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.     

Correlates of Participation in a Family-Based HIV Prevention Program

Abstract

This study examines the relationship between contextual factors and attendance in a family-based HIV prevention program for low-income, urban, African-American women and their children. Participants' motivations to become involved, their concerns about discussing sex-related issues with their children, recruiters' perceptions of respondents' understanding of the program, and environmental stressors were examined. Participants' level of motivation and recruiters' success in improving respondents' understanding of the program were significant correlates of attendance. Stressors experienced by the family and concerns around talking with children about sex were not significantly associated with participation. Recommendations to enhance involvement in family-based HIV prevention programs are made.     

Which Children Will Go to Secondary School? Factors Affecting Parents' Decisions in Rural Thailand1

Abstract This study examines parents' decisions about educating some or all of their children beyond primary school in rural Thailand. Their strategies often involve choices between sons and daughters and between older versus younger children. We find that the more children there are in a family, the lower the proportion who are sent to secondary school. Parents send more sons than daughters and more youngest than eldest children. The decision is sometimes associated with a specific “investment” strategy, but it may also reflect parents' ability to afford to send children beyond primary school. Important economic factors include children's perceived earning potentials, anticipated opportunity costs, and parents' poverty status. However, the issues of access to schools and the safety of children, particularly girls, are also critically important. These concerns are often weighed as heavily, or more heavily, than economic considerations.     

Role Expectations and Role Evaluations in Daughtering: Constructing the Good Daughter

The relationship between mother and daughter is unlike other family dyads and important to both parties over a lifespan. One underexplored area of this relationship is how adult daughters construct and perform the daughtering role. The present study explores how daughters talk about the ways they enact daughtering and evaluate their role in a social world. The findings reveal how daughters position themselves within a family system and, more broadly, in society. This paper includes interview data with 33 adult daughters about their mothers. We illuminate more about how daughters, as role players, conceive of the expectations for their roles and evaluate their role performance in light of role expectations. Analysis revealed four role expectations tied to good daughtering: showing respect, providing protection, eliciting mothering, and making time for connection. Our analysis supports that daughters assess themselves based on their understanding of these role expectations. We present a matrix to illustrate these findings.     

Women's rights,the family,and organisational culture: a Lesotho case study

Traditional cultural norms have had significant implications for the work and internal structure of Lesotho Save the Children (LSC). From 1964-90, the organization's work focused entirely on the needs of neglected and abandoned boys, for whom it provided residential care. After consultation with the Department of Social Welfare, it was decided to make the residential center a haven for girls as well as boys in need of protection. Many girls in Lesotho experience physical and sexual abuse within their families; moreover, daughters in poor families are often placed in households of wealthier extended family as domestics, where further abuse occurs. Cultural discomfort acknowledging and discussing sexuality extended to Children's Village staff responsible for the care of child rape victims. Coercive sex is often a prelude to marriage in Lesotho, where many women are kidnapped and raped by their prospective bridegrooms. In-service training has enabled staff to overcome their reticence regarding sexual issues and view rape as a criminal act. Although LSC is unable to challenge the oppression of women and children implicit in the traditional family, it continues to encourage girls and women to protest sexual violence, the abuse of their daughters, and the unequal distribution of labor within the family. All children in the LSC residence perform both male- and female-defined duties and attempts are being made to reduce the division of labor among staff in which females are caretakers and males are authority figures.     

Keeping the family balance – adult daughters’ experiences of roles and strategies when supporting caring fathers

The Scandinavian countries represent a progressive approach to gender equality and transitions of traditional gender roles but little attention has been paid to gender equality in old age and how normative constructions of gender intersect in the lives of family carers. The aim of this study was to understand how adult daughters experience their roles and strategies when supporting fathers caring for an ill mother. A sample of eight daughters shared their experiences through in-depth interviews. The findings show that the daughters provide substantial and crucial effort and are intimately involved in the caring for their father and the sole contributors towards the emotional support of their fathers. They tend to devote a lot of energy towards picturing their family as ‘normal’ in terms of the family members adopting traditional roles and activities inside as well as outside the family context. In conclusion, the lack of understanding about gender as a ‘norm producer’ is something that needs to be further elaborated upon in order for professionals to encounter norm-breaking behaviours. The daughters’ position as family carers is often assumed and taken for granted since the intersecting structures that impact on the situations of the daughters are largely invisible.     

