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SPRING 1993 - VOLUME XXIV, NUMBER 1

93.14.01 - English - Gay YOUNG, Department of Sociology, The American University, Washington, DC 20016 (U.S.A.)

Gender Inequality and Industrial Development: The Household Connection (p. 1-20)

Earlier research suggests that, based on generation and gender, significant conflicts of materials interests exist in households and that domestic work, informal sector work, wage work, and female subordination intersect at the household level. In light of such analysis, this study presents propositions about (1) how households in industrializing areas allocate the labor of their female members, (2) and the consequences of the nature of the work women perform for their bargaining power in the household. The ideas developed here have relevance in situations in which export-led economic developmet is also female-led, such as Mexico's northern border region or the export processing zones of the newly industrializing countries (NlCs) of Asia. Export assembly as a development strategy has the potential to make problematical both the division of labor by gender and patriarchal expectations about women. However, a focus on the household reveals some of the complexities comprised by this general tendency and offers a more nuanced understanding of the relation between gender and industrialization. (INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT, SEX DISCRIMINATION, FEMALE EMPLOYMENT, HOUSEHOLD)

93.14.02 - English - Susan DE VOS, Center for Demography and Ecology, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706-1393 (U.S.A.)

Is There a Socio-economic Dimension to Household Extension in Latin America? (p. 21-34)

This paper investigates whether urban/rural residence or husband's occupation is related to household extension in six Latin American countries in the middle 1970s. Since urban households were more likely to be extended than rural households among the less well educated, the urban/rural differences appeared more consistent with a world-system perspective than with a "modernization" view. It is important to note, however, that the existence of a difference was not universal, being absent in Mexico and Peru. Also, husband's occupation was only important among the urban dwellers of three of the six countries, perhaps suggesting that a sizable urban/industrial economy must exist for there to be a relationship. The paper ends by noting a number of study limitations which could be addressed in future research. (LATIN AMERICA, COMPOSITE HOUSEHOLD, SOCIO-ECONOMIC DIFFERENTIALS)

93.14.03 - English - Xiaowei ZANG, Department of Sociology, University of California, Berkeley, CA 94720 (U.S.A.)

Household Structure and Marriage in Urban China: 1900-1982 (p. 35-44)

Most current China experts either advocate or accept the notion that the significant shift from a joint to a conjugal family structure occurred after the 1949 Communist takeover. Using a representative sample of 5,057 ever-marricd women in China's five cities, the author found that the conjugal relationship developed to a significant degree in urban China at least since the 1930s. The 1949 Communist takeover is not a watershed year for the changeover from traditional marriages and joint families to modern volitional marriages and nuclear families in urban China. The pre-1949 Chinese family revolution may be viewed as a case of a worldwide evolutionary process of family modernization. (CHINA, HISTORY, HOUSEHOLD COMPOSITION, TYPES OF MARRIAGE)

93.14.04 - English - Charles HOBART, Department of Sociology, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2H4 (Canada)

Interest in Marriage among Canadian Students at the End of the 80s (p. 45-62)

This paper reports on changes in attitudes toward marriage between 1968 and 1988, and correlations between "promarriage attitudes" and attitudes toward cohabitation, husband parenting, wife parenting and number of children, for young male and female Anglophone and Francophone respondents. The analysis shows that promarriage attitudes are more strongly reflective of interest in the spousal relationship than in the parenting opportunity, particularly among Francophone men. Regression analysis is used to identify predictors of promarriage scores. Wide differences were found in the patterns of predictors of promarriage score for the male and female, Anglophone and Francophone respondents. These patterns suggest that Francophone females were the least responsive to traditional promarriage influences. (CANADA, ATTITUDE, MARRIAGE, INFLUENCE)

93.14.05 - English - Vanaja DHRUVARAJAN, Department of Sociology, University of Winnipeg, Winnipeg, Manitoba K3B 2E9 (Canada)

Ethnic Cultural Retention and Transmission among First Generation Hindu Asian Indians in a Canadian Prairie City (p. 63-80)

Data for this study were collected using a questionnaire method in Winnipeg in 1986 and analyzed using multiple regression technique. The findings are as follows: among first generation male and female Asian Indian immigrants, those who rank high on religiosity are more likely to retain and transmit both normative and behavioural aspects of ethnic culture; in addition, those who rank low on occupational and educational hierarchy are more likely to promote some normative and behavioural aspects of ethnic culture while those in Canada for a shorter time tend to adhere to some behavioural aspects of ethnic culture. (CANADA, INDIA, IMMIGRANTS, CULTURE)

