Fragmented Families, Poverty, and Women's Reproductive Narratives in South Africa

Fragmented Families, Poverty, and Women's Reproductive Narratives in South Africa PDF Author: Kammila Naidoo
Publisher: Adonis & Abbey Publishers Ltd
ISBN: 1912234572
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 318

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Book Description
Fragmented Families addresses a central question in the demographic debates on poverty and fertility transition in southern Africa:. In what ways do women's recurrent encounters with poverty serve to shape their sexual unions, social relationships and reproductive practices? The book focuses on the lives of a group of mothers and daughters from fifteen families in a demarcated part of the Winterveld area in South Africa, and draws attention to historical, socio-cultural, political and economic concerns in order to place in context or make sense of reproductive dynamics and family life at the micro-level. Vignettes, drawn from fieldwork, highlight the particularities of the area: the persistence of historical tensions, diverse livelihoods and complex gender relationships. The intergenerational stories of the women suggest that they live with immense and increasing adversity and that strategies to contend with them sometimes include attempts to assert control over sexual encounters and reproductive outcomes. The book contributes to a continuing debate on how changing socio-economic conditions could influence prospects for and the nature of fertility transition in African countries. The study concurs with alternative arguments that shifts toward lower levels of fertility might be due, in certain contexts, to experiences of severe hardship rather than favourable economic circumstances. Instead of seeking security and risk-aversion through bearing many children the response of indigent women in this area has been largely to resist reproduction, at particular stages of their lives, whilst using sexual relationships and child-bearing as strategies to manipulate and secure resources. In reflecting on methodological approaches, the book draws attention to the limitations of survey research in efforts to elicit 'accurate' representations of reproductive behaviour and fertility preferences, and emphasises the usefulness of more engaged, qualitative and long-term fieldwork endeavours in building substantive insights on women's familial and reproductive lives.

Fragmented Families, Poverty, and Women's Reproductive Narratives in South Africa

Fragmented Families, Poverty, and Women's Reproductive Narratives in South Africa PDF Author: Kammila Naidoo
Publisher: Adonis & Abbey Publishers Ltd
ISBN: 1912234572
Category : Reference
Languages : en
Pages : 318

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Book Description
Fragmented Families addresses a central question in the demographic debates on poverty and fertility transition in southern Africa:. In what ways do women's recurrent encounters with poverty serve to shape their sexual unions, social relationships and reproductive practices? The book focuses on the lives of a group of mothers and daughters from fifteen families in a demarcated part of the Winterveld area in South Africa, and draws attention to historical, socio-cultural, political and economic concerns in order to place in context or make sense of reproductive dynamics and family life at the micro-level. Vignettes, drawn from fieldwork, highlight the particularities of the area: the persistence of historical tensions, diverse livelihoods and complex gender relationships. The intergenerational stories of the women suggest that they live with immense and increasing adversity and that strategies to contend with them sometimes include attempts to assert control over sexual encounters and reproductive outcomes. The book contributes to a continuing debate on how changing socio-economic conditions could influence prospects for and the nature of fertility transition in African countries. The study concurs with alternative arguments that shifts toward lower levels of fertility might be due, in certain contexts, to experiences of severe hardship rather than favourable economic circumstances. Instead of seeking security and risk-aversion through bearing many children the response of indigent women in this area has been largely to resist reproduction, at particular stages of their lives, whilst using sexual relationships and child-bearing as strategies to manipulate and secure resources. In reflecting on methodological approaches, the book draws attention to the limitations of survey research in efforts to elicit 'accurate' representations of reproductive behaviour and fertility preferences, and emphasises the usefulness of more engaged, qualitative and long-term fieldwork endeavours in building substantive insights on women's familial and reproductive lives.

