Love in Times of Cholera: Systemic Reflections on Supporting Families Through the Journey(s) of Illness

This paper is the result of our increasing interest in the experience of illness in families and the concomitant reflections on how best to therapeutically support these families through this process. This interest led us to reflect on the nuanced way in which language establishes a play with the experience of illness, a play that can amplify or reduce its effects. Such an interplay in turn led us to consider the valuable role that family therapists have in helping families and treating practitioners to create a safe space for conversation about illness. Further questions are also explored in relation to whether there is a role for family therapists in facilitating the interface between our clinical practice with clients and the wider treating medical community. And, if so, what shape would such an interface take? Considerations at this level would include the anticipation of psychological reactions to diagnosis of chronic and life‐threatening illnesses, in particular the importance of ‘normalisation’ of the psychological reactions to such chronic and/or life threatening diagnoses; the complex dynamics emerging from the interface between the effects of illness in the subjectivity of the ill person and the grief experienced by the other family members; different family members’ narratives of the illness; relevant community contexts; and, lastly, ways to help the family members and/or the ill person navigate the medical system including the use of second opinions, cyberspace information, and other systems in their ecology, such as the spiritual dimension. Some aspects of children's narratives of illness are also identified. The paper has been organised around the dialogue that the authors had around one of their clinical cases.     

Family Therapy and the Pedagogy of the Oppressed: Therapeutic Use of Songs in Apartheid South Africa

A central issue for family therapy is the critical question of how to define its role in influencing social change. Family therapy has tended to focus on how to liberate and empower individual clients, not communities, from the travails of tradition. This article highlights social change mechanisms implemented by the oppressed majority in South Africa during the apartheid period. It draws inspiration from the pedagogy of the oppressed articulated by Steve Biko and other members of his generation. This enabled the Black majority in South Africa ‘to name their world by reflecting on their conditions, imagining a better world, and then taking action to create it’ (Freire, 1968, p. 253) through the use of revolutionary songs that resulted in the collapse of the cruel apartheid system. The implications for family therapy are discussed.     

The servant leadership advantage: When perceiving low differentiation in leader-member relationship quality influences team cohesion,team task performance and service OCB

How does servant leaders' unique ability to place each follower's needs above their own influence relationships between followers and impact their collective performance? In a study that integrates principles of servant leadership with the social comparison theoretical framework, we tested a group-level model to examine how servant leadership induces low perceived differentiation in leader-member relationship quality (perceived LMX differentiation) within a group, which strengthens team cohesion and in turn positively influences team task performance and service-oriented organizational citizenship behaviors (service OCB). Our sample comprised 229 employees nested in 67 work teams. Structural equation modeling results indicate that servant leadership significantly predicts low perceived LMX differentiation; perceived LMX differentiation is strongly related to team cohesion such that the lower the perceived differentiation, the stronger the team's cohesiveness. And, team cohesion is also strongly related to both the team's task performance and service OCB. Perceived LMX differentiation and team cohesion mediate the effect of servant leadership on both team task performance and service OCB.     

Modelling period fertility: Schooling and intervals following a birth in Eastern Africa

We describe a regression-based approach to the modelling of age-, order-, and duration-specific period fertility, using retrospective survey data. The approach produces results that are free of selection biases and can be used to study differential fertility. It is applied to Demographic and Health Survey data for Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe to investigate differential trends in fertility by education. Parity progression fell and the intervals following each birth lengthened between the 1970s and 2000s in all four countries. Fertility fell most among women with secondary education. In contrast to other world regions, postponement of successive births for extended periods accounted for much of the initial drop in fertility in these African countries. However, family size limitation by women with secondary education in Ethiopia and Kenya and longer birth spacing in Zimbabwe also played significant roles. Thus, birth control is being adopted in Eastern Africa in response to diverse changes in fertility preferences.     

元代葛逻禄诗人廼贤生平考述

廼贤是中国诗史上仅有的葛逻禄人,在当时诗、文声名极大,但其生平未见碑传,需要我们钩沉整理.本文对其族籍、家世进行了考辫,梳理了其生平事迹:自幼生长在江南鄞县,力学诗书;既壮,肆志远游,求仕不得;晚年官编修,客死军中.     

西部农村留守妇女家庭压力及其影响因素分析

本文采用西部地区24个行政村千余名农村妇女的调查数据,探讨了农村留守妇女的家庭压力及影响因素。研究发现,留守确实增强了农村妇女的家庭压力,留守妇女承受的精神压力、经济压力、抚养赡养压力都要大于非留守妇女;留守妇女的年龄、家庭特征、当初择偶时对般配的重视程度、夫妻异质性、与外出丈夫的沟通状况、社会支持等因素对其家庭压力有不同程度的影响。提出建立夫妻间良好的沟通机制和构建社会支持网络的建议。     

人口计生工作职能转变与建设高素质职业化队伍

行政管理体制改革是深化改革的重要环节。新时期人口和计划生育工作任重道远。要实现未来人口发展目标,转变人口和计划生育工作职能,关键要建设一支高素质的职业化队伍。国家人口计生委在机构得到充实和加强的基础上,着力转变职能,理顺关系,优化结构和提高效能,促进了人口计生工作健康、深入、持续发展。     

再论“四二一”结构:定义与研究方法

"四二一"结构是中国低生育率背景下家庭结构与代际关系的一种特殊表达,既反映了20世纪70年代以来计划生育政策广泛推行对中国家庭的深刻影响,又揭示了中国现阶段婚姻家庭乃至未来人口发展的特点与趋势。目前这一领域的研究虽然已经取得一系列的进展,但在概念界定与使用的方法上仍缺乏共识,导致研究结论的分歧和研究拓展的迟滞。在中国社会剧烈变动的形势下,"四二一"结构是研究中国的计划生育政策、独生子女问题,以及家庭结构与代际关系变动的一个良好的载体和切入点。     

不同家庭结构中的老年人主观生活评价分析——基于贵阳市调查数据的实证检验

利用贵阳市调查数据,对不同家庭结构中的老年人生活状况和生活满意度进行分析。文章假定:主干家庭中的老年人生活状况及满意度高于核心家庭,而核心家庭高于夫妇家庭和单身家庭。即:主干家庭>核心家庭>夫妇家庭>单身家庭(">"表示优于)。并从老年人对其生活状况(包括经济状况、生活照料、精神慰藉)和生活满意度的主观感受和评价来考察这一假定。结果发现:夫妇家庭中的老年人主观生活状况及满意度最高,单身老年人次之。新的次序变为:夫妇家庭>单身家庭>主干家庭>核心家庭。文章对此进行了解释。分析还发现,生活自由度可能是影响老年人主观生活评价的一个重要指标。     

Modern Traditionalism: Consanguineous Marriage in Qatar

Consanguineous marriage, or matrimony between biological relatives, is commonplace and on the rise in Qatar, an ethnically heterogeneous Middle Eastern country. Previous studies have demonstrated that modernization often reduces traditional forms of marriage, such as arranged and consanguineous matrimony. Qatar's rapid modernization, however, has coincided with increased rates of endogamy. In this article, the authors examine the social processes that shape normative consanguineous marriage formation and progression in Qatar. On the basis of in‐depth interviews (n = 35) with men and women engaged or married to a cousin, they detail the categorical schemas that lead to consanguineous matrimony: reservation, joking, filtering, engagement, and courtship. In describing these social exchanges, the authors illustrate 2 key features embedded within them: (a) their distinct tempo and (b) how participants frame their experiences using discourses of romantic love. Reflecting larger cultural practices and attitudes in Qatar, the authors found an amalgam of contemporary and conventional that they label modern traditionalism.