Thesis (M.A.) in Liberal Studies--University of Maine, 2002. / Includes vita.

The purpose of this study was to develop a framework in which the effect of divorce in late life could be examined. Statistics indicate a growing number of persons who occupy the divorce status in late life. Many of these persons enter late life in the divorced status, others are divorced after age 60. This study focuses upon those who divorce after age 60. Although previous work does not shed much light upon late life divorce, it yields a clear picture of the characteristics, process and consequences of divorce for younger persons. Assumptions derived from work with younger divorcing populations provide a basis for the conceptual framework used in this study. A description of who gets divorced, causes, process and consequences of divorce in late life is provided. A model which predicts post divorce adjustment also is tested. Findings affirm similarities between younger and older divorcing persons. Persons divorcing in late life generally were urban residing, had low occupational status, few assets, weak religious and kinship ties. Generally, in this study divorce resulted from a long-standing lack of emotional gratification aggravated by some type of precipitating event. Few subjects perceived themselves to be victims of the divorce; most had ambivalent feelings about getting divorced and mixed experiences during the divorce. The legal, economic, social and psychological consequences are greater for those who resisted the divorce. Those subjects also were less successful in resolving problems and exhibited higher levels of stress subsequent to the divorce. A curvilinear relationship between age and post divorce adjustment was found. Those in mid life (45-65) were affected more adversely than those in later life. Sex, consequences and type of divorce experienced accounted for 49 per cent of the differences found in post divorce adjustment. Overall, the data suggest that: (1) females have more negative divorce experiences and suffer greater negative consequences than do males; (2) managed conflict is an important part of successful adjustment; and (3) society does not recognize the complications presented by late life divorce.

Over the years there has been interest in the living arrangements of Americans and the factors which influence those arrangements. Researchers have considered the growth of families headed by women, household consisting of single individuals, and those composed of unrelated individuals. One area, however, on which little attention has been focused is the presence of extended family living, characterized by the subfamily. The aim of this dissertation is to establish if subfamilies are a random or systematic phenomenon, and to identify the factors responsible for the variations in its occurrences within and across U.S. metropolitan areas. A causal model which accounts for the systematic variations in the presence of the subfamily was developed and tested on the metropolitan and census tract levels. The technique of path analysis was employed and analysis was performed on two geographical levels (SMSA and census tract) using the 1980 census data to ascertain if conclusions were consistent at different levels of data aggregation. The variables employed in the analysis were grouped in four major categories--demographic, sociocultural, economic and housing characteristics. A major finding of this study is that the subfamily is systematically predicted by demographic, sociocultural and economic characteristics and not by the housing variables. It suggests that subfamily will exist regardless of the housing conditions. There were some differences and similarities in the results of the two geographical levels, but overall, the findings indicate that variations of subfamilies is consistent between the two aggregate levels. The model developed held fairly well as predicted except for the housing variables. The research findings suggest that subfamily may be both a voluntary and involuntary phenomenon. Given this, a number of questions were raised that must be addressed in determining whether subfamily living is a symptom of a major social problem or if it is an acceptable alternative family structure for some families in contemporary society. It might even represent both possibilities simultaneously. These questions cannot be addressed with the type of data used in this study. Future research should be directed toward addressing them. If subfamily living is determined to be a problem, future research should help planners and policy makers formulate and implement programs that will alleviate the negative consequences of subfamily life.

