Balance in the sibling-mother-sibling triad.

A study into the negative consequences of loyalty conflicts for the sibling relationship.

Studying triads between two siblings and their mother, makes it possible to

1) test enforcement and compensation mechanisms, and

2) a loyalty conflict hypothesis based on balance theory (Heider, 1958).

In 1) it is investigated whether higher intergenerational relationship quality and more contact or conflict between sibling and mother enforces relationship quality, contact or conflict between siblings and/or whether a lack of these three relational aspects is compensated by the sibling relationship.

To study 2) a discrepant intergenerational relationship is defined as the presence of one positive and one negative sibling-mother relationship. This imbalance is expected to negatively affect the sibling relationship.

Multilevel analyses of sibling-mother-sibling triads from the Netherlands Kinship Panel Study show that perceived intergenerational relationship quality and contact with mothers enforces relationship quality and contact between siblings. Discrepant intergenerational relationships indeed decreases perceived relationship quality and contact between siblings, no similar pattern was found for conflict.

Future research should investigate more precisely how these patterns develop over time, and should involve more family members. An interesting possible extension is to study how intergenerational and/or intragenerational loyalty conflicts affect the well-being of family members, especially after the family experienced negative events such as loss or divorce.

References

Heider, F. (1958). The psychology of interpersonal relations. John Wiley & Sons.

It is evidence of the increasing number of foreigners in Spain for two decades. If we look at the figures recorded by the National Institute of Statistics, the magnitude of this change in population structure is observed. Moreover, this change has meant that most European societies have become multicultural societies. One of the most important phenomena because of its size, complexity and relevance, mainly caused by globalization and migration is that of binational marriages. This article focuses on binational marriages in which one spouse is of Spanish nationality and in marriages formed by Spanish spouses. So based on data from the Natural Population Movement National Statistics Institute, we will make a comparative analysis between them to find out if there are differences between the two types of marriages in relation to theirs sociodemographic characteristics. However, the purpose is not to understand the phenomenon of mixed couples related to immigration, but to analyse the social impact of their increasingly frequent presence has on the structural basis of the society concerned. The aim with this research is to quantitatively explain the increase and the impact of mixed couples, and their comparison through selected sociodemographic statistical variables. The results determined that there are differences in the geographical distribution of marriages, the age of spouses and preferences in choosing the nationality of wives and husbands.

This paper explores the legal delimitation of parenthood on surrogacy arrangements. I ask: How are ‘normal’ reproduction and mother-child relationship constituted and framed in legislative process of gestational surrogacy in Finland. I operate with the concept of normal by Michel Foucault. I investigate how ‘normal’ parenthood is made through law by promoting particular family types and forms of assisted reproduction.

Finnish law has prohibited gestational surrogacy since the year 2007. In 2010–2013 Ministry of Justice produced report on surrogacy arrangements in Finland and requested statements on legal aspects of surrogacy from stakeholders and interest groups. After all, the law was not amended. The research data consists of these legislative documents including 58 stakeholder statements from Finnish experts and authorities on health care, reproductive medicine, child welfare and psychology, for instance. To analyse the data, I used frame analysis that is adapted on the analysis of legislative materials. I use the concept of frame to indicate the interpretative space with which the legislative delimitations become understandable and justified. Consequently, framing is a way to establish and normalize particular forms of parenthood and reproduction.

Three frames were formulated: 1) Exclusivity of embodied motherhood, 2) Cognitive aspects of parenting, and 3) Threat of biological origin. Based on this empirical research, normal mother–child relationship is seen to be founded on gestation. I argue that exclusivity of embodied mother-child relationship – that includes concern over surrogates psychosocial well-being, family dysfunction and identity problems of the child – operates as motive to prohibit surrogacy in Finland.

