Family, Life Course, and Society Commons^™

Absence Of A Family Safety Net For Homeless Families, Kay Young Mcchesney

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Analysis of data from interviews of 80 mothers in five shelters for homeless families suggests that the availability of housing support from kin may be a selection mechanism determining which families become homeless. The availability of kin housing support is seen as a function of four factors: family structure, proximity, control of adequate housing resources, and estrangement. Policy implications are discussed

Five Year Cohort Study Of Homeless Families: A Joint Policy Research Venture, John J. Stretch, Larry W. Kreuger

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Over the past ten years there have been significant investments in families uprooted by homelessness, but no data which clearly delineated what types of families had been helped, and how long help may have sustained them. Reported are preliminary data on 875 families who resided in a 60 day family shelter from 1983 through 1987. Field interviews in 1989 with 201 of those families provide data on residential history, employment, familial and demographic changes, service needs and additional homeless episodes. Policy questions focus on current residential stability and community reintegration.

The Older Population In Massachusetts, 1980-1990, Gerontology Institute, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Gerontology Institute Publications

Massachusetts and the nation are aging! People 65 and older are growing in numbers more rapidly than other younger segments of the population, and the unprecedented growth of this group has created new demands on and new opportunities for every major sector of American life. But if we are to make constructive plans for an aging society, we must have sound information on the major changes in the make-up of the population.

This report shows how the older populations in Massachusetts and in the United States have changed in the decade between 1980 and 1990. It is designed to serve …

Utah Families- The Issues They Face, Ted W. Warstadt, Larry Forthun

All Archived Publications

With the wide variety of difficulties that our society faces and the limited funding available to address these concerns, it is important to identify and prioritize critical family issues. Because the family is a major contributor to individual and societal development, it is important to focus attention on issues which have a direct impact on family functioning. In identifying issues it is also helpful to understand demographic and geographic influences which may contribute to an individual's perceived urgency of a given issue. This can assist policy makers in their efforts to appropriately allocate limited funds to the best suited and …

Housing Affordability, Stress And Single Mothers: Pathway To Homelessness, Elizabeth A. Mulroy, Terry S. Lane

The Journal of Sociology & Social Welfare

Examining the research literature in housing, planning, and the social sciences, this paper argues that the housing crisis of the 1980s spawned a new environmental stress, housing affordability, which has had devastating consequences for economically vulnerable single mothers and their children. A conceptual framework is developed that depicts how the housing affordability dilemma generates a pathway to homelessness beset by four pinchpoints: a resource squeeze that precipitates loss of permanent housing; residential mobility that destabilizes families; discrimination in the housing market that constrains housing choices; and multiple stressors that demoralize a fragile family system. Implications of these findings are discussed, …

Invitation: Who Will Be A Witness For The Children? A Special Interfaith Service Sunday July 12, 1992

Saffy Collection - All Textual Materials

An interfaith worship service at the Ramada Penta Hotel in New York City.

Media In Health And Health Education, Jok Madut Jok

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Orphanages In Egypt, Randa Selim Risgallah

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Protected And Creative Learning Through Earning, Maissa Hamed

Archived Theses and Dissertations

No abstract provided.

Using The Project Approach With Toddlers, Debbie Leekeenan, Carolyn P. Edwards

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

“From the very beginning, curiosity and learning refuse simple and isolated things: they love to find the dimensions and relations of complex situations....” (Malaguzzi, 1987, p.19)

While working with children at a university laboratory school, we have pondered the question of how to develop curriculum for very young children in a meaningful way that emphasizes content as well as process. In general, curriculum for toddlers (ages one through three) involves activity centers that change from day to day. Because toddlers tend to be immersed in the immediate moment and in the process rather than the product of their activity, teachers, …

Parent-Adolescent Communication And Adolescents' Sexual Intentions, Julie A. Bullen

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

This study investigated the quality and quantity of sexual communication between teens and parents in relation to the teens' sexual intentions. Perceptions about communication were examined of parents and adolescents of both genders separately. Both same- and cross-gender effects of parental communication on adolescent sexual intent ions were explored. Approximately 290 families (target teen and parent) were measured in pre- and posttests. Parents perceived higher quality communication with teens than teens did, but not necessarily more frequent sexual communication. As teens' perceptions of quality of communication with mother and father went up, teens' sexual intentions went down. The higher sons' …

The Last Thing We Need Is Another Shelter, Jessica Segré

New England Journal of Public Policy

Segre suggests that family homelessness is merely the latest and most devastating example of America's lack of commitment to children and families. The history of human services for children is presented to show that, both at the community and at the policy levels, this population and its needs have been neglected, subjected to fragmentation, and consistently downgraded on our lists of priorities. The societal values that have led to this situation are discussed and revealed as still reflecting an individualistic, frontier outlook, which is, however, becoming an anachronism. The need for a child/family policy is stressed, as is the urgency …