Fragmented Families

Fragmented Families PDF Author: Ellen Sucov
Publisher:
ISBN: 9781933882017
Category : Family & Relationships
Languages : en
Pages : 356

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Book Description
The purpose of the book Fragmented Families is to clarify the phenomenon of estrangement between family members. The book focuses on the meanings and process of alienation, its outcomes and possible paths toward resolution. The reader is encouraged to recognize that estrangement, with all its frustration and pain, may offer new opportunities for self-understanding. The task of exploring one's family, examining its fragmented parts and clarifying one's own role as a family member is a crucial step in personal development, whether or not the effort leads to reconciliation. Fragmented Families is intended for a general readership. It will also be a relevant resource for psychologists, physicians, lawyers, social workers and clergy.

Family Fragments?

Family Fragments? PDF Author: Carol Smart
Publisher: Polity
ISBN: 9780745618944
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 232

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Book Description
This exciting new book engages with the recent resurgence of interest in the family, offering empirical material and theoretical analysis which give rise to a fresh understanding of the nature of family practices in modern societies. The past decade has seen the emergence of an orthodoxy which depicts the family as being in moral decline and 'blames' parents for the harms of divorce. Family Fragments? takes issue with this political vision and with the idea that divorce is inevitably a harmful process. Although some households are fragmenting, the authors argue that moral commitments are not simply sundered. Instead they put forward a different perspective on divorce as well as formulating principles of policy based on an ethic of care. Family Fragments? draws on a qualitative study of separating parents and examines the diverse and fluid patterns of parenthood that are negotiated and re-negotiated in the aftermath of separation. The authors show that the quality of parental relationships, both before and after separation, are vital for achieving joint parenting after divorce. They examine the moral reasoning of parents and explain how this may vary considerably with the sort of solutions imposed in a legal forum. This book has a direct bearing on current debates concerning the family and will be essential reading for those studying gender and family relations in sociology, social policy, law and social work.

From Family Collapse to America's Decline

From Family Collapse to America's Decline PDF Author: Mitchell B. Pearlstein
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1607093626
Category : Education
Languages : en
Pages : 195

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Book Description
Very high rates of family fragmentation in the United States are subtracting from what very large numbers of students are learning in school and forever holding them back in many other ways. This in turn is damaging the country economically by making us less primed for innovation while also making millions of Americans less competitive in an increasingly demanding worldwide marketplace. All of which is leading - and can only lead - to deepening class divisions in a nation which has never viewed itself or operated in such splintered ways. What can be done to reverse these severely destructive trends, starting with reducing the enormous number of children forced to grow up with only one parent living under the same roof? What educational reforms are most likely to help under such demanding circumstances? And as dangerous as the situation is, why do leaders in education and other fields persist, for both understandable and less-worthy reasons, in dancing around profoundly important questions of family breakdown to the point of contortion and ultimately failure?

Broken Bonds

Broken Bonds PDF Author: Mitch Pearlstein
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1442236647
Category : Political Science
Languages : en
Pages : 185

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Book Description
The United States has the highest family fragmentation rates in the industrial world. Nonmarital birth rates for the nation as a whole are 40%, with proportions dramatically higher in many communities as defined by race, ethnicity, or geography. Divorce rates, while moderating in recent decades, are still estimated at about 40% for first marriages and 50% for second ones. Together, this fragmentation impacts millions of children as well as adults, leading to educational, economic, and other losses that in turn lead to lower social mobility and deepening class divisions. In Broken Bonds, Mitch Pearlstein explores the declining state of the American family and what its disintegration means for our future. Based on candid interviews with forty leading family experts across the political spectrum - from Stephanie Coontz, to Heather Mac Donald - Pearlstein ruminates on the political, social, and spiritual fallout of this trend. In honest and frank conversations, Pearlstein and his interviewees fearlessly diagnose the problems that many have been too timid to explore and suggest ways to reverse these trends that threaten our social fabric.

Fragmented Intimacy

Fragmented Intimacy PDF Author: Peter J. Adams
Publisher: Springer Science & Business Media
ISBN: 0387726616
Category : Psychology
Languages : en
Pages : 342

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Book Description
Here is the first major work that examines the benefits of applying social understanding to addiction. The author demonstrates how a social perspective shifts the paradigm from viewing a person in terms of "particles" to viewing a person in terms of relationships. This reorientation creates promising new opportunities for intervention. The book discusses recent advances in theories on community capacity building, resilience, and social ecology alongside their practical applications. Written in an engaging style, the book features numerous vignettes, key points, and illustrations that help you apply the material in your own practice.

