Women's employment decisions in Malaysia: Does religion matter?

Religion may influence female employment decisions because different religions specify different life styles. This study investigates whether religion is a significant determinant of married and single women's paid-work and full-time employment in Malaysia. Using the Second Malaysian Family Life Survey and a sequential logit approach, this paper finds that religion is less influential in urban areas than in rural areas.     

Children and well-being: A comparison of employed and non-employed women

While employment improves health, having children at home does not. Indeed, the most likely work-family conflict for women is having children at home. In this study the effect of children on well-being was predicted to differ for employed and non-employed women. In addition, only amongst the employed women was locus of control hypothcsized to moderate this relationship. In a sample of women with partners (n = 116), using multiple-regression analysis, the results indicated that the number of children living at home, rather than the presence of young children, was associated with increased happiness in women. Employment was not predictive of women's well-being. However, it moderated the effect of number of children on their levels of happiness. In addition, non-employed women showed a U-shaped relationship between number of children and psychological distress. Finally, contrary to prediction, locus of control did not moderate the relationship between number of children and women's well-being. The findings are discussed in terms of the role expansion hypothesis.     

Why do French women have more children than German women? Family policies and attitudes towards child care outside the home

French mothers are still more often economically active than their German counterparts and birth rates in France remain higher than in West Germany. By comparing two countries with many similarities in their family policies, I try to demonstrate that the differences between state policies per se should not be overestimated in explaining the persistent gap in their fertility level. As far as women's attitudes towards child care outside of the home are concerned, there is a strong divide between France and West Germany. In the Old Länder in Germany there is some congruence between attitudes and beliefs towards child care and the shortage of child care provision, especially for toddlers. As a product of the interaction between shortage of child care provision, women's attitudes regarding child care and mothers' low labour force participation rate, German family policy reinforces these attitudes. Conversely, there is slow impetus for policy makers to really develop a comprehensive public child care system. Against this cultural and institutional background, an increasing number of women give priority to their job or to their career. In France, by contrast, norms in respect of education of toddlers and young children have evolved in tandem with the change in attitudes of women towards employment. A majority of French women feel legitimised to be in employment on a full-time basis and to have their children cared for outside the home. Their attitudes are in tune with the premises of family policy which has integrated the model of 'the employed mother'. Les Francaises continuent àavoir plus d'enfants que les Allemandes de l'Ouest alors que les différences entre les taux d'activité des mères se sont progressivement atténuées. La proportion de femmes qui n'ont pas d'enfants, en particulier, est beaucoup plus importante en Allemagne de l'Ouest. En comparant deux pays dont les politiques sociales et familiales présentent des similarités, on se propose d'aller au delà des explications les plus couramment admises. En France, contrairement à l'Allemagne de l'Ouest, les normes régissant l'éducation des jeunes enfants ont évolué en phase avec les changements qui ont affectéles comportements des femmes sur le marché du travail. Il est devenu légitime socialement pour les Francaises de travailler à plein temps tout en faisant garder son enfant à l'extérieur du domicile. Les Allemandes de l'Ouest, par contre, intériorisent toujours fortement la norme selon laquelle l'éducation d'un jeune enfant nécessite la présence permanente de sa mère. Mais de plus en plus éduquées, elles sont amenées à accorder la priorité à leur maintien dans l'emploi et à renoncer à la maternité. Pour mieux comprendre les différences de fácondité entre les deux pays, il semble donc fructueux de se focaliser sur les interactions à l'aeuvre entre leurs politiques familiales, les valeurs auxquelles adhèrent la majorité des couples concernant l'éducation des jeunes enfants et les attitudes des femmes face au travail rémunéré.     

Leaving Home Early: Passing from Girlhood to Womanhood

This paper presents a case study of a young woman’s narrative of leaving home and her transition to adulthood. The case study is part of a larger research project about young women with an experience of an early break-up from home, through running away or being thrown out. Empirical material underlying this paper consists of a qualitative study of 12 young women that have been interviewed. The aim of the study is to understand how events like running away/being thrown out of home influences their transition to adulthood. The particular narrative demonstrates how a young woman presents and accounts for such a dramatic event as running away or being thrown out from home, and how that is understood in relation to her adulthood. A further aim is to illustrate how social services efforts are reflected in her narrative.     