Policy Shifts In The Massachusetts Response To Family Homelessness, Margaret A. Leonard, Stacy Randell

New England Journal of Public Policy

Massachusetts's response to the tragedy of family homelessness during a period of economic prosperity (1983-1987) is contrasted to a period of economic decline (1988-1992). The article describes the movement toward a structural response in the boom years and its dismantling with the emergence of a "blame the victim" response in the decline years. The roles of state government, advocacy groups, human service providers, private funding sources, academic institutions, and the media, as they influence these responses, are outlined. Interviews with key actors in these groups, group interviews with formerly homeless women, a review of the literature, and the authors' direct …

The Kindred Bonds Of Mentally Ill Homeless Persons, Richard C. Tessler, Gail M. Gamache, Peter H. Rossi, Anthony F. Lehman, Howard H. Goldman

New England Journal of Public Policy

While the unraveling of the kinship bond has long been suspected to play a role in the epidemiology of homelessness, the connection between kinship and homelessness has been little studied. Based on a normative analysis of the role of family structure in response to adversity, this article explores the impact of the amount and quality of kinship ties on episodes of homelessness experienced by discharged psychiatric patients in Ohio. Survey data derived from personal interviews with both former patients and their kin indicate more strain in relations with kin of the homeless than the nonhomeless. The strain in the kinship …

It'll Take More Than A Miracle: Income In Single-Mother Families In Massachusetts, 1979-1987, Chris Tilly, Randy Albelda

John M. McCormack Graduate School of Policy and Global Studies Publications

Through the 1980s, the Massachusetts economy grew rapidly. Most Massachusetts families benefited from this economic boom, and saw their incomes rise much more rapidly than the U.S. average. But Massachusetts single mothers and their children, who started out with lower incomes than other families, experienced only minimal income growth, and fell further behind other families in the Bay State. In this paper, we analyze income differences among family types in Massachusetts. We pay special attention to the problems of single mothers, and offer a set of policy recommendations to address these problems.

In order to undertake this analysis, we classify …

Race And Ethnic Variation In The Schooling Consequences Of Female Adolescent Sexual Activity, Renata Forste, Marta Tienda

Faculty Publications

Data from the National Survey of Families and Households are used to examine the influence of adolescent childbearing and marriage on the likelihood of high school completion among a cohort of women aged 20 to 29 in 1987. Use of event history techniques reveals striking differences by ethnicity. While the effect of teen marriage on school completion was significant only for whites, adolescent childbearing had much stronger deleterious effects for Latinas than for white or especially black teens. Attitudinal data are presented in an effort to explain these differences.

Medicare Supplemental Insurance: Today's Crisis, Health Care For All, Gerontology Institute, University Of Massachusetts Boston

Gerontology Institute Publications

The purpose of health insurance is to spread risk. The system works under the assumption that, at any given point in time, only a percentage of the people in a given group will be sick. Regardless of health status, all members of the group will be paying premiums in order to cover the cost of care for those who need it.

As a group, however, seniors represent a high-risk population. They are more likely than younger people to need health care services and tend to require longer hospital stays. Yet, while their expenses are greater, their financial resources are generally …

Common Beliefs About The Rural Elderly: Myth Or Fact?, U.S. Senate Special Committee On Aging

All U.S. Government Documents (Utah Regional Depository)

focuses on the most disadvantaged elderly: the rural elderly. Identifies common beliefs about rural persons aged 65 and over, and provides accompanying statistical information to refute or confirm these beliefs. This synthesis of data translates detailed statistics into useable knowledge.

Social Activity Among Sociology Alumni, Dawn June Riddle

Dissertations, Theses, and Masters Projects

No abstract provided.

Working With Fathers...Looking For The New Father, Glen F. Palm

Child and Family Studies Faculty Publications

The transition to multiple modals of good fathers will be difficult; however the reality of diverse family structures and systems makes this an important step to take.

Part of the "Working with Fathers: Methods and Perspectives" column published by Family Information Services (Minneapolis, MN) and here published with their generous permission..

Working With Fathers...Different Paths To Father Involvement, Glen F. Palm

Child and Family Studies Faculty Publications

Part of the "Working with Fathers: Methods and Perspectives" column published by Family Information Services (Minneapolis, MN) and here published with their generous permission..

Working With Fathers...Parenting: A Second Chance For Men To Learn About Relationships, Glen F. Palm

Child and Family Studies Faculty Publications

Part of the "Working with Fathers: Methods and Perspectives" column published by Family Information Services (Minneapolis, MN) and here published with their generous permission..