Intergenerational relationships are characterized by reciprocal transfers and solidarity over the shared life span. Population aging, arising from continuous low fertility and increasing life expectancy, results in a prolonged shared life time between generations and underscores the relevance of work regarding this topic. This project postulates that demographic shifts are creating new opportunity structures for intergenerational connections and new late life potential, acknowledging the delay of grandparenthood and not neglecting the importance of friendship networks. There has been little explicit theoretical nor empirical analysis in previous research of how intergenerational relations may impact physical health outcomes such as mortality in later life. Therefore this contribution investigates empirically if different characteristics of grandparenthood affect mortality risk. This relationship is theoretically conceivable since research concerned with social relationships in general suggests such health effects. The objective is to investigate whether grandparenthood predicts mortality risk after adjustment for relevant confounders. Empirical tests are carried out by analyzing several waves from the English Longitudinal Study of Ageing (ELSA). Statistical Analyses comprised of multivariate Cox proportional hazard regression models. Findings are expected to suggest lower mortality risk for older adults who are fulfilling the grandparent role. Furthermore theoretical arguments regarding mechanisms linking intergenerational ties to physical and mental health are discussed.

This article tries to answer to following questions - How everyday life maternity practices in the Czech Republic are transformed in three generations (50s and 60s, 70s and 80s and Present = mothers born in the 60s, 70s and 80s)? What aspects of motherhood made individual projects in these generations? To answer these research questions was used problem centered interview (eg. Witzel 2012), which provides unique data collection techniques, which allow the preservation of our own construction of reality and taking into account the impact of social and cultural norms and aspects. In each generation was interviewed 8-10 women. At the theoretical level research builds on the concept of reflexive project of “I” from Anthony Giddens, which assumes variability of our identity based on our experience. Furthermore, I refer to the concept of the project of motherhood and general culture of motherhood (Thomson, Lauder, Hadfield, Sharpe 2011), which also highlight the influence of context on maternity practices, but cautioned that, especially in maternity, exists in a certain period of time a specific ideal of mother to which women relate and then they may or may not integrate it into their own project of motherhood. Selected combination reveals how they are or were individual projects of motherhood shaped by social and cultural norms (eg. in combination of work and family, in the concepts of good and bad motherhood, in the approach to pregnancy, etc.), which were in each generation different.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), infertility is a growing problem in developed countries: approximately every fifth couple has to face it at some point in their lives. The use of infertility treatment is also increasing and in Finland every year nearly 3000 children are born trough infertility treatments. The purpose of this study is to describe, how the motherhood is constructed after long term infertility in the light of the narratives of women, who achieved pregnancy through successful infertility treatment and after many years by making considerable emotional and other investments to fulfil their long-awaited dream of motherhood. The aim is to provide new and valuable knowledge for professionals in health sector and peer support for the mothers.

A narrative approach was utilized in data collection, analysing and reporting. The participants were recruited through writing request in social media, different societies and health clinics. The data included mothers’ written (N=33) and spoken (N=26) narratives. The data were analysed with narrative analysing methods, mainly with the method called “analysis of expectations”. Preliminary results introduced five different expectations mothers relate to their motherhood paths. Motherhood was constructed via these expectations. It also seems that many of the expectations mothers described of having, were actually cultural or social expectations.

Keywords: infertility, motherhood, infertility treatment, expectations, narrative research

In Finland, shared parenting is widely supported through family policies and legislation. It is also evident in daily parental practices, as fathers’ share in childcare has increased notably since the late 1980s. Unfortunately, this is not the whole picture of Finnish fatherhood. Finland, like the other Nordic countries, also has its share of fathers with problems in, e.g., parenting skills and general life management. The existing Finnish and Nordic research, however, does not enable a proper understanding of the role and position of real-world fathers in relation to the mainstream ideals of engaged and active fatherhood.

In this presentation we ask, what is it like to be a father, when you don’t know how or are unable to fulfil the demands of contemporary fatherhood? We explore this issue through interviews with fathers who in one way or another are marginalized, e.g. undergoing a crisis involving a mental disorder, alcohol/drug abuse, domestic violence and/or have been convicted of a crime and are in prison. We present a tentative analysis based on 20 interviews with fathers from different challenging backgrounds. According to these fathers, support from a spouse or (prison) social worker is crucial for their acquisition of the appropriate parenting skills and for enabling them to believe in a better future. Such support also give fathers the will to survive, despite their burdensome and difficult current situation. However, according to the fathers, there’s no other way forward than to wait and hope and try to cope.