Traumatic Stress and Affect Management in Military Families

The war-time deployment of a service member creates significant stress for the family system that supports that person’s transition into combat, combat duty, and readjustment into civilian and family life upon return. The stressors associated with the deployment cycle are significant and can lead to depression, anxiety, and behavioral concerns for all family members including the children and partners. A family’s adaptation to these stressors can also impact the functioning of the service member during the phases of mobilization, deployment, sustainment, and reintegration. Social work interventions that offer support to the military family can reduce levels of distress within and between the members and improve overall family functioning. A case vignette will be presented that highlights some of the salient interpersonal challenges that can develop in a military family when a veteran returns home with posttraumatic stress that is left untreated. Recommendations for interventions will be considered through the application of psychoeducational approaches for managing traumatic stress in families.     

The Impact of Living with an Elder Parent on Adult Daughter's Labor Supply and Hours of Work

A pooled cross-sectional sample compiled from eleven years of the Panel Study of Income Dynamics is used to compare the impact of individual and household characteristics on labor supply probabilities and work hours of adult daughters in two types of households: (a) households in which adult daughters co-reside with elder parents; and (b) households in which adult daughters have living elder parents, but they do not co-reside with elder parents. Labor market entry and market work hours of co-residing daughters are impacted by both the presence and the characteristics of their elder parent. The daughter's age, race, and work experience have differential impacts on labor supply probabilities for co-residing daughters compared to those not co-residing. The daughters' work experience, non-wage income, family composition, and local unemployment rates have differential impacts on the number of hours of work in the two types of households.     

Invisibility and Temporary Residence Status of Filipino Workers in South Korea

This study concerns a group of Filipino immigrant workers–mostly trainees or undocumented workers–in Korea. It deals with the influence of immigration on family members and their relations. The stories of sending babies to the Philippines and talking on the phone show how the concept of transnational motherhood can be applied to immigrant workers in Korea. This study also discusses the meaning of invisibility and temporary residency as a two‐control mechanism of immigrant workers in Korea. Korean society keeps immigrant workers invisible and prevents their becoming members of society in many ways. Therefore, Filipino migrant workers do not belong to either their home country or Korea.     

Constructing family relationships: Intimacy, harmony and social value in accounts of sheltered retirement community residents

This research was undertaken at a West Coast USA sheltered retirement community where fifteen able elder residents were interviewed about their personal relationships and communication with peers, family and younger people. This paper focuses on respondent's discursive constructions of their relationships with family—particularly adult grandchildren. The analysis shows how respondents' talk about family relationships is largely positive and discusses how respondents build an image of intergenerational solidarity through their accounts of frequency and quality of contact with grandchildren. Some of the ways that intergenerational solidarity is communicated in the context of the interview are: discounting of family problems; cataloguing achievements and talking about grandchildren with pride; demonstrating that they–the elder–are valued; and accounts of how problematic aspects of their relationships are avoided in intergenerational talk.     