93.14.06 - English - Qais N. AL-NOURI, Department of Sociology, University of Baghdad, Mansoor, Baghdad (Iraq)

Iraqi Rural Women's Participation in Domestic Decision-making (p. 81-98)

This paper proposes to focus on the area of domestic decision-making which is believed to reveal some of the salient shifts encountered in the Iraqi rural family. Notwithstanding the vast array of problems to be anticipated here, the author suggests to confine my inquiry to the contextual processes and trends re-defining and re-organizing feminist autonomy. In particular, his endeavour will be guided by three main considerations involving: (1) Iraqi women's rising influence on structural checks and balances. (2) The normative implications associated with feminist expanding roles. (3) The communicative and behavioural adjustments discernible in male-female interaction. We may correctly assume that the processes affecting women's social life entail definite equilibrium of old and new forces. Moreover, the consequent compromise between spouses has been facilitated by mutual cognizance of the new realities. In many cases, women are expected to contribute to their family welfare through their gainful jobs. This trend is gaining momentum in view of the rapidly increasing costs of living. Urbanization in this specific context has cancelled many of the conditions exempting women from the task of family support. The emerging situation is largely dominated by spouses' growing sense of realism. Viewed in this perspective, decision-making seems quite promising to unravel some of the vague complexities confronted in Iraqi urbanization. (IRAQ, URBANIZATION, MARITAL ROLES, WOMEN'S STATUS)

93.14.07 - English - Patrick C. McKENRY, Department of Family Relations and Human Development, The Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center and Black Studies, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio 43210 (U.S.A.), and Mark A. FINE, Department of Psychology, University of Dayton, Dayton, Ohio 45469 (U.S.A.)

Parenting Following Divorce: A Comparison of Black and White Single Mothers (p. 99-112)

Data from the National Survey of Families and Households were analyzed to determine differences in parenting between black and white single mothers following divorce. Based on a cultural-ecological model and related literature, five parenting dimensions were assessed. ANCOVA and MANCOVA, controlling for SES and time since divorce, indicated that black single mothers had higher expectations for their children and were more likely to report that their children had a higher quality of life than did the white mothers. No racial differences were found in parenting behaviors, parenting involvement, or satisfaction with the parenting role. (UNITED STATES, CHILD REARING, ONE-PARENT FAMILY, RACES)

93.14.08 - English - Yaw OHENEBA-SAKYI, Department of Sociology, State University of New York, Potsdam College, Potsdam, NY 13676-2294 (U.S.A.), and Tim B. HEATON, Department of Sociology, Brigham Young University, Provo, Utah 84602 (U.S.A.)

Effects of Socio-demographic Variables on Birth Intervals in Ghana (p. 113-136)

Using data from the Ghana Fertility Survey (GFS) of 1979-80, this study examined the effects of socio-demographic variables on birth intervals in Ghana. The most important factors associated with longer birth intervals are infant/child mortality, formal education, involvement in professional occupation, being non-Catholic, non Moslem, being Akan or Mole-Dagbani, involvement in polygyny and residence in the Greater Accra region. However, the evidence does not show a consistent pattern of delayed births in most recent cohorts when the other background factors are taken into account. Overall, the impact of most of our variables on birth spacing is small. Thus, in spite of what appears to be modest attempts by subgroups of women to change their childbearing practices, the evidence shows that there has been no sustained decline in fertility in Ghana. (GHANA, FERTILITY DETERMINANTS, BIRTH INTERVALS)

SUMMER 1993 - VOLUME XXIV, NUMBER 2

93.14.09 - English - Carol B. STACK, Graduate School of Education and Women's Studies, University of California, Berkeley, California 94720 (U.S.A.), and Linda M. BURTON, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania 16802 (U.S.A.)

Kinscripts (p. 157-170)

This paper introduces kinscripts, a framework for exploring how families as multigeneration collectives, and individuals embedded within them, negotiate the life course. Kinscripts comprises three closely-woven, culturally-defined family domains: kin-work, kin-time, and kin-scription. Kin-work is the tasks that families need to accomplish to survive over time. Kin-time directs the temporal scheduling of family transitions. Kin-scription is the active recruitment and conscription of family members to take on kin-work. The kin-scripts framework emerged from ethnographic studies of multigeneration low-income black families in the United States. We argue, however, that the framework is relevant to the study of the life course of mainstream families as well. (FAMILY COMPOSITION, FAMILY LIFE, MODELS)

93.14.10 - English - Linda A. AIRSMAN, Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Social-Welfare, Metropolitan State College of Denver, Campus Box-28, Denver, Colorado 80217-3362 (U.S.A.), and Bam Dev SHARDA, Department of Sociology, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, Utah 84112 (U.S.A.)