Parenting stress is a crucial construct that influences parent-child relationships, family functioning, and children’s development. Very few studies examined parenting stress in adoptive families during early parenthood, especially in association with couple and social relationship quality. The current study intended to investigate predictors of parenting stress in a community sample of adoptive parents from Italy. Specifically our goals were: 1) evaluating parenting stress among adoptive parents during the first post-adoption year, comparing with the normative Italian sample; 2) identifying predictors of parenting stress, exploring the role of four dimensions: parental individual characteristics (presence of depressive symptoms), couple characteristics (quarreling, satisfaction for sexuality, and tenderness shared between the partners), social context characteristics (real and potential social support), and child’s characteristics (adjustment, gender, age at adoption, years of institutionalization, health status on arrival). In all the analyses parents’ gender effect was taken into account, exploring differences between mothers’ and fathers’ perceptions. Participants were 56 adoptive couples, for a total of 112 parents. Analyses are still in progress and results will be discussed in relation to implications for practice.

Value transmission between parents and children is usually considered the hallmark of successful socialization (Barni et al., 2011). It has been widely discussed but surprisingly little researched, especially with reference to core values, such as political values (e.g., law and order, equality, and free enterprise) and sport values (e.g., enjoyment, sportsmanship, obedience). In this study, we focused on adolescent athletes’ sport values. In particular, according to Grusec and Goodnow’s Two-Step Model of Value Acquisition (1994), we aimed at: 1) measuring adolescents’ acceptance of the sport values their parents want to transmit to them; 2) analysing the influence of parental involvement in children’s sportive activity on value acceptance.

One hundred and seventy-two Italian adolescents (48.3% male, 51.7% female; mean age: 15.41, SD: 1.73), practising team sports, were asked to fill in the Youth Sport Values Questionnaire – 2 (Lee et al., 2008) to assess their own sport values (moral, competence, and status values) and the sport values their parents wanted to transmit to them. The Parental Involvement in Sport Questionnaire (Lee & MacLean, 1997) was used to measure how young athletes perceived their parents’ involvement in their sport activity in terms of active involvement, praise and understanding, directive behavior and pressure. From the relative weight analysis it emerged that a parental involvement characterized by praise and understanding and pressure are the most important predictors of adolescents’ acceptance of their parents’ sport values.

Implications of these results and further expansion of the study are discussed.

The paper analyses some issues concerning the character of children play activity in modern Russia.

The theoretical grounds of the research are the social theories of Russian scientists concerning the playing process (Lev Vygotsky, Dmitry Elkonin).

The author presents the results of two empirical researches. 216 formal interviews with children aged 10-17 and 15 in-depth interviews with mothers of pre-school children were conducted.

The interview were focused on different dimensions of play activity correlated with the family size. The author distinguishes two main dimensions: the play as collective activity when a child plays with others and the role-play. The paper discusses the most popular plays and games as well as those games, which are no longer popular. In-depth interviews with mothers were aimed at spotting the trends of disappearing and new playing practices.

The finds are that the family size influences children’s play activity. Family composition forms children’s worldview and affects their relationships with relatives as well as their peers and siblings, influences different types of their activity, including the play activity, which is the most significant ones in child’s socialization. The findings point out that modern children play trend to play outdoor group games much less frequently in comparison with their parents. The virtual reality becomes more and more important and influential even for pre-school children. However, theme-play remains the most significant factors of socialization. Play activity determines children’s reality, helps them to understand the social world order and rules, they have to live by, teaches them behavior patterns.

In Finland families have a legal right to municipal childcare at times when they need it, that is, also during evenings, nights and weekends. Consequently, about 7 per cent of Finnish children in municipal childcare are taken care in day-and-night care units (THL, 2014). Because of their parents’ atypical work schedules children spend on average longer hours per day in day-and-night care compared to children in childcare with standard opening hours, and this may also include spending nights in the unit.

This study examines collaboration of families and childcare personnel in this special context of childcare and focuses on the following questions. How do parents and personnel experience collaboration? What are the main challenges and strengths from their points of view? Do the evaluations of families-personnel collaboration differ between parents with a child in day-and-night care and parents with a child in childcare with standard opening hours?

