Showing papers in "Journal of Marriage and Family in 1964"

The changing American grandparent.

Abstract: Each member of 70 pairs of middle-class grandparents was interviewed at length regarding relations to grandchildren, and the data were analyzed for degree of comfort in the grandparent role, significance of the role, and style with which the role is enacted. The Fun Seeker emerged as a frequent pattern, one in which the grandparent-child relationship is characterized by "fun morality." This pattern and the Distant Figure pattern, characterized by discomfort and psychological distance from the child, were more frequent in grandparents who were under 65 than in those over 65. Grandparenthood merits further study as a phenomenon of middle age and from the perspective of adult socialization.

Japan's New Middle Class

Abstract: Foreword: Looking Backward at a Book That Looked Forward William W. Kelly Part I: The Significance of Salary Chapter 1: The Problem and Its Setting Chapter 2: The Bureaucratic Setting in Perspective Chapter 3: The Gateway to Salary: Infernal Entrance Examinations Part II: The Family and Other Social Systems Chapter 4: The Consumer's \"Bright New Life\" Chapter 5: Families View Their Government Chapter 6: Community Relationships Chapter 7: Basic Values Part III: Internal Family Processes Chapter 8: The Decline of the Ie Ideal Chapter 9: The Division of Labor in the Home Chapter 10: Authority in the Family Chapter 11: Family Solidarity Chapter 12: Child-Rearing Part IV: Mamachi in Perspective Chapter 13: Order Amidst Rapid Social Change Part V: Mamachi Revisited Chapter 14: Beyond Salary Chapter 15: Beyond Success: Mamachi Thirty Years Later Afterword Ezra F. Vogel Appendix: A Report on the Field Work Selected Bibliography

The Scaling of Premarital Sexual Permissiveness

Abstract: Guttman scales for measuring premarital sexual permissiveness are presented and analyzed. The scales have been tested on national adult samples and on student samples. A difference appears in the scale order of questions for the high permissive and low permissive groups. This difference centers about the high permissive groups giving less relative support to affectionless kissing and petting behavior while giving more relative support to coital behavior. The basic 12-item scale may be broken down into several subscales for particular research problems. These scales allow one to classify respondents into various premarital sexual standards and to measure the level of sexual permissiveness.

Characteristics of Adolescents from Unbroken, Broken, and Reconstituted Families

Abstract: This study investigates the possible effects of divorce upon the behavior of adolescent children. A large sample of parents (N = 1,566) completed usable questionnaires; the sample was then divided into the independent variables of family type and social class and the dependent variables of adolescent characteristics and school social relationships. Nonsignificant differences were found for the majority of relationships tested pertaining to the' detrimental effects of divorce upon children.

Toward a Theory of Family Development

Abstract: The family development approach in sociology, though part of the literature for over 30 years, has remained chiefly at the descriptive level. It is contended that the basic reason for this lack of theoretical development has been the failure to derive a specific conceptual framework from which a theory might be formed. Following Zetterberg's model, for the development of axiomatic theory, a set of basic and derived concepts is interrelated and interdefined in such a way as to form a conceptual framework. It is maintained that the framework proposed is applicable to family systems other than the American middle-class ideal type. Specific implications of the proposed framework are outlined. The steps remaining before a theory level is reached are the operationalizing of the framework and the development and testing of specific propositions based upon it.

The Quality of Postparental Life: Definitions of the Situation

Abstract: THE life cycle of the family may be thought of as the sequence of realignments of family structure and relationships ranging from the time of marriage through the death of one or both partners. In a stable society, such a sequence remains relatively fixed. A body of cultural norms related to appropriate family organization and intra-family relationships develops. Obligations, responsibilities, and privileges appropriate to each phase of the family cycle become established, and anticipatory socialization for each phase takes place during the preceding period. When, however, the society itself is in a state of general transition rather than stability, the phasing of the family cycle may change, and discontinuities in socialization from phase to phase may occur. Thus, for example, rapid advances in medical and related areas of knowledge during the preceding half-century have been followed by sharp increases in life expectancy, resulting in an increased population of aged couples, many of whom remain healthy and active. This phenomenon, in effect a new stage of the family cycle, has received (and continues to receive) considerable attention from both medical and social science. Although certainly striking, this is not the only, and perhaps not the most radical, modification of the family cycle to occur during recent generations. This paper is concerned with an emergent phase of the family cycle referred to by Cavan as the postparental: "The postparental couple are the husband and wife, usually . . . in their forties and fifties. . .. The most obvious change

Power and Support Structure of the Family in Relation to Socialization

Abstract: Research on the factor analytic structure of small group interaction, parent-child interaction, and personality traits is reviewed and interpreted within the framework of a circumplex model. This model uses power and support as reference axes around which other patterns of interaction or of personaltiy can be meaningfully arrayed. The circumplex model provides a theoretical map which can be used to order existing data and to generate hypotheses. Examples of such ordering and of hypotheses are given. Location of socializing agents or groups in the twodimensional property space formed by the variables of power and support is a minimal essential specification of the social interactional context within which socialization takes place.