Reclaiming the Mother-daughter Relationship after Sexual Abuse

This paper seeks to provide direction to therapists working with mothers and daughters after a disclosure of father-daughter sexual abuse. The importance of the mother's belief in and support for the child's recovery is highlighted, as are some of the cultural assumptions about mothers and daughters which negatively impact on the relationship. Despite paying lip service to offender responsibility, there continues to be a culture of mother blaming in the child sexual abuse and family therapy literature on incest. Current research findings challenge some of the prevalent myths about mothers’ responses to their children's disclosures. Few clinical sources have addressed this issue, and therapists who reject the mother blaming literature are therefore left with little guidance as to how to work more effectively with mothers and daughters. Consequently they may unwittingly further undermine the relationship. Work with mothers and daughters as they recover from intrafamilial sexual abuse is discussed, and key therapeutic themes and guidelines for practice presented. We explore the significant theme of the rebuilding of trust between mothers and daughters and facilitate a process whereby the woman is able to bear witness to and acknowledge the trauma experienced by her daughter.     

Looking at bodies: Insights and inquiries about DES-related cancer

This paper considers the symbolic and material meanings about gender and sexuality surrounding women's bodies. To do so, it interprets three vignettes from an ongoing study of the experiences of women who have had vaginal and cervical cancer, as a result of their prenatal exposure to DES (diethylstilbestrol), a synthetic estrogen prescribed to pregnant women to prevent miscarriage. Each vignette represents a different social and political context. The paper demonstrates how the different contexts construct meaning, and explores the implications of this for understanding the ambivalent, complicated, shifting, and contested meanings of women's bodies. A version of this paper was presented at the Eastern Sociological Society Annual Meeting, March 19, 1994, Baltimore, Maryland. Thanks are due to Kathy Davis, Elliot Mishaler, Connie Nathanson, Alexandra Todd, the DES Cancer Network and individual DES cancer daughters whom we interviewed and who commented on drafts of our work.     

Everyday Disputes and Negotiations: A Video Observational Analysis of Mexican‐origin Mother–Daughter Conversations

Little is known about the nature of normative mother–daughter everyday disagreements in Mexican family contexts in which daughters are socialized to avoid conflict out of respect and deference to authority. Observations of videotaped conversations of 130 Mexican‐origin mothers and their adolescent (13‐ to 16‐year‐old) daughters discussing their disagreements were systematically coded. Analyses of the conversations showed that the most frequently recurring conflicts involved autonomy privileges (appearance, friendships, going out, media use), household responsibilities (chores, sibling caretaking), and family dynamics (sibling tensions, sibling differential treatment, mutual respect in communication). Daughters from traditional immigrant families who had lived longer in Mexico were just as assertive in expressing their viewpoints as daughters from less traditional families, although they were less likely to display negative affect.     

Measuring Intergenerational Obligations

Researchers have defined intergenerational obligations in diverse ways, and they have used many labels and ways of measuring intergenerational obligations. Using vignettes, we compared responses to questions about what family members should do when another family member needed assistance (normative obligations) with responses to questions about what respondents would do if they were in the situation in the vignette (felt responsibilities). Felt and normative obligations were similar. When there were disagreements, respondents indicated they would help more than they thought the character in the vignette should. The results point to the need for researchers to clearly define their terms, and they must carefully select operational definitions that match the conceptual definitions used when studying obligations about intergenerational assistance.     

Adult Daughters whose Mothers Come Out Later in Life: What is the Psychosocial Impact?

SUMMARY

When a family member comes out, it is a process not only for that individual lesbian but also for their entire family. Adult daughters whose mothers come out later in life have distinctive paths to navigate. This article reports findings of an interview study with six daughters who were adults when their mothers came out to them. Most daughters felt they emerged from childhood with an open mind about sexual identity, but had no idea about their mother's lesbianism until told by her. Half the participants questioned the role of women in their lives after their mother came out. Five of the six have a very close relationship, or have become closer, with their mother, since her coming out.     