The study utilizes several data sets. In the Families 24/7 -project interview and questionnaire data were collected from three target groups: 227 employees of day-and-night care units; 197 parents with a child in day-and-night care; and 140 parents with a child in childcare with standard opening hours. In the OHOI-project interview and questionnaire data were collected from 199 employees in day-and-night care units in Middle Finland. Data will be analysed using mixed methods. The study will increase understanding of this unique type of childcare service, day-and-night care, by spotting the special characteristics of families-personnel collaboration.

INTRODUCTION

Because of the current preponderance of the dichotomous model ‘Homosexual VS Heterosexual’, there is little room for more open sexual orientations such as experienced by bisexual people. This lack of knowledge can be an obstacle for an adequate clinical support among this population. The present study explores bisexual’s own lived experiences with a focus on their intimate relations.

METHOD & SAMPLE

A qualitative-explorative research design :

Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 10 participants self-identified as bisexual (5 women & 5 men aged from 25 to 64 years)

Data were analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (Smith, J. A., 1995)

RESULTS

Major themes

No criteria of sex or gender in the choice of a partner

Faithfullness VS unfaithfullness : different ways to organize affective and sexual relationships in link with one’s own representations of bisexuality

Negative impact of the stereotypes of bisexuality on their relationships

Perception of a positive influence of the communication within the relationship on individual’s and marital’s well-being

Difficulties to find an adequate support among the health’s professional

CONCLUSIONS

These results provide an initial overview about some specific dynamics among bisexual’s intimate relationships. To achieve significant results, it would be interesting to collect a larger sample among bisexual population. This is the second step of this research. Moreover, a focus group could be an interesting direction for future research to specify the influence of the communication on the bisexual’s affective and sexual relationships.

The purpose of this study is to examine how much responsibility for the care of their parents respondents feel and what its determinants are. This study utilized data collected in Sapporo, Japan, in January 2015. Respondents to the survey were men and women from 35 to 60 years of age whose parents were still alive (n=510). A dependent variable was the answer to the question: Taking everything into the consideration, what percentage of responsibility for the care of your parents do you feel? The independent variables consisted of basic attributes of the respondents, ADL and living arrangements of their parents, the number of siblings and the respondents' consciousness concerning family. The results of the analysis using the OLS regression models are as follows. First, the respondents who are older, women, the eldest child and strongly bound by the notion of 'family', feel strong responsibility for the care of their parent which is in accordance with traditional discourses concerning family care in Japan. Second, the feeling of responsibility was not related to the distance to the parents' house and their living arrangement. This study revealed people still feel a strong obligation of the care of their parents, although the socialization of care-giving has advanced in Japan.

How are family relations and bonds thought in today's German and Polish society so that the interpretative figure of the rich and happy single mother is still missing. In my PhD thesis I examine with the sociology of knowledge approach to discourse (SKAD) the construction process of single motherhood in the juridical-political discourse concerning the maintenance advance law in Germany and the law on family benefits in Poland. The heteronormativity critical approach serves me as a tool of thought and as an analytical line. The focus is on the following questions: what does the heteronormative family order in the respective German and Polish discourse mean; which power relations are made and/or maintained through the heteronormative family order; how is single motherhood interpreted under the heteronorma-tive family order regime and what role does social work with single mothers who apply for state benefits play in all this. The aim of the thesis is the elaboration of the interdependencies between heteronormative family order and single motherhood. In my poster presentation I present the research design of my PhD thesis, the theoretical and methodological approach to the research subject "single motherhood" and the research questions and the first results of my study.

Background: Labour market mobility and changing family patterns are increasing while the number of family carers of elderlies in close proximity decreases. These trends result in a rising demand of insights on „dis-tance caregiving“. So far, there is limited research on a) characteristics of distance carers and their interge-nerational relationships, b) concepts on communication structures and behaviour, and c) challenges at the workplace and in the health care system.

