L’objectif de cette recherche est d’explorer comment les solidarités familiales, en particulier autour des parents vieillissants, se concrétisent dans les familles immigrantes chinoises. Ces solidarités familiales renvoient à un double contexte dont il faut tenir compte et qui constitue la spécificité de notre objet de recherche, à savoir celui de la migration internationale d’une part et de la politique de l’enfant unique en Chine, d’autre part. La méthode qualitative est utilisée dans cette recherche. Un échantillon de 14 participants ont été recrutés et rencontrés pour des entrevues. Le statut d’être immigrant, la catégorie d’immigration, être enfant unique ou non, et le sexe sont choisis comme des critères de sélection. La grille d’entretien, de type semi-directif couvrait les thèmes suivants : la motivation à immigrer en considérant des parents âgés, l’installation à Montréal, et des pratiques de solidarité familiale dans la vie quotidienne. Le cadre théorique mobilisé est celui de la solidarité intergénérationnelle proposée par Bengtson et al.. Ce cadre distingue six dimensions dans ces solidarités, à savoir la solidarité normative, affective, consensuelle, associative, fonctionnelle et structurelle. Les résultats montrent que l’inégalité de développement entre la Chine et le Canada est le facteur le plus important qui encourage la migration entre ces deux pays, ceci au prix d’une dispersion du réseau potentiel de solidarité. La surpopulation, la relation complexe au marché du travail, et la pollution, sont tous considérés comme des « push » facteurs de la Chine qui poussent à l’émigration. Du côté du Canada, des « pull » facteurs sont l’éducation, les ouvertures du marché du travail, un bon environnement, et une politique d’immigration incitative. Les immigrants chinois recourent beaucoup aux solidarités associatives et fonctionnelles. La communication transnationale et des voyages de retour sont deux formes importantes de la solidarité associative. Néanmoins, le mode et la fréquence de communication diffèrent beaucoup d’une personne à l’autre, ce qui est révélateur des formes de solidarité normative et de solidarité affective avec des membres de famille en Chine. Quant à la solidarité fonctionnelle, elle prend la forme d’échanges financiers, de « grandparenting » et les soins donnés aux parents âgés. Néanmoins, les immigrants chinois sont souvent forcés de faire certains compromis dans la mise en œuvre des solidarités car ils sont tributaires des limites inhérentes au contexte de migration et de la politique de l’enfant unique. / This study aims to explore how family solidarity, especially pertaining to elderly parents, is materialized in Chinese immigrant families in Montreal. These solidarities are restricted to the dual-context of international migration and the one-child policy, which distinguishes this study from others. The qualitative research method is used in this study. Fourteen participants were recruited for the interviews based on criteria such as their residence status in Canada, their immigration category, their gender, and their family structure (whether have siblings or not). The semi-directed interview grid was designed with the following themes: motivation to immigrate in consideration of the need of care for elderly parents, establishment in Montreal, and daily activities of family solidarity. To design the study and to analyze the data, the intergenerational solidarity theory from Bengtson et al., which is composed of six dimensions (normative, affective, consensual, associative, functional, and structural solidarity), was used. The results show that the different level of development between China and Canada is the core-motivating factor of migration between these two countries. The over-sized population, the complicated relationship in the job market, and the high-level of pollution are considered as “push” factors that drive people to emigrate from China. As for Canada, its “pull” factors are education, relatively simple relationship in job market, good environment, and its relatively welcoming immigration policy. The results also show that Chinese immigrants depend a lot on associative and functional solidarity while enacting transnational solidarity. Transnational communication and return visits are two important dimensions of associative solidarity. However, the method and the frequency of such a communication varies from person to person, which is strongly related to normative solidarity and affective solidarity with non-migrant parents. As for functional solidarity, it is usually manifested by financial exchange, grandparenting, and elderly care. However, Chinese immigrants have to compromise somehow while enacting functional solidarity because of the limited capacity determined by the two context of this study, namely international migration and the one-child policy.