A gender comparison of HIV and drug use across the rural-urban continuum

Despite the central role of women drug users in escalating AIDS statistics, there is still a limited number of studies that examine the roles of gender and drug use type in HIV seroprevalence. This lacuna in the research literature has led to significant gaps in researchers' understanding of how and to what extent women may differ in their drug-using and HIV risk behaviors compared to their better-studied male counterparts. This study, derived from a sample of 3,555 out-of-treatment drug users residing in three South Florida urban and rural communities, attempts to compare the drug usage and needle and sexual risk behaviors of male and female drug users that put them at risk for HIV infection. The overall seropositivity rate for women drug users was 26.5% compared to 19.5% for their male counterparts. Results of multivariate analyses indicate that females compared to males were 1.4 times more likely to be HIV seropositive. Risk behaviors associated with this elevated seropositivity include living arrangements, homeless status, drug use, sexual trading behaviors, and history of STDs. Furthermore, there was a strong linear relationship between drug use type and HIV seroprevalence among women drug users. Compared to those who were neither crack smokers nor injectors of illicit drugs, those who were crack smokers only were 2 times more likely to be HIV seropositive, while those who were both crack smokers and injectors were 5 times more likely to be HIV seropositive, and those who were injectors only were 6 times more likely to be HIV seropositive. These findings indicate that among women, drug abuse and its associated risk behaviors, increase the vulnerability of this population for HIV and thus render them an extremely important priority population on which to focus HIV prevention and public health efforts and programs.     

The Perceptions of Women’s Roles and Progress: A Study of Malay Women

This study examines the general perceptions of women towards their roles, their interpretation of progress, as well as the facilitating factors and barriers to their progress. Questionnaires were distributed to 1,000 Malay women in Malaysia from rural and urban areas, from various age and income groups. Interviews were also carried out on the selected sample. Using both quantitative and qualitative methods of analyses, the results showed that women were perceived to play a strong, influential, and supportive role in their families. The results also showed how women perceive progress. These findings are discussed in relation to culture, socialization, values and norms of the Malay society.     

生命周期理论与中国农村妇女的生命文化周期探构

20世纪后半叶,生命周期理论被广泛推广到经济社会的各个行业领域和各种职业人生的规划。中国是一个人口和土地面积大国,行政、地理、历史、文化区域交错,各个区域妇女的生存发展状况总体有共同性,但不同区域有所不同。农村妇女的生命周期与家庭紧密联系,以家庭生命周期理论作为主要参考,可以发现20世纪40年代出生的目前是60～70岁农村妇女和20世纪60年代出生的目前是45～55岁农村妇女的生命周期各为八个阶段。分析其特点,带有明显的时代特征。     

Myths of Women and Their Reflection in a Therapy Group

One essential dilemma for modern clinical social work involves the relationship between the processes taking place inside the self and the social, cultural, and political developments affecting a person from the outside. The group-analysis approach focuses on four levels of relationships and communication within the group, among others a primordial level of shared myths, archetypical images, and the collective unconscious as an important component of psychotherapy. This article describes group-analysis therapy with women, analyzing a therapeutic process that used social myths to explore the formative institutionalization processes participants had undergone, thereby expanding themselves, growing, and changing.

论全球化时代的阿拉伯妇女问题

本文以2002～2005年的《阿拉伯国家人类发展报告》为基础,分析了阿拉伯国家长期落后的主要原因.作者认为,男女平等是构建民主社会的基本条件,处于全球化时代的阿拉伯国家之所以社会发展严重滞后,主要是因为阿拉伯妇女问题没有得到妥善解决.此外,作者还就如何解决阿拉伯妇女问题提出了建议.