Objectives: The binational „DiCa“ project (BMBF-Silqua, 2016-19) with an interdisciplinary German and Swiss research team aims to explore challenges for distance carers and implications for family relationships. It also aims to identify strategies for the labour market and health care systems in order to foster carers‘ workplace continuity. Therefore, research questions refer to a triple actors: employers, health care system, and family and friend carers.

Methods: In order to establish a strong empirical data basis, the applied project is embedded in a framework of primary and secondary data generation and analysis. It also includes a cooperation with employers that are engaged in developing, piloting and evaluating interventions to support the situation of distance carers. Therefore, secondary data from SHARE and the German Ageing Survey (DEAS) will be analysed. Also, qua-litative interviews with distance carers and expert interviews with representatives from employers and health care services will be conducted.

Results: At the conference, preliminary results will highlight challenges of distance caregiving with a focus on intergenerational relations, and how the research design contributes to evidence-based interventions and implementation.

There is an extensive body of literature showing a multitude of consequences of partnership dissolution, including decreased political involvement, but little is known about the impact it has on political preferences. We explore whether relationship dissolution affects political views and party preferences. Findings from cross-sectional studies conducted in the US show that divorced individuals tend to be more left-wing, which was explained by divorced individuals having fewer resources and hence a stronger interest in more state provisions and having less traditional family values.

Using longitudinal data from the Swiss Household Panel, this study examines whether going through separation from cohabitation or marriage is associated with a change in political preferences, such as self-placement on the left-right continuum and political party preferences.

First results from group comparisons controlled for background characteristics show that the separated group is indeed more leftwing, but that this difference with partnered individuals already exists prior to relationship dissolution. Fixed effects models based on the group who experiences separation further show that any changes following separation are to the right rather than the left in terms of self-placement on the left-right continuum and party preference.

n the next step of this study we will explore whether changes in political preferences can be attributed to decreases in resources, changes in social networks or to a decreased influence of the former spouse.

Divorces are nowadays very common in all western countries. Divorce, as a life change, is a usually hard experience for both spouses. Cultural changes and tolerant atmosphere in many modern societies have made the coping with divorce easier compared to history. Nevertheless the coping with divorce is a stressful process and often takes a long time to process.

This research gives answers to the following questions: how does the ex-spouses cope with divorce? How do the stories from the same divorce differ from each other? What kind of similarities are found with the same divorce?

This research examines the stories of the coping with the divorce by ex-spouses. The participants of this research are Christian ex-couples. They have gotten married ecclesiastically, the divorce is a new life transition to both ex-spouses and time from the juridical divorce has lasted a maximum five years. The data comprehends eight ex-couples. The interviews are kept individually. The data has been collected by the interviews in the spring 2016.

This study is narrative based qualitative research. The data consists by narratives and the type of analysis is narrative. The first expected results will be completed at the 8th Congress of the European Society on Family Relations. This research gives new and profound information about coping with divorce. This research gives also new understanding of the similarities and differences from the same divorce and its coping. The results of this research are needed for many clinicians like psychologists and therapists.

The purpose of this paper is to interpret the diversity in the meaning “family” in different countries with different sociocultural backgrounds based on the meaning family formation. In so doing, it is especially important to get a holistic understanding of the family, going beyond a fragmentary analysis on trends in forms. Even though the same demographic megatrends of the family may be seen both in Germany and South Korea, how each society looks at changes in the family will differ according to each country’s sociocultural characteristics, and the direction of pertinent policies will also differ.

Accordingly, in this paper, in analyzing the concepts of family formation currently taking place in Germany and South Korea, the policy stance of each country will be taken into account, focused on the timing and the perceptions of family formation. Suppose timing of family formation are as follows:T1(marriage);T2(marriage/cohabitation);T3(childbirth). Then, depending on what each society regards as being a family, the kind of themes that each society and its citizens will have to focus on will differ.

To address this, this paper will take the 2016 doctorate thesis(in review) by the present author that has analyzed the ISSP 2012data and reorganize parts of it for reporting, and the meanings of the results will be interpreted by reviewing the literature and the data from the national statistics offices of Germany and South Korea. This paper has significance in that it has presented the possibility of correctly interpreting the same phenomena in different societies with different cultures.

