Revisiting the Bott thesis on kin networks and marriage

Studying families in post-war London, Elizabeth Bott hypothesized that tight-knit kinship networks fostered gender segregated, rather than joint, conjugal role-relationships for husband and wife. Addressing this hypothesis with 2001 International Social Survey Program for 29 countries, this paper considers one aspect of joint role-relationships - whether married women prefer to turn to their husband, as opposed to kin, for household help and emotional support. Women with tight-knit kin who fill multiple functions in their lives are less likely to prefer to rely on husbands. Residential mobility is associated with greater reliance on the spouse, but there is no indication that the importance of kinship is diminished when mobility is controlled.     

A Qualitative Study of “fa’a’amu” Kinship Care Experiences in Tahiti

“Fa'a'amu” is a type of adoption commonly found in French Polynesia involving open, informal adoption arrangements, in which the child maintains ties to the family of origin. Although the function that child circulation plays in Oceanic societies has been widely documented by anthropologists, the implications of fa'a'amu at the individual level have yet to be examined. To address this gap, an exploratory qualitative study was conducted to 1) examine the lived experiences of adults who were fa'a'amu as children, and 2) identify experiences and characteristics associated with positive psychosocial and mental health outcomes in adulthood. The sample consisted of 22 Tahitian adults, who had been fa'a'amu during childhood. Applying a developmental and attachment lens, we explored how participants experienced relationships with birth and adoptive families, and how being fa'a'amu impacted their sense of well-being, attachment, identity, and belonging. Data was collected through The Adult Attachment Interview and the Fa'a'amu Experience Interview, which were coded using thematic analysis. Factors associated with positive outcomes in adulthood included early age at adoption, sensitive fa'a'amu parents, positive or benign relationships with birth parents, and respect between fa'a'amu and birth families. Factors associated with emotional distress included late age at adoption, abandonment and rejection, exploitative fa'a'amu parents, and conflict between birth and fa'a'amu families.     

Social and spatial networks: Kinship distance and dwelling unit proximity in rural Thailand

We address a long hypothesized relationship between the proximity of individuals’ dwelling units and their kinship association. Better understanding this relationship is important because of its implications for contact and association among members of a society. In this paper, we use a unique dataset from Nang Rong, Thailand which contains dwelling unit locations (GPS) and saturated kinship networks of all individuals living in 51 agricultural villages. After presenting arguments for a relationship between individuals’ dwelling unit locations and their kinship relations as well as the particulars of our case study, we introduce the data and describe our analytic approach. We analyze how kinship – considered as both a system linking collections of individuals in an extended kinship network and as dyadic links between pairs of individuals – patterns the proximity of dwelling units in rural villages. The results show that in general, extended kin live closer to one another than do unrelated individuals. Further, the degree of relatedness between kin correlates with the distance between their dwelling units. Close kin are more likely to co-reside, a fact which drives much of the relationship between kinship relatedness and dwelling unit proximity within villages. There is nevertheless suggestive evidence of a relationship between kinship association and dwelling unit proximity among kin who do not live together.     

近年来儒家伦理论战述评——腐败之源还是德性之端

近五年来,人文学界围绕儒家伦理是腐败之源还是德性之端的问题发生了一场论战,持前种观点的学者认为儒家伦理,特别是爱有等差观念,是儒家伦理学中最荒诞、最黑暗的思想;儒家伦理根本不具有普遍性和永恒性;儒家伦理应为现实生活中某些屡见不鲜的腐败现象的滋生蔓延承担责任。持后种观点的学者则从文献学、法学、伦理学、宗教学、哲学、方法学乃至比较文化学等角度进行了针锋相对的回应。这场论战作为五四新文化运动以来历次中西文化论战的继续,以其主流话语由以往的“全盘西化”、“全盘反传统”转变为对于传统的“了解之同情”和“温情与敬意”,表现出崭新的时代特色,因而将成为中国文化发展史上的一座新的里程碑。     

