Basics of qualitative research: Grounded theory procedures and techniques

Doing Qualitative Research

Educating Children with Autism

The Spirit Level. Why Equality is Better for Everyone

What motivates grandparents to their altruism? We review answers from evolutionary theory, sociology, and economics. Sometimes in direct conflict with each other, these accounts of grandparental investment exist side-by-side, with little or no theoretical integration. They all account for some of the data, and none account for all of it. We call for a more comprehensive theoretical framework of grandparental investment that addresses its proximate and ultimate causes, and its variability due to lineage, values, norms, institutions (e.g., inheritance laws), and social welfare regimes. This framework needs to take into account that the demographic shift to low fecundity and mortality in economically developed countries has profoundly altered basic parameters of grandparental investment. We then turn to the possible impact of grandparental acts of altruism, and examine whether benefits of grandparental care in industrialized societies may manifest in terms of less tangible dimensions, such as the grandchildren's cognitive and verbal ability, mental health, and well-being. Although grandparents in industrialized societies continue to invest substantial amounts of time and money in their grandchildren, we find a paucity of studies investigating the influence that this investment has on grandchildren in low-risk family contexts. Under circumstances of duress - for example, teenage pregnancy or maternal depression - there is converging evidence that grandparents can provide support that helps to safeguard their children and grandchildren against adverse risks. We conclude by discussing the role that grandparents could play in what has been referred to as Europe's demographic suicide.

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Grandparental investment: past, present, and future.

Grandparents as childcare providers: An in-depth analysis of the case of Xiamen, China

This article presents the important, but overlooked, role that is played by grandparents in contemporary China as joint caregivers with parents in raising only children. Grounded on empirical data, collected through ethnographic and survey methods in urban China, the article identifies the ‘intergenerational parenting coalition’ as a culturally appropriate unit of analysis for understanding child rearing within the multigenerational family in China. The social forces that have given rise to the contemporary multigenerational family in China are reviewed. Qualitative analyses of four such families are used to illustrate the unique family dynamics and patterns of influence particular to the intergenerational parenting coalition.

‘Only children’ and their coalition of parents: Considering grandparents and parents as joint caregivers in urban Xiamen, China: Only children and their coalition of parents

China's One-Child Policy and Multiple Caregiving: Raising Little Suns in Xiamen

This paper examines ethnographic data collected over six months from Xiamen, China, on children as active agents in their relationships with their parents and grandparents. It explicates the useful...

Agency and Power of Single Children in Multi-Generational Families in Urban Xiamen, China:

This paper illustrates how mindfulness and reflection exercises can be integrated into the teaching and learning of active listening skills, an integral component of relationship skills training. This pedagogy was first trialled on a small cohort of 15 students and the improved version was applied with a second cohort of 53 students. Through the mindfulness and reflection exercises which were built in throughout the module, students identified the three most prominent ‘bad habits’ that hindered active listening as ‘mind wandering’, ‘multi-tasking’ while listening and ‘thinking ahead’. The mindfulness and reflection exercises appeared to bring the usually-unnoticed ‘bad habits’ into awareness so that a conscious effort could be channelled into preventing them from interfering with relationship building. This expanded awareness facilitated the strengthening of ability to observe oneself in interactions. This paper proposes a combination of exercises that expand students' awareness of their own habitual list...

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Esther C. L. Goh

Papers

Grandparents as childcare providers: An in-depth analysis of the case of Xiamen, China

‘Only children’ and their coalition of parents: Considering grandparents and parents as joint caregivers in urban Xiamen, China: Only children and their coalition of parents

China's One-Child Policy and Multiple Caregiving: Raising Little Suns in Xiamen

Agency and Power of Single Children in Multi-Generational Families in Urban Xiamen, China:

Integrating Mindfulness and Reflection in the Teaching and Learning of Listening Skills for Undergraduate Social Work Students in Singapore