A Comparative Study of the Occupational Attainment Processes of White Men and Women in the United States: The Effects of Having Ever Married, Spousal Education, Children, and Having Ever Divorced (p. 171-188)

The vast majority of occupational attainment studies have not adequately addressed the effects of marriage and spouses on the occupational attainment process. When spousal influence is taken into account, social scientists tend to take a one-sided approach in focusing on the effects of husbands' achievements on the occupational attainments of women. The extent to which wives mediate men's occupational outcomes is rarely the subject of inquiry. This study addresses the single sided approach by comparing the effects of having ever married, spousal educational attainment, number of children, and having ever divorced on the occupational advancements of men and women. A United States national sample of 3,375 white men and 2,612 white women between the ages of 20 and 64 was derived from the Panel Study of Income Dynamics. (UNITED STATES, WHITES, OCCUPATIONS, SEX DIFFERENTIALS)

93.14.11 - English - Victor FLORIAN, Department of Psychology and School of Social Work, Mario MIKULINCER and Aron WELLER, Department of Psychology, Bar Ilan University, Ramat Gan (Israel)

Does Culture Affect Perceived Family Dynamics? A Comparison of Arab and Jewish Adolescents in Israel (p. 189-202)

Four major cultural dimensions enhance (Triandis, 1990) were utilized to enhance the understanding of cross-cultural differences in perceived family dynamics. Since Israeli Arabs and Jews differ on all these dimensions, different patterns of perceived family dynamics were hypothesized. 880 11th-grade high school students completed Olson et al.'s (1982) FACES II questionnaire and provided demographic data. The results show that Israeli Jewish adolescents of Western origin reported the lowest levels of family cohesion, compared to Israeli Jewish youths of Middle Eastern origin, and to Israeli Arab Moslem, Christian and Druze adolescents. This pattern was significant among the boys but not among the girls. Israeli Arab Moslems reported the lowest levels of family adaptability, compared to all the other four groups, without gender differences. The results are discussed within the multidimensional framework of cross cultural analysis. (ISRAEL, FAMILY STABILITY, CULTURE, ETHNIC GROUPS, ADOLESCENTS)

93.14.12 - English - Richard E. BALL, Department of Social Sciences, Ferris State University, Big Rapids, Michigan 49307 (U.S.A.)

Children and Marital Happiness of Black Americans (p. 203-218)

Using General Social Survey data for the United States for the period 1980-86, this research reports on the relationship between children and marital happiness for African Arnerican husbands and wives. Having minor children at home is significantly related to their parents' marital happiness, although the relationship is complex, involving sex of parent, ages of the children, and their numbers. Husbands are happiest with their marriages with preschool or teenage children. Wives are happiest with few or no minor children, or with preschool children. A number of other variables also are investigated for their relationship to marital happiness for these black husbands and wives, all of whom reside with their spouses. (UNITED STATES, BLACKS, MINORS, SATISFACTION, FAMILY WELFARE)

93.14.13 - English - Anastasia J. GAGE-BRANDON, The Population Council, One Dag Hammarskjold Plaza, New York, NY 10017 (U.S.A.)

The Formation and Stability of Informal Unions in Côte d'Ivoire (p. 219-234)

Using data from the Côte d'lvoire Fertility Survey of 1980/81, this study investigates the formation and stability of informal first unions among reproductive age women who first married under age 25 and from 1957 to 1976. The results indicate that education, urbanization, recent union cohort, Christianity and ethnicity are significant predictors of the likelihood of entering consensual unions. Consensual unions are more likely to be transformed into formal unions by the payment of bridewealth or by a civil or religious ceremony than to be voluntarily dissolved. Nevertheless, they are twice as unstable as formal unions after controlling for other factors. This effect is short-term and is restricted to the first six years of cohabitation. Regardless of the uncertainty of their social position as future legal marriage partners, over 70% of women in informal unions had borne at least one child within the union. (COTE D'IVOIRE, CONSENSUAL UNION, FAMILY STABILITY)

93.14.14 - English - Michael C. THORNTON, Department of Afro-American Studies, University of Wisconsin-Madison, 4218 Humanities Building, Madison, Wisconsin 53706 (U.S.A.), Shelley I. WHITE-MEANS, Department of Economics, Memphis State University, Memphis, Tennessee 38152 (U.S.A.), and Hye Kyong CHOI, Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York 14853 (U.S.A.)