Predictors Of Success In A Co-Correctional Halfway House: A Discriminant Analysis, Patrick G. Donnelly, Brian E. Forschner

Sociology, Anthropology, and Social Work Faculty Publications

Considerable research and debate have focused on the effectiveness of community correctional programs. Much of the research does not address the issue of the effectiveness of programs for persons with different types of problems or criminal histories. This article utilizes discriminant analysis to determine the characteristics of persons most likely to succeed in one halfway house. The results indicate that strong socializing and integrating ties in the community and few previous contacts with the criminal justice system are major predictors of success in a halfway house program. The seven discriminators for females are used to accurately predict 87 percent of …

The Americanization Of Ritual Culture: The ‘Core Codes’ In American Culture And The Seductive Character Of American ‘Fun.’, Mary Jo Deegan, Michael R. Hill

Department of Sociology: Faculty Publications

Modern life in the USA is driven by four “core codes” of oppression and repression which structure a wide range of cultural patterns, from fleeting, face-to-face interactions to enduring, large scale social institutions. The four codes (sex, class, bureaucratization, and the commodification of time) also give recognizable contours to modern American cultural rituals (participatory as well as media-constructed) and contribute to the seductive character of “fun” which these rituals typically generate. American “fun” provides short-lived, incomplete escapes from mundane routine, and simultaneously strengthens and reproduces the core oppression and repressions of everyday life.

American “fun” provides its consumers with ritual …

By And For Women: Involving Women In The Development Of Reproductive Health Care Materials, Valerie J. Hull, Barbara L. Ibrahim, Nadia Farah, Blanca Figueroa, Margaret Winn

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

The studies in this issue of Quality/Calidad/Qualité describe three efforts to involve women in the development of reproductive health care materials in different settings in the developing world. In Cairo, a women's health collective produced a comprehensive reference book for women; in Peru, a woman's group, with the extensive involvement of their nonliterate audience, developed a series of illustrated teaching materials; and in the South Pacific, an all-woman production crew produced three motivation and teaching videos developed in response to the expressed needs of Pacific Island women. Despite contrasts in the characteristics of the intended audiences, the development process, and …

Faire Oeuvre De Pionnier: Atteindre Les Femmes Agriculteurs En Zambie Occidentale, Janice Jiggins, Paul Maimbo, Mary Masona

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

Au cours des dernières décennies, des projets à petite-échelle furent mis en place sur I'ensemble du continent africain pour tenter d'incorporer les femmes aux politiques de développement agricole. Dans ce numéro de SEEDS, on présente un exemple particulièrement éloquent qui vient de la Province Occidentale de la Zambie—le Programme de Vulgarisation à I'intention des Femmes à partir des locaux de la division "Économie ménagère" du Département de I'Agriculture. Le projet en question vise à operer un changement radical de la manière dont fonctionne une bureaucratie agricole en redéfinissant les mandates, en encourageant un changement d'attitude par le biais de programmes …

Family Planning And Child Survival Programs As Assessed In 1991, John A. Ross, W. Parker Mauldin, Steven R. Green, E. Romana Cooke

Poverty, Gender, and Youth

This volume continues a tradition initiated at the Population Council nearly 25 years ago when the first edition of “Population and Family Planning Programs” was issued. That factbook began a series of 12 editions produced through 1993. The data in that series were consolidated and updated in another publication, and the present volume is now issued, based partly upon a 1989 questionnaire inquiry to over 100 developing countries. A range of maternal and child survival data were added to the family planning information. The relationships among fertility behavior, infant and child mortality, and maternal health are closely interwoven; moreover, many …

Self Concept And Family Relations Of American-Lebanese Children: A Descriptive And Comparative Study, Tagrid T. Chartouni

Dissertations

Problem. There is a great current need to assist and understand American children, especially minorities, through their familial and cultural backgrounds. The purpose of the study was to examine the Kinetic Family Drawings of American-Lebanese children to gain information about their relationship with other family members while comparing them with American-Caucasian children.

Method. The Kinetic Family Drawing was administered to 150 American-Lebanese, and 150 American-Caucasian, age 4-17, through Christian church-activities in Connecticut and Massachusetts. The data were analyzed by t-tests and analysis of variance.

Results. (1) There are few differences between the family drawings of American-Lebanese males and females either …

Behavioral Parent-Teacher Consultation: Conceptual And Research Considerations, Susan M. Sheridan, Thomas R. Kratochwill

Nebraska Center for Research on Children, Youth, Families, and Schools: Faculty Publications

The importance of involving parents in their children’s education has been documented consistently. Likewise, school psychology as a profession traditionally has recognized the importance of working actively and collaboratively with parents. Little conceptual or empirical work has been reported, however, that links home and school individuals systematically in collaborative problem-solving consultation. Behavioral consultation provides a useful framework for working within and between family and school systems to involve parents and teachers together in cooperative problem-solving, with a focus on the interacting systems in a child’s life. The potential advantages of having both parents and teachers serve as consultees are that …

The Jurisprudence Of Jane Eyre, Anita L. Allen

All Faculty Scholarship

No abstract provided.