To understand the dynamics of contemporary intimate relationships and families, we have to understand the incentive and opportunity structure of our postmodern society. Postmodernity demands agentic decision makers (Dykstra 2009), as modern norms loose their guiding character and new tasks along the life course arise (Frankenberger 2008, Giddens 1992). Postmodern actors face „risky freedoms“ in the constant need of decision-making within dilemma situations (Beck 1993, Lewis 2006). Individuals themselves are the agents and locus of change. Therefore, individuals and dyads have to flexibly adapt to changing, uncertain, even precarious contexts. Couples thus have to negotiate how to synchronize, compromise and “link” their needs within their dyad and furthermore within society (Elder 1987). This potentially leads to fragile 'individualized' relationships (Burkart 1991).

Accordingly, society affects profoundly intimate life (Bulcroft 2000). However, also the latent macro-level can be understood via the affected micro-level life course (Huinink 2012). Therefore, I propose an interdisciplinary research design on dyadic life course decision-making. Along the stages of 1) couple formation, 2) couple enlargement, 3) couple dissolution. Three cases of decision-making specific to postmodernity along this dyadic life course should as focal points of the interrelations of macro and micro dynamics (Bronfenbrenner 1986). 1) Long-distance relationships and couple formation (Jimenez 2010; Sahlstein 2006); 2) entrepreneurs of the self and fertility decisions (Ajzen 2013; Henninger 2008; van der Kaa 2001); 3) successful aging and end-of-life decisions (Baltes 2003; Korporaal 2013). These cases provide key insights into postmodern intimate relationships, and in synergy into postmodernity itself.

The poster is intended to present the qualitative research conducted in Poland in 2014 and 2015 among parents engaging in the creation of an educational environment for their children.

Research questions: centered on 1) the identification and analysis of parenting practices, 2) the ensuing social construct of parenthood and 3) the broader social contexts of these practices and their meanings.

The research is founded in the poststructural, constructivist perspective. Data is collected by means of individual, theme, in-depth interviews.

Study group: mothers and fathers of preschool and schoolchildren who actively seek or create (in their opinion) appropriate educational environments for their children. The subjects are well educated. They live in a large city. They are interested in acquiring and developing new parenting competence. The economic, social and cultural capital accumulated by the parent study group provide them freedom of shaping their own and their children’s reality. Some of the parents establish educational environments constituting alternatives to systemic schools.

Grounded Theory Methodology and critical discourse analysis are employed for case studies.

The poster will briefly present the study methodology and then proceed to describe selected analyzed categories (of parental learning) related to the context of educational decisions and the construction of the parental role.

I hope for a constructive critique of my study plan - in which I use the GTM as a foundation to be complemented and completed with other research strategies enabling the exploration of parenthood construction context – the discourse in which parenting constructions are rooted.

Spanish male behavior against unpaid household work was studied and also compared with men from other countries (Norway, UK and France). It should be taken into account different Gender Contracts existing in these countries without forgetting the differences between different types of Welfare State. A key aspect was the figure of the male breadwinner. Time-use data collected by the MTUS were be used. The results show that the man is less participatory than women in unpaid domestic work; however there are very important differences between countries.

Loneliness and social isolation are significant afflictions of Europe’s older population. The lack of social network is detrimental for human health. Hence, it is important to understand who is at risk of social exclusion. Although several authors criticised the exchange theory of social connections, a large body of research suggests that distribution of material resources (an “asset portfolio”) is a crucial element in understanding why some people have bigger networks than other. This paper asks what is the “asset portfolio” that is responsible for social exclusion of older adults. Data: the Survey of Health, Aging and Retirement in Europe (SHARE). Methods: OLS and Linear Probability Model. Selected first findings: Men are more likely to have no friends in their networks and no confidants at all, and yet they are less likely to report loneliness. Except the main residence, ownership of economic resources contributes to having friends. Although physical attractiveness (eg., BMI or height) is noted as one of the key determinants for connections of younger people, these variables are not correlated with my measures of older adults’ networks. Further research should establish the direction of causation, as well as address the issue of changes in 20th — early 21st century Europe that might affect the “asset portfolio” behind friendship.