Thesis (Ph.D.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Sloan School of Management, 2000. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 271-288). / This dissertation addresses the problems and synergies of integrating paid work with other meaningful parts of life, and avoiding pernicious choices between work and family. To do so, I examine the very structure of work organization for professional and technical employees in small and medium-sized companies in a new, knowledge-based sector of the US economy. The research questions are: What dynamics at work, related to time, boundaries, and control of schedules and work process, influence satisfaction at work and home, commitment to the work organization, well-being and gender equity? Under what conditions are supportive "work-family" practices by firms, as experienced in a day-to-day context, associated with positive outcomes at home and work? The dissertation builds on relevant aspects of industrial relations, human resources, and work process research, and scholarship concerning families, gender, and work-family boundaries. Work scholarship is incomplete without a lens that incorporates the holistic lives and concerns of the people doing the work, and family scholarship is incomplete without serious consideration of the work structures that shape family schedules, resources, conflicts, and availability for caregiving. This dissertation uses both qualitative data from 80 interviews to get an in-depth picture of respondents' lives, and a broader quantitative analysis based on an original survey with 463 professional scientists and managers. These were gathered from biopharmaceutical employees in Massachusetts during 1996-99. From the interviews I find that flexibility at work, support at home, and control at work are the key factors that contribute to satisfaction outcomes given similar levels of demands. But these are not distributed evenly by gender, company, or level of job. The survey data show that it is not only the presence of workplace policies on work-family, but the employee's day-to-day experience of whether she is free to use the policies, that contributes to positive outcomes. I introduce a concept o "perceived usability" and use multivariate regression analysis to show it is linked to control of time, pace, and place of work, to organizational commitment and "integrated satisfaction." I find that gender is the strongest stress predictor in this sample. I find that biotechnology offers unusual opportunities for gender equity at work, but a combination of traditional managerial attitudes and inequity at home erects barriers to realizing this potential. In conclusion, I argue that we cannot effectively understand organizational life and work design without considering mutually interactive effects of home and family concerns. / by Susan Catherine Eaton. / Ph.D.

The vast majority of housing in the United States today has been created to conform to a family definition that does not match current demographic realities. The "traditional family" - a married couple with an employed husband, a homemaker wife, and several children has been the model family that housing designers have strived to accommodate on a grand scale since at least the mid-1940's. This type of family, however, comprises only 10% of all American families; the remaining 90%, despite being a majority, have had their housing needs ignored. One family group often considered to be non-traditional and often left out of housing considerations is the single parent family. This family type is an established household form in the United States; currently nearly one third of all American families are single parent families, most of which are headed by women. During the past few years housing projects have begun to appear that are designed to house "non-traditional families" such as single parent families. It has been generally assumed that the spatial needs of single parent families are different from those of nuclear families or the "traditional family". This research will focus on the analysis of housing as designed for single parent families in comparison to housing as designed for the American nuclear family. Floor plans of the two housing types were obtained from the following cities: Denver, CO, Hayward, CA, Providence, RI, and Minneapolis, MN. The intent of this study is to examine what, if any, differences occur in the spatial orientation of housing designed for single parent families and housing designed for the nuclear family: the single family detached home. The study examined room layout in relation to use and commonly accepted social function. Two methods of analysis were employed: gamma analysis as developed by Hillier and Hanson and annotated analysis developed specifically for this research. The method of gamma analysis was used to determine if the housing as designed for the two family types is different in form and social function, while the annotated analysis was used to measure the "fit" of the housing for each of the family types. It was originally expected that the single parent family dwellings would exhibit a higher degree of integration than the single family detached homes based on predictions gleaned form the literature. However, the gamma analysis revealed a lower mean relative asymmetry value for the single family detached houses (0.308), indicating a higher degree of integration, than the mean relative asymmetry value for the single parent family dwellings (0.368). This difference was not found to be significant (p = 0.276). The annotated analysis results indicated single family detached houses scored a better fit to their intended family type (mean annotated analysis score = 0.638) than did the single parent family dwellings to their intended family type (mean annotated analysis score = 0.533). Again, this difference was not found to be significant (p = 0.385). The findings of this study provide a glimpse at the interior spatial arrangements of housing as designed for the two family types in question. While the results of the two analysis methods seems to indicate that the interior spatial arrangement of housing is not meeting the needs of either family type, more research should be conducted to further substantiate the findings. These findings will be of interest to designers of homes, housing developers, planners and policy makers, and researchers in the field of housing, all of whom can have an effect on the shape of the housing environment and can help make it more suitable for all family types. / Graduation date: 1991