Who is dropped and why? Methodological and substantive accounts for network loss

High rates of egocentric network turnover are frequently observed but not well explained. About 1000 respondents to the UCNets survey named an average of 10 names in each of two waves a year apart. Consistent with prior studies, respondents in wave 2 failed to relist about half of the names they provided in wave 1. Asked why, respondents explained that they had forgotten the alter for about 40 percent of the missing names. Other common answers, such as no “occasion… to be in touch,” also suggest that the true rate of alters being dropped is probably under 20 percent. Multilevel logit models identified the predictors of alters being dropped (neither relisted nor forgotten) versus retained. Immediate kin were likeliest to be retained and roommates, coworkers, and acquaintances to be dropped. Alters who provided companionship, confiding, advice, and emergency help were especially likely to be retained, as were those to whom respondents felt close. Little about the respondents themselves affected drop rates: having moved recently, having a close friend die, or having had an important relationship break up. Results are consistent with the argument that a tie’s degree of constraint (notably being close family) and its balance of rewards determine the likelihood of it being dropped or demoted.     

“哥/姐”等亲属称谓自称义泛化研究

受网络等传媒催生,"房叔"、"犀利哥"等拟亲属称谓语大量孳生,其中"哥(姐)"等正日益泛化为人们可随意采用的自称,已成为具话题性和典型性的网络流行语。"哥/姐"自称义的泛化透射了汉语亲属称谓语在当代语境中的演变历程,网络上"哥/姐"自称与其他亲属称谓语的自称不同,分析其泛化原因有助于对其他亲属称谓语的泛化趋势进行预测。     

Kinship liaisons: A peer-to-peer approach to supporting kinship caregivers

Relative caregivers are invaluable to the child welfare system. Although most states have a preference for relative placement, the support and assistance provided to relatives during and beyond the initial child placement period are inadequate. Through a U.S. Children's Bureau System of Care Demonstration project, a peer-to-peer approach (based in social cognitive theory) which paired a new relative caregiver (n = 74) with a full-time, paid kinship liaison (a current or former relative caregiver) was studied. Findings show that kinship liaisons are extremely helpful to caregivers and reveal 27 support categories that caregivers find most useful. One of the most significant services (i.e., information and referral) provided by the liaisons increased caregivers' knowledge of accessing available services and the permanency process. Data results show significant increases in caregivers' coping abilities and willingness to become a permanent resource for the children in their care. Policy and practice insights are provided.     

Kinship Care: Analysis of the Health and Well-Being of Grandfathers Raising Grandchildren Using the Grandparent Assessment Tool and the Medical Outcomes Trust SF-36 TM Health Survey

ABSTRACT

As more and more children are being separated from their biological parents because of AIDS, substance abuse, mental and physical illness, incarceration, and child abuse and neglect, child welfare agencies are relying more often on kinship care as a viable option for out-of-home placements. In many cases, kinship care falls on the grandparents. While keeping children within their families is generally viewed as preferable by child welfare agencies, it can be a burden on grandparent caregivers, who often exist on severely limited incomes and without much assistance or support from social service agencies. A research project was conducted which used both quantitative and qualitative data from research conducted by Jones and Gibbons (2000) on grandparent care, but this study focuses on the experiences of grandfathers who participated in the project and examines their outcomes in several different areas.     

A Definitional Discussion of Elder Maltreatment

Currently, there is no one uniform accepted or acceptable definition of elder maltreatment. As an important first step in the continued understanding of elder maltreatment, a differentiation is made between legal and social work definitions and a classification system for defining elder maltreatment from a social work orientation is suggested as a guide for assessment and intervention. Distinctions within each of three major categories of elder maltreatment (elder neglect, elder abuse and violation of the elder's rights) is presented.     

Identified Problems and Service Utilization Patterns Among Kinship Families Accessing Mental Health Services

Abstract

This study examined the mental health problems and service utilization patterns of kinship families who accessed services in an urban outpatient child psychiatry clinic. A random sample of children who completed the intake process during a calendar year yielded 47 children, or 19% of the sample, whose primary caregiver was a relative, other than a biological parent; approximately half of those families were involved with the child welfare system. Data from an administrative database and from medical records describe the diagnoses, identified problems, and services used by the kinship families. Academic or school-related problems emerged as an identified problem in approximately half of the kinship cases, but school intervention was not a primary target for clinicians. The kinship sample was also compared with a random stratified sample of children who were living with primary caregivers other than kin. Kinship families were more likely to be African-American, but few differences were found between kin and non-kin cases on diagnoses and frequency, duration, or type of services received. The findings suggest that collaboration with schools might increase the engagement and retention of kinship families in mental health services.