Sociodemographic Correlates of the Size and Composition of Informal Caregiver Networks among Frail Ethnic Elderly (p. 235-250)

The present study focused on the size and composition of informal caregiver networks among four ethnic groups in the United States. Social and demographic correlates of network patterns were examined using data from the 1982 National Long Term Care Survey. Multivariate analysis of 737 ethnic respondents revealed no significant size differences between Afro-American, and English-, Irish- and German-American networks. However, Afro-American elderly were more likely than their white ethnic counterparts to receive help outside of the immediate family. Furthermore, among the various groups, income, marital status, region, living with the caregiver and physical limitations are differentially related to size; marital status, sex, living arrangements and activity limitations are related to composition. We conclude that both cultural and structural factors explain the variations found among ethnic groups in patterns of support. (UNITED STATES, ETHNIC GROUPS, HEALTH, AGED)

FALL 1993 - VOLUME XXIV, NUMBER 3

93.14.15 - English - Li ZONG, Department of Sociology, University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 0W0 (Canada)

Agricultural Reform and its Impact on Chinese Rural Families, 1978-1989 (p. 277-290)

This paper analyzes changes in the Chinese rural family since the agricultural reform of 1978, with respect to production relations, income distribution, marriage, and occupational pattern. It is argued that although the agricultural reform has improved the rural economy and the living standard of rural families, it has also produced economic disparities among rural families. The emphasis on economic incentives and the reliance on market forces have resulted in a restructuring of the rural labour force and rural family relationships. There are indications of patriarchal values being strengthened, feudal practices of mercenary marriages being reinstated, and fertility policy being disregarded. (CHINA, AGRARIAN REFORM, FAMILY, LIVING CONDITIONS)

93.14.16 - English - Jock COLLINS, School of Finance and Economics, University of Technology, P.O. Box 123 Broadway, Sydney, NSW 2007 (Australia)

Immigrant Families in Australia (p. 291-314)

Australia has relatively more immigrant families, of greater ethnic diversity, than most western societies. In order to understand the diversity of experiences of immigrant families in Australia it is necessary to reject simplistic "culturalist" explanations in favour of a political economy approach. The immigrant family in Australia is viewed as a social construct emerging in different ways at different times in response to changing structural, political, economic, cultural and ideological conditions at a national and international level. The dynamic intersection of ethnicity, class, gender, state practices and the racialisation of immigrant labour in Australia are the keys to understanding immigrant familles in Australia. (AUSTRALIA, IMMIGRANTS, FAMILY)

93.14.17 - English - Vic SATZEWICH, Department of Sociology, University of Lethbridge, Lethbridge, Alberta T1K 3M4 (Canada)

Migrant and Immigrant Families in Canada: State Coercion and Legal Control in the Formation of Ethnic Families (p. 315-338)

The central question addressed in this paper is how are immigrant families formed in Canada? This paper suggests that the 'immigrant family' is not a fixed, unchanging and primordial attribute of ethnic culture. The forms that foreign-born families have taken in Canada reflect a complex intersection of subjective intentions of migrant groups and structural constraints stemming from the labour market, immigration policy and racism. The state, through its role in regulating the manner in which the boundaries of the nation are to be breached, plays a fundamental role not only in selecting certain groups of immigrants but also in constituting certain forms of familial relationships. (CANADA, INTERNATIONAL MIGRATION)

93.14.18 - English - G.S. BASRAN, Department of Sociology, University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 0W0 (Canada)

Indo-Canada Families Historical Constraints and Contemporary Contradictions (p. 339-352)

Immigrants from India arrived in Canada circa 1900. About 95% of early immigrants came from the Punjab State of India and were of the Sikh religion. Their entry into Canada, as well as their stay in Canada, were controlled by various immigration policies and social, economic, and political constraints. This paper examines historical conditions, structural constraints, and the Canadian immigration policies which shaped the Indo-Canadian families in Canada. The main role of the family is to produce and reproduce labour for the capitalist system. The family is also the place where individuals are socialized, protected, and supported as they adapt to external constraints. The main focus of the paper is to understand the structure, function, and contradictions in the institution of the family in regard to historical conditions and contemporary social, political, and economic forces. (CANADA, IMMIGRANTS, FAMILY, HISTORY)