Marital Sexuality in Four Cultures of Poverty

Abstract: Patterns of marital sexuality in four countries-the United States, England, Puerto Rico, and Mexico-indicate that among the lower classes of these countries, significant similarities exist in the sentiments expressed by husbands and wives concerning sexual experience and their expectations about sexual role performances by marital partners. The generally negative attitudes toward wives' enjoyment of sexual relations in these "cultures of poverty" can be seen as an example of a more general hypothesis: In societies where there is a high degree of segregation in the role relationships of husbands and wives, the couple will tend not to develop a close sexual relationship, and the wife will not look upon sexual relations with her husband as gratifying.

Programmed Day Care for the Very Young Child. A Preliminary Report

Abstract: Since controversy continues regarding the influence of maternal deprivation on the very young child, a Center being set up at the State University of New York in Syracuse proposes to study this influence while providing quality day care for children primarily from low-income families in which the mother works. The status of research on maternal deprivation is surveyed, and the proposed Center program and research are described.

Medicine and the Family

Abstract: Points of relevance between medical and sociological images of family life are discussed with emphasis upon family interaction, genetics, and familial epidemiology. Recent findings from medical and sociological research are reviewed with reference to the family functions of (a) physical well-being and health maintenance and (b) biological reproduction. The family is discussed as a unit in medical care. The conclusion is that, whereas most families appear to be supportive and helpful in times of crises such as illness, there are occasions when effective medical treatment requires an assessment of the diagnostic, treatment, and nursing patterns of the patient and his family.

Family Therapy in the Home

Abstract: Conjoint family therapy in the home takes on some new dimensions which are not as clearly seen in the office, clinic, or hospital. The family is in its natural habitat and the therapists are the intruders. This type of therapy has crystallized some new concepts of family functioning in therapy, including the role of the absent member, the most disturbed family member, the youngest member of the family unit, the role of pets, the function of family secrets, and the role of some elements of the larger society in maintaining the family pathology.

Married Virgins. A Study of Unconsummated Marriages

Abstract: One thousand wives whose marriages had reportedly never been consummated were examined by a gynecologist for verification and for physical ability to have sexual intercourse. The subjects remaining, all virgins despite physical capability, were interviewed to discover why they had remained virgins. This paper presents the reasons given in order of prevalence and suggests that ignorance of sexual matters is a predominant factor behind these reasons. rried Virgins-A Study of consummated Marriages

An Exploratory Study of Negro-White Intermarriage in Indiana

Abstract: Ninety-five Negro-white couples who married in defiance of Indiana state law are compared with racially homogamous marriages in the state on such factors as type of ceremony, age, residence, previous marital status, and occupation. Nine intermarried couples were interviewed to explore social-psychological factors in their marriages. The findings in some ways corroborate and in some ways contradict those of previous studies.

The American Family of the Future

Abstract: Four methods for projecting the contemporary American family into the future are delineated and evaluated: (1) Extrapolation of current trends of the family, (2) making inferences from differences among three generations of contemporary family lines, (3) inferring from the alleged impacts of current inventions on the family, and (4) deriving value preferences from the writings and researches undertaken by family specialists of different periods. None of the products of these methods justifies the lugubrious picture of a disintegrating family without future functions; in fact, the findings suggest accelerated upgrading in the amenities, increasingly flexible family organization, and improved competence in planning and decision-making. A plea is made to insure this outcome through a program of family development, a progressive upgrading of families through education and service comparable to contemporary programs of urban renewal and community development.

Expectations concerning Husband-Wife Responsibilities in the Home

Abstract: A SEVENTH-GRADE boy in a co-ed home economics exploration class at the University of Wisconsin High School, Madison, Wisconsin, provided impetus for the research upon which this paper is based. The writer had just completed an introductory explanation to the boys of the reasons for including them in the course. Activities in which the class might be engaged had also been discussed. All this brought a disturbed expression to one boy's face which ended in his raising his hand and saying, "But my father never does any of that stuff." This is but one example illustrating the need for the teacher to understand the variations of role concepts in families if she is to help boys and girls to understand better their present and future responsibilities as family members.