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The large-scale entrance of women into the workforce over the past two decades has fundamentally changed the nature of work and family life. This trend has been associated with a constellation of emerging challenges and conflicts in balancing work and family spheres. Gutek, Searle, and Klepa (1991) developed two models for explaining work-family conflict. The Rational Model proposed that workfamily conflict is directly proportionate to the amount of time one spends in work and family activities. The Gender Role Model proposed that work-family conflict is moderated by gender role socialization, in that men are predicted to experience greater work-family conflict when family responsibilities interfere with their career, whereas women are predicted to experience greater conflict when their career interferes with their family responsibilities. To date, models of work-family conflict have been largely derived from White samples, and it has not been established that our models can be generalized across culture. Distinct cultural histories between Black and White women suggest potential differences in how work-family conflict is experienced across ethnicity.The purpose of this study was to test a measure of work-family conflict for invariance across ethnicity. Participants were 111 Black and 119 White, married, middle-income mothers with dependent children who worked outside of the home on a full-time basis. It was hypothesized that Gutek et al.'s (1991) measure of work-family conflict would demonstrate variance across ethnicity. The study further extended Gutek's research by hypothesizing that White women would experience greater work-family conflict when work interfered with family responsibilities than the reverse, and that Black women would be equally sensitive to interference with either domain. Results of a multi-sample confirmatory factor analysis failed to confirm the hypothesis of construct bias or the prediction that White women would be more sensitive to work interference with family life than the reverse. The results of this study supported the prediction that among Black women, there would be no differences in the relationship between family interference with work and work interference with family on total work-family conflict. Limitations of the present study and implications for future research were discussed. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

While there is a growing body of literature on the effect of unemployment on individuals, and their marriages and families, a paucity of research has focused on job insecurity, or employment uncertainty, as a stressor on employees and their families. In addition, research on women in the workplace is relatively new. The incidence and severity of personal stress among male (n = 79) and female (n = 53) employees is compared during a period of job insecurity at a small midwestern university. Patterns of marital and family functioning for both male and female employees during the period of employment uncertainty also are compared. No significant differences were found in either the incidence and severity of personal stress among male and female employees or in the way their marriages and families functioned during the period of job insecurity. / Master of Science

The current work-family literature strongly emphasizes the conflict between the multiple roles that workers and parents assume. This conflict literature leaves readers with the impression that individuals are experiencing stress to a level that detracts from their quality of life (Frone, 2003; Parasuraman, Greenhaus, & Granrose, 1992). A more balanced perspective recognizes both the disadvantages and the potential advantages of engaging in multiple roles. Recent evidence indicates that occupying the roles of worker and spouse/parent may also produce positive outcomes such as greater satisfaction in marriage and on the job (Barnett, 1998; Barnett & Garies, 2006). Greenhaus and Powell (2006) offer one theory that explains the positive interaction between work and family roles by introducing the concept of enrichment, a theory that explains why one role might improve the quality of life in the other role. Using a sample of intercollegiate coaches (N = 286) from institutions located in the United States, this study assessed the influence of work-family conflict and work-family enrichment in relation to occupational and life outcomes for college coaches. Levels of conflict in work-to-family and family-to-work were measured, as well as levels of enrichment in work-to-family and family-to-work. Multiple regression was utilized to analyze six conceptual models with gender, age of participant, the presence of children at home, work-family conflict and work-family enrichment as independent variables. The results indicated work-to-family enrichment ([beta] = .318) and family-to-work enrichment ([beta] = .257) were both significant predictors of life satisfaction (p < .01). Work-to-family conflict ([beta] = -.118) and family-to-work conflict ([beta] = -.269) were significant predictors of life satisfaction (p < .01). Likewise, work-to-family conflict ([beta] = .385) and family-to-work conflict ([beta] = .140) were significant predictors of career commitment (p < .01). Age was a significant predictor of career commitment (p < .05). The findings highlight the need for future theoretical models to include both work-family conflict and work-family enrichment as both contribute uniquely to career and life outcomes. Practical implications include educating athletic administrators of the benefits coaches may accrue as a result of being engaged in both family and work roles. / text

This thesis was to explore the relationships between occupational conditions and parental behaviors and values. The data set for this thesis were taken from the 1988 National Survey of Families and Households, which includes a national crosssectional sample of 13,017 primary respondents. The subsamples used here were limited to married or cohabiting white families with children under 18 years old. Pearson’s r and one-way analysis of variance were used to examine the zero-order relationships among all the independent and dependent variables. Multiple regression analyses were adopted to present the relative importance of independent variables in predicting different aspects of parental childrearing practices. Findings from bivariate and multivariate analyses show that different dimensions of work-related variables examined in this thesis, such as occupational socioeconomic status, work hours and schedules, job satisfaction and employment status, are associated with different aspects of parental behaviors and values. Gender is found to be a very important factor in predicting parental involvement, negative responses and values. In general, these work-related variables explain limited variance of parental child-rearing styles. Based on the findings of the study, implications for academic research on the relationships between parental behaviors and values and working conditions were also discussed in the thesis. / Master of Science