicotine is a potent, addictive drug which affects neurotransmitters. Smoking can affect psychiatric symptoms as well as blood levels of psychotropic and other medications. Most persons with mental illness are aware of the detrimental health risks of smoking and many are interested in quitting. Poor physical health is associated with efforts to quit. Personal commitment is important to successfully quitting.     

Considering justice: an exploratory study of family therapy with adolescents

Feminist approaches to therapy with adolescents emphasize an empowering focus on the strengths of adolescents while simultaneously insisting that therapists become aware of their own biases toward today's adolescents. However, a review of the family therapy literature finds little mention of feminist approaches for addressing injustices (e.g., family scapegoating, negative societal views of adolescents, and gender oppression) that arise in family therapy with adolescents. Therefore, this study explores clinical approaches and resources suggested by a surveyed group of self-identified feminist family therapists. In addition, we also recommend several approaches and resources that will aid family therapists in creating a more just climate for family therapy with youth.     

The vulnerablility for elder abuse among a sample of custodial grandfathers: an exploratory study

Older adults have been known to make sacrifices in their caregiving roles. Gerontology literature on custodial grandparents has primarily focused on grandmothers and the challenges they face when they assume primary care for grandchildren. Little is known about the risks that older men face when they become custodial grandparents. This article highlights types and warning signs of abuse, exploitation and neglect. Exploratory study was undertaken with a racially diverse group of custodial grandfathers to fill a gap in the literature about the vulnerability for elder abuse, exploitation and neglect as expressed by older Black, Latino and White custodial grandfathers. To provide a more inclusive understanding of elder abuse, areas of vulnerability were identified for consideration by practitioners, educators and researchers. The implications of this research point to the need to rethink elder abuse assessment, prevention and intervention strategies with older men.     

Understanding the justifiability scale in international surveys: an exploratory study

ABSTRACT

The justifiability scale (JS) is widely used to measure individual and country differences in moral attitudes. However, the validity of the instrument has been barely assessed. The current study addressed the concurrent and content validity of four popular JS items (justifiability of homosexuality, suicide, prostitution, and euthanasia). A sample of 493 Russians completed both JS and the four validated multi-item scales. Results demonstrated that multi-item scales measuring suicide, prostitution, and euthanasia attitudes explained less than half of the variance of the corresponding JS items. The JS underestimated the justifiability of homosexuality, prostitution and suicide, and overestimated the justifiability of euthanasia. The JS homosexuality item appeared to be a precise measure of attitudes towards male but less so female homosexuality. The concurrent validity of the four items was associated with item non-differentiation. We conclude that JS items should be used either after accounting for their bias, or as indicators of more abstract latent constructs.     

Chain reaction: an exploratory study of nursing home bankruptcy in California

This paper reports on an exploratory study of nursing home bankruptcy. From state and industry data regarding nearly 1,000 California facilities, it was possible to identify 155 homes in five chains (multi-facility organizations) that were operating in bankruptcy in 2000. When compared with facilities in non-bankrupt chains, while the bankrupt chain facilities had significantly worse financial liquidity, higher administrative costs, and higher payables to related parties, they also had more Medicare residents, fewer Medicaid residents, better solvency, and were located in less competitive county markets and in areas with higher Medicaid reimbursement rates. These findings indicate that, rather than facility characteristics and local market factors, strategic decisions taken at the corporate (chain) level are the major determinants of nursing facility bankruptcy status.