Life of Swift. Appendix: Anecdotes of the family of Swift, a fragment written by Dr. Swift

Life of Swift. Appendix: Anecdotes of the family of Swift, a fragment written by Dr. Swift PDF Author: Walter Scott
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Chivalry
Languages : en
Pages : 550

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Book Description


Ghost Forest

Ghost Forest PDF Author: Pik-Shuen Fung
Publisher: One World
ISBN: 0593230973
Category : Fiction
Languages : en
Pages : 212

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Book Description
This “powerful” (BuzzFeed) award-winning debut about love, grief, and family welcomes you into its pages and invites you to linger, staying with you long after you’ve closed its covers. “Quietly moving . . . connected by a kind of dream logic . . . deeply felt . . . There is joy and tenderness in . . . Fung’s elegant storytelling.”—The New York Times Book Review How do you grieve, if your family doesn’t talk about feelings? This is the question the unnamed protagonist of GhostForest considers after her father dies. One of the many Hong Kong “astronaut” fathers, he stays there to work, while the rest of the family immigrated to Canada before the 1997 Handover, when the British returned sovereignty over Hong Kong to China. As she revisits memories of her father through the years, she struggles with unresolved questions and misunderstandings. Turning to her mother and grandmother for answers, she discovers her own life refracted brightly in theirs. Buoyant and heartbreaking, Ghost Forest is a slim novel that envelops the reader in joy and sorrow. Fung writes with a poetic and haunting voice, layering detail and abstraction, weaving memory and oral history to paint a moving portrait of a Chinese-Canadian astronaut family. “Ghost Forest is the tender/funny book we can all appreciate after a hellish year.”—Literary Hub

Modernity, a World of Confusion: Effects

Modernity, a World of Confusion: Effects PDF Author: Jack Stanfield
Publisher: Xlibris Corporation
ISBN: 1465321845
Category : Philosophy
Languages : en
Pages : 161

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Book Description
This book examines the modern culture and its effects. These include dehumanization and degradation of people, growth of indifferent and legalistic attitudes, arbitrary justice, increased antisocial behavior, and disregard for the sacred, religious, and life itself, as our throwaway society becomes more selfish and prideful. Comfort and pleasure now trump virtue and discipline. This has produced self-centered individuals that reject traditions and who are rebelling against all authority. The culture now condones the seven deadly sins as the norm, causing a decline in the health and spirit of the nation. Technology, legislatures, and courts are progressively limiting parents ability to instill traditional values and to protect their children from predators. The media views freedom as license, and nihilism is rising. Sinuous pleasures, self-indulgence, and feelings over logical thinking are emphasized. Logic is replaced by experiential and inferential thinking that easily misleads. A brave new world is being foisted on the public that, instead of producing happy and healthy citizens, leads to anger, frustration, depression, sickness, and lost hope. A conundrum exists: wanting it all may mean that everything that is important is lost. Hope lies in recapturing our Christian roots, as 80 percent of Americans claim to believe in God. By their actions, these citizens hold the key to moderating the culture by holding firm to their belief in God, country, family, traditions, and honor. To effect change, they must, however, make Jesus love known through charity, and their voices heard in the marketplace of ideas.

In Defence of Country

In Defence of Country PDF Author: Noah Riseman
Publisher: ANU Press
ISBN: 1925022803
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 221

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Book Description
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have been protecting country since time immemorial. One way they have continued these traditions in recent times is through service in the Australian military, both overseas and within Australia. In Defence of Country presents a selection of life stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ex-servicemen and women who served in the Australian Army, Navy and Air Force after World War Two. In their own words, participants discuss a range of issues including why they joined up; racial discrimination; the Stolen Generations; leadership; discipline; family; war and peace; education and skills development; community advocacy; and their hopes for the future of Indigenous Australia. Individually and collectively, the life stories in this book highlight the many contributions that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander servicemen and women have made, and continue to make, in defence of country.