93.14.19 - English - Arthur SONG, Department of Oriental Studies, University of Durban-Westville, Durban (South Africa)

The South African Chinese Family (p. 353-366)

Chinese immigrants to South Africa had to adapt to changing circumstances to the extent that their offspring have inherited a culturo-identity problem. They have to determine whether they are Chinese who are clinging to their ethnic culture while simultaneously absorbing the host culture, or whether they are neglecting their own culture and substituting it with Western values? The former stresses the pluralist perspective while the latter indicates an assimilationist bias. This paper argues that factors other than pluralism and assimilationism need to be considered in examining the family types which developed in the South African Chinese community. Examples of specific racist laws and their influences on the development of the normal conjugal family will be examined. This paper also shows that the neo-Confucian model of the extended family does not exist in South Africa and that family-orientated values may have been assimilated by the South African Chinese from other than Confucian sources. (SOUTH AFRICA, CHINA, IMMIGRANTS, FAMILY)

93.14.20 - English - Peter S. LI, Department of Sociology, University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 0W0 (Canada)

Labour Reproduction and the Family under Advanced Capitalism: Female Labour Force Participation and Fertility in 20th-century Canada (p. 367-386)

This paper argues that the expansion of corporate capitalism since the turn of the century and the corresponding proliferation of the wage labour market have transformed the way the family reproduces labour, and created contradictions for the family with respect to the problem of labour maintenance and labour renewal. As corporate capitalism expands, an increasing segment of domestic female labour is being converted into wage labour, and along with it, the rising dependency of the family oil the wage economy. In this process, the family finds it necessary to increase its capacity to earn wages as a means to maintain the labour power of its members on a daily basis; in so doing, the process of labour maintenance becomes contradictory to that of labour renewal since the two compete on the same financial resources and since the continuation of wage labour relationship does not rely on generational labour renewal. The strategies followed by Canadian families in expanding on the earning capacity and reducing fertility and family size may be seen as adaptive mechanisms in response to the contradictions created by the wage economy. (CANADA, CAPITALISM)

93.14.21 - English - Harley D. DICKINSON, Department of Sociology, University of Saskatchewan Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 0W0 (Canada)

Scientific Parenthood: The Mental Hygiene Movement and the Reform of Canadian Families, 1925-1950 (p. 387-402)

Using both published and unpublished archival material this paper examines attempts of the scientific child study and parent education branches of the mental hygiene movement to influence child training practices in Canada throughout the inter-War period. Using Habermas's concepts of the rationalization and colonization of the lifeworld it is concluded that the reform of families advocated had both oppressive and progressive consequences for individuals. This conclusion leads to the rejection of both one-sided celebrationist and social control interpretations as adequate conceptual frameworks for analysing the mental hygiene attempt to scientize child rearing knowledge and practices. (CANADA, CHILD REARING, SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY)

93.14.22 - English - Dawn H. CURRIE, Department of Anthropology and Sociology, University of Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z3 (Canada)

"Here Comes the Bridge": The Making of a "Modern Traditional" Wedding in Western Culture (p. 403-421)

Against the trend of increasing divorce rates and the acceptability of alternatives to established family formations, Canadians continue to marry and to remarry. Given the apparent success of feminism over the past few decades and a rise in consciousness about gender equality, researchers are perplexed over the persistence of traditional family practices. This paper explores one component of these practices: the traditional white wedding. Through interviews with a small nonrandom sample of 13 brides and grooms, the author explores why traditional wedding ceremonies remain popular, and examines the role which they play in reproducing patriarchal marital relations. In this study she contrasts the symbolism of getting married to the practice of wedding planning. In doing so, she highlights weddings as primarily women's work, occurring through consumption. Explaining how weddings assume this specific form, the author explores the importance of mass culture, perpetuated in part by bridal magazines. Ironically, although weddings entail up to a year of planning and preparatory work, the transient nature of celebrations helps to make weddings appealing. As one day of indulgence, weddings did not require participants to feel that they were compromising their expectations for egalitarian marital relations, despite the fact the work of making weddings happen was based on an unequal division of labour. (WEDDING, TRADITION, MARITAL ROLES)

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