The overall aim of the thesis is to explore legislators’ perceptions of unaccompanied children in the development of migration law, and how case-officers transform the policy in arguments for and against residency in asylum-cases. More specifically, this thesis explores how Swedish legislators experienced parliamentary work when putting in place the 2005 Aliens Act and the new system for appeals and procedures. In addition, it explores legislators understanding of the concept of unaccompanied minors, and how the Swedish Migration Agency (SMA) case-officers understand unaccompanied minors’ credibility. It draws on interview data with 15 legislators of the Swedish parliament and an analysis of 916 decisions in asylum cases concerning unaccompanied minors. The thesis is theoretically informed by interpretative phenomenology and social constructionism. The method used builds on detailed coding procedures in qualitative social research as they are applied in interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA), thematic analysis and text analysis. Study 1 examines the experiences of 15 legislators when negotiating migration reform in parliament. The findings indicate that the preceding political negotiations can be one of the reasons for unclear aims when politicians’ propose new legislation. In addition, it seems that other policy areas, such as fiscal considerations and state-municipality relations, took precedence in the negotiations when the legislators were attempting to make sense of their experiences in discussing asylum policy. Study 2 explores legislators’ perceptions of unaccompanied minors arriving in Sweden. The findings show that chronological age is a key reference point concerning how legislators understand unaccompanied minors’ claims for asylum and other needs. In addition, the findings suggest that legislators perceive unaccompanied minors as an ambivalent category and that this understanding is influenced by deep-rooted welfare ideology. Furthermore, the findings indicate that legislators develop policy concerning unaccompanied children without considering that they need to be recognised as individuals with different backgrounds, agendas and needs. Study 3 scrutinises how SMA case-officers construct unaccompanied minors credibility in asylum decisions. It shows that case-officers use similar techniques both when approving and rejecting decisions. These techniques consistently question the competence and political agency of the chid in such a way that the element of individual assessment in asylum procedure can become severely restricted. In brief, this thesis identifies that the connection between migration and child policy is complex as legislators appear to struggle with “drawing the limits” of who to include or exclude in policy aims. Hence, the juridical field was seen as the answer to improve legitimation. This also means that the concept of asylum has become de-politicised. In addition, case-officers also seem to use a limited repertoire of arguments when drawing the limits for unaccompanied minors’ credibility in asylum decisions. This thesis points to possible dilemmas in asylum policy and procedure concerning unaccompanied minors. / <p>At the time of the doctoral defense, the following papers were unpublished and had a status as follows: Paper 1: Accepted. Paper 3: Manuscript.</p>

This dissertation explores the mechanisms of the increasing female crime in China from the effect of the one-child policy, which is treated herein as a natural experiment. Data reveal that the women’s share of documented crime dramatically increased after the mid-1990s when the first one-child generation reached the age of legal responsibility. This change reflects the interplay of the behavioral change and the net-widening effect. The increasing criminality of the one-child generation is attributable to the gap between the equal gender expectations of the individual, which has been reshaped by the unique socialization practices under the influence of the policy, and a stubbornly unequal gender hierarchy in the society. As a result, the one-child-generation women who disproportionately suffer the resulting strains are more likely to become involved in property and occupational crime as the alternative means to fulfill their aspirations for economic success. Additionally, the effect of the policy affects not only the individual gender roles of the only children but also their peers who have siblings through the intermediary of a culture shift. Therefore, the policy has changed the behavior of a whole new generation through the process of socialization and the lag in the structural change. The net-widening effect is another pathway of the unequal gender structure and ideologies to the increasing female crime. Moral panic associated with the emergence of diverse forms of female offenses lead to an inordinate degree of adverse attention focused upon the one-child-generation women by criminal justice professionals. The increased criminalization of sexuality brought an increasing number of the one-child-generation women into conflict with the law, usually for prostituting themselves for easy money to fulfill their material satisfaction. Consequently, the one-child-generation female offenders are perceived as “doubly deviant” from the law and from the socially prescribed ideology of gender and are, therefore, punished more harshly than before by the criminal justice system. This dissertation not only explores an understudied country in criminological research but also seeks to apply the findings to a broad sphere to explain the increasing female crime that has been observed worldwide. It disentangles the theoretical controversy in explaining the increase in the share of crime committed by women in general by embedding the argument in a multidimensional gender role repertoire.