Behind the Myth of the Matriarch and the Flagbearer: How Korean and Chinese American Sons and Daughters Negotiate Gender,Family, and Emotions

While more studies are exploring the ways in which gender structures the family experiences of American‐born children of immigrants, there is less attention to how gender shapes later views on ethnicity and culture. Based on interviews with Korean, Chinese, and Taiwanese Americans in the New York–New Jersey metropolitan area, this article examines the different ways second‐generation children learn, interpret, and pass on the cultural values and family traditions in their adulthood. Because their family roles center on their roles as leaders and carriers of the family name through male heirs, sons—especially oldest sons—can fulfill their filial obligations through relatively orthodox and nonengaging cultural practices that although restrictive, do not threaten their personal goals and privileged status. However, daughters must negotiate more emotionally burdensome expectations and responsibilities by preserving family honor, acting as family caretakers, and juggling multiple responsibilities; thus, they tend to re‐create more subtle, self‐empowering, and emotionally engaging ways of interpreting and preserving their parents’ expectations on family culture. I argue that the gendered ways daughters and sons are taught to practice cultural values and protect family honor has significant bearing on their later views on ethnicity and culture but in complex ways that transcend the generational divide.     

Youth talking about news and civic daily life

This paper considers how young people talking about news and politics in their family and peer contexts influences their civic life. The research involved 35 Portuguese youngsters from diverse social, economic and cultural backgrounds that were interviewed in 2010, in Portugal, at the onset of the Eurozone crisis. Based on talking and news-mediated contexts and habits, we identified three different profiles: Limitations to empowerment; Civic capital and self-empowerment; and socioeconomic conditions and empowerment. These profiles show how family and peer talking play a central role in strengthening and making a habitus of being an active citizen, even in contexts with limited cultural, economic and social conditions.     

Alcohol and Drug Use,and Sources of Stress

ABSTRACT

The purposes of this survey were to assess the prevalence of self-reported chemical use, concerns regarding coworker and family members' chemical use, and issues relating to life stress. A total of 2,567 faculty, staff, and administrators from a medium-sized, eastern, land-grant institution responded to a 20 item survey. Results indicated that tobacco was the most frequendy used chemical followed by alcohol. Participants were most concerned both about coworkers drinking and family member's drinking. Respondents also reported significant concerns regarding coworker's drug use. Applications for prevention, intervention and programming are discussed. Suggestions for future research are also provided.     

Direct and Indirect Effects of Maternal and Peer Influences on Sexual Intention among Urban African American and Hispanic Females

Peer and family influences are interconnected in complex ways. These influences shape adolescent decision-making regarding engagement in sexual behaviors. Evidence indicates the more proximal (and direct) a process is to an individual, the more likely it is to affect his/her development and behavior. Therefore, family factors (e.g., parenting practices) and peer influence (e.g., peer norms) tend to be more strongly associated with adolescent behavior than distal factors (e.g., media or the economy). Guided by an ecological framework, this study explored how maternal influence variables interact with perceptions of peer influence to affect daughters’ intentions to have sex. A nonprobability sample of 176 mother–daughter dyads was recruited in clinics and service organizations in the northeastern United States. Results from path analysis revealed that maternal influence variables had a significant indirect relationship with daughters’ intentions to have sex through daughters’ perceptions of peer influence. Maternal processes can act as protective factors for adolescent girls who perceive their peers are engaged in sexual behaviors. Therefore, risk reduction interventions with adolescents should include opportunities for parents to learn about sex-related issues and develop skills that will allow them to buffer negative peer influence.     

How parentline helps

In their Editorial-Child Abuse Review Vol. 3: 1-3–Kevin Browne and Margaret Lynch called for “more support for families and children in need”. They highlighted the necessity of increasing resources for children and families in need. PARENTLINE is one such source of support. PARENTLINE began in 1973 as a UK community-based response to the death of Maria Colwell, the first public acknowledgement in modem times of the existence of child abuse and neglect. PARENTLINE offers a safe, non-judgemental, non-threatening support service to anyone who parents a child, in an atmosphere where parents can feel comfortable talking about anything or any problem that concerns them or any child in their family. They are given time in which they can be sensitively and closely listened to and are helped to talk through and identify their own solutions and strategies wherever possible.