Structural Factors Affecting Parental Aid to Married Children

Abstract: The presence of a help pattern between parents and their married children has been established. This paper seeks to determine the effects of four factors upon parental aid to married children: residential propinquity, length of the child's marriage, occupational stratum, and sex of the child. Important findings include: (1) the verification of Litwak's statement that residential distance need not inhibit the giving of financial aid and gifts; (2) the use of indirect means of financial help, such as gift-giving, by the young wife's parents; and (3) the independence of the young working-class male from his parents when he is compared with the other three sex stratum groups.

Preventive psychiatry and family planning.

Abstract: There is an interrelationship between high fertility and poverty which has relevance to the practice of preventive psychiatry. The public health approach to family planning and mental health means that individuals must have sufficient knowledge and the means necessary to control their own lives and their own fertility. 4 main areas for psychiatric research are pointed out: 1)sex education for the psychologically normal element of the community; 2)infertility fertility and fertility control and their relationship with marital and personal happiness; 3)outcomes of the lives of children who resulted from unwanted pregnancies; and 4)the relationship of social change to sexual and family planning practices.

Educability and Rehabilitation: The Future of the Welfare Class

Abstract: Socialization in early childhood of behavior leading to socio-economic and educational poverty was examined in mother-child interactions in problem-solving situations. The teaching styles, interactional modes, and attitudes toward school of Negro lower-status and ADC mothers appear to restrict the child's educability to such an extent that many lower-status children enter the first grade unable to assimilate information presented in a classroom setting. Present welfare policies supposedly designed to ameliorate this self-perpetuating deprivation threaten to institutionalize it, thus progressively creating a permanent "welfare class." To eventually eliminate the "cultural deprivation" which now characterizes a large segment of our society, measures attacking its cause, not its symptoms, must be instituted.

Family Planning and Poverty

Abstract: Research on fertility shows that in the United States many of the historic differentials are disappearing Yet there remain paradoxes one of which is that a disproportionate number of nonwhite families still remain very significantly outside the area of effective fertility control In terms of family size preferences the author reviews the literature with particular emphasis on the results of the Growth of American Families (GAF) studies that showed that American married women thought 2 to 4 children were an "ideal" size family and that nonwhites wanted a significantly smaller average number of children than whites (27-3 children vs 31-35 for whites) It remains a fact however that the actual fertility levels are higher than the stated ideals or desires The GAF data shows that 1 out of 5 couples with children have excess fertility which means the last child was unwanted by either the wife or the husband To understand this apparent discrepancy one has to consider the current state of contraceptives and their usage in the United States The author suggests that the motivation problems should also be seriously considered

Low-Income Culture: The Strengths of the Poor

Abstract: INVARIABLY when the strengths of the poor are mentioned, an immediate image springs to mind. The image is that of the "noble savage"-uninhibited, enjoying nature, unfettered by the responsibilities of middle-class life. People respond to this image in what appear to be two diametrically opposed ways, both of which are harmful to a serious understanding of the meaning and significance of the positive qualities emerging from a struggle with poverty. On the one hand are the romantic supporters of the supposedly impulse-free poor. Their view is typically contaminated by pervasive anti-middle-class sentiments and invidious class comparisons calculated to enhance the qualities of the have-nots. This admiration of the poor is rooted, not in the struggles of the disadvantaged themselves, but rather in their removal from the disreputable elements of middle-class life-whether these be inhibitions, competitiveness, disloyalty, pretentiousness, boredom, or whatever. Those who oppose this view ridicule the "positives of the poor" and can see no meaning in the concept other than the noble savage interpretation. Recognizing that the poor are not uninhibited, do experience serious strains, and want no part of poverty, this view can only hold that an emphasis on the strengths of the poor is sentimental drivel and naively antimiddle-class.

The Feminine Role: An Analysis of Attitude Consistency

Abstract: Mirra Komarovsky's discussion of the alternative sex roles provided for American college girls served as the basis for development of ordinal scales of two dimensions of the feminine sex role. These scales distinguished between girls with traditional and modern attitudes about "female personality traits" and "feminine role behavior." Among the 209 college girls studied, a positive association appeared between these two attitude dimensions. About two-thirds of the sample had consistent attitudes, being either traditional or modern on both scales. Partial elaboration analysis revealed that attitude consistency was positively related to number of college friends, dating frequency, and frequency of parental contact. Communication feedback was judged to be the interpretive link between frequency of interaction and attitude consistency about the feminine role.