中國是世界上人口最多的國家，公元2000年已達12.6億人，占全球的五分之一強，因此，中國的人口政策及其成敗受到全球普遍的關注。其人口政策50餘年來的發展，呈現著左右搖擺的反覆現象。 　　1971年~1998年實施計劃生育政策期間，人口效益共計少生了3.38億人；經濟效益則為國家和家庭節省了7.4萬億元；社會效益有：1.減緩社會的就業壓力；2.促進教育事業的發展；3.改善健康狀況；4.提高婦女地位，以及其他的資源效益和環境效益等等。 　　計劃生育的負面效應則有：1.「四．二．一」綜合症；2.人口高齡化；3.獨生子女教養問題；4.性別比失調；5.人口素質逆淘汰；6.徵兵困難；7.體壇後繼乏人；8.幹部與群眾之間矛盾日益尖銳。 　　對大陸未來人口政策可能走向的研析： 　　甲案為：全大陸普遍允許雙方為獨生子女的夫婦可以生育二孩，此方案影響最小。城鎮夫婦雙方為獨生子女的概率將從目前不到1％升至2020 年的40％，農村則一直為1％。據預測，2010年總人口為13.8億，2040年達到峰值15.5 億後進入負增長，2050年減至15.2億。 　　乙案為：全大陸城鄉只要一方是獨生子女的夫婦（包括雙方都是獨生子女）可以生育二孩。此方案影響較大，據估計，城鎮夫婦中一方為獨生子女從2000年的15％增至2020年的87％，農村則從1％增加到19％。2010年總人口為13.88億，峰值在2045年將接近15.9億。 　　丙為折衷方案，即在城鎮允許雙方是獨生子女的夫婦、在農村允許一方是獨生子女的夫婦可以生二孩，影響介於甲乙案。即2010年為13.77~13.88億，峰值在2040~2045年約為15.5~15.9億然後進入負增長。 / Presently, China is the most populated country in the world. Its population has reached 1.26 billion in 2000-more than one fifth of the worldwide population. As a result, the outcome of China’s population policy has become an issue of global concern. However, China has been swung back and forth on its "birth control" policy in the past fifty years. 　　During 1971~1998, when Chinese government enforced the "one child" policy, the birth rate has effectively reduced the population growth by 338 million, and a saving of a total of $74 zillion dollars for the government and the people. The society also benefits on: (1.) less pressure and competition on the employment ; (2.) more educational resources for the people ; (3.) more improvement on health condition ; ( 4.) a promotion of social status for women ; (5.) better distribution of other resource and preservation of the environment. 　　The downsides from the practice of the "one child" policy are: (1.) a syndrome from the [4-2-1] family structure ; (2.) aging of the population; (3.) difficulty in discipline the single child of the family; (4.) inappropriate gender ratio ; (5.) reverse selection of population quality ; (6.) difficulty in military draft ; (7) inferior outplays in athletic performance ; (8) confliction between birth control administration officers and the general public. 　　Based on the research, three population policies China may adapt in the future. To be qualified to have two children, 　　A) For families in both villages and cities, allow parent who were both from single child families to have a second child. However, this scheme has the least impact with a predict population of 1.38 billion in 2010. In the long term, the low rate of birth will create a peak population of 1.55 billion followed by a negative population growth after 2040. 　　B) For families in both villages and cities, parents who were either or both from single child family are allowed to have a second child. However, this scheme has most impact with a predict population of 1.388 billion in 2010. In the long term, the low rate of birth will create a peak population of 1.59 billion followed by a negative population growth after 2045. 　　C) For families in cities, parents who were both from single child families, and for families in villages, parents who are either or both from single child family, are allowed to have a second child. However, this scheme has the mediate impact with a predict population of 1.377~1.388 billion in 2010. In the long term, the low rate of birth will create a peak population of 1.55~1.59 billion followed by a negative population growth after 2040~2045.

No description available.

This study explores the one-child policy as viewed by the present generation of single daughters who grew up in urban China, and the extent to which this policy has affected their family values. Through snowball sampling methods, semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 12 unmarried only-child daughters from urban China now studying in Victoria and Vancouver. For purposes of comparison, 11 unmarried only-child daughters of the same generation were also interviewed in Hong Kong during the same time period. The findings revealed that some only-child daughters from urban China experienced low dissemination and enforcement of the one-child policy and expressed noncompliance and dissatisfaction towards the policy. A comparison between the China and Hong Kong samples indicates that the one-child policy has limited effect on the family values of the only-child daughters in urban China. By exploring the concept of governmentality, the demographic transition theory, and the concept of resistance, this thesis aims to address the dynamics between action of state power and the reaction of only-child daughters from urban China born under the one-child policy.

This study explores the one-child policy as viewed by the present generation of single daughters who grew up in urban China, and the extent to which this policy has affected their family values. Through snowball sampling methods, semi-structured in-depth interviews were conducted with 12 unmarried only-child daughters from urban China now studying in Victoria and Vancouver. For purposes of comparison, 11 unmarried only-child daughters of the same generation were also interviewed in Hong Kong during the same time period. The findings revealed that some only-child daughters from urban China experienced low dissemination and enforcement of the one-child policy and expressed noncompliance and dissatisfaction towards the policy. A comparison between the China and Hong Kong samples indicates that the one-child policy has limited effect on the family values of the only-child daughters in urban China. By exploring the concept of governmentality, the demographic transition theory, and the concept of resistance, this thesis aims to address the dynamics between action of state power and the reaction of only-child daughters from urban China born under the one-child policy.

Apart from rapid economic growth, China has also experienced significant demographic changes over the past few decades. The People's Republic of China's family planning policies led to a sharp drop in the fertility rate. This MS Thesis aims to assess the possible consequences of the family planning policies on future growth of Chinese economy. The theoretical part defines population policy, assess the connections between population growth and economic growth and deals with the development of population theory over the years. The analytical part describes the family planning policy in China, its principles and instruments. Next it identifies the possible consequences of the demographic changes caused by the drop in fertility rate. The last part of the thesis focuses on two economically most severe consequences - population ageing and shrinking working age population - and evaluates its implications on future growth of Chinese economy.