This thesis examines intergenerational change in prevalence of and attitudes to physical activity by comparing first and second-generation South Asians in Britain. British South Asians have poorer health outcomes including a higher prevalence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) and diabetes than White British people. Physical inactivity is one of the risk factors for CVD and diabetes. Physical activity levels are lower among British South Asians than the White British population, for reasons that include cultural factors related to being South Asian, the low socioeconomic status of some South Asian groups, and living in deprived neighbourhoods. However, existing literature on physical activity levels does not clearly distinguish between first and second-generations. Understanding generational differences in the influences on physical activity among South Asians is important for developing appropriate interventions. First, I review the existing quantitative and qualitative literature on physical activity in second-generation South Asians. There is some evidence that second-generation South Asians are more physically active than the first-generation. Despite this, second-generation South Asians remain less active than White British people. Neither the quantitative nor the qualitative literature has adequately explored the reasons for these findings. I then use data from the Health Survey for England to explore the ways that adult Indians, Pakistanis and Bangladeshis are physically active. When analysed by age and sex, all South Asians and the White British group were physically active in different ways to each other. However, there was little difference between younger Indians and younger White British people in the contribution of walking to total activity. Finally, I present a qualitative analysis of how ethnicity influences physical activity in second-generation South Asians. I interviewed 28 Indian women living in Manchester, England. I found that a British schooling and messages from the media had strongly influenced second-generation Indian women's attitudes to physical activity. Consequently, their motivations and barriers to physical activity were generally very similar to those reported for White British women. Second-generation Indian women had mostly adopted Western gender roles, with Indian gender expectations having a limited impact on their physical activity. In contrast, the traditional roles of Indian women constrained the leisure-time physical activity of the first-generation Indian women. There was no generational difference in how the local neighbourhood influenced physical activity. This thesis demonstrates clear differences in physical activity prevalence and attitudes between first and second-generation South Asian women in the UK. Interventions aimed at improving local environments for physical activity are likely to help all people living in deprived areas, regardless of ethnic background. Changing generic Western social norms around femininity and being physically active may be more important than tailored interventions for second-generation Indian women.

The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of responsibility inferences on judgments about helping older parents and stepparents with activities of daily living, health management, and recovery in the aftermath of an illness or injury. Using Weiner’s theory of responsibility inferences as a guiding framework, we evaluated (1) the amount of intergenerational aid adult (step)children should provide, (2) the extent to which adult (step)children were perceived to be obligated to help, (3) the extent to which government agencies should assist, and (4) attitudes about older adults’ responsibilities to help themselves. A sample of 252 adults was obtained using the Qualtrics online survey platform. Hypotheses derived from Weiner’s theory received support regarding responsibility inferences and perceptions about public assistance and personal responsibility to resolve problems. The theory was only partially supported, however, when examining intergenerational help to older kin, being at fault reduced expectations for providing help only under some conditions, and perceived obligations to kin were never affected by culpability.

Abstract In the 1980s the cinematic nuclear family flourished again after the self-explorative 1960s and turbulent 1970s. This thesis explores the portrayal of the idealized American family in film between the 1950s and 1980s. The 1955 film Rebel Without a Cause reflects the 1950s cinematic family model. My investigation includes the role of the father figure and the bonds in intergenerational relationships. During the early 1980s, films such Ordinary People and ET: The Extraterrestrial reflect the need to reevaluate the 1950s ideal nuclear family. My examination of these films continues to include the importance of the father figure and bonds between child and parents along with contemporary elements such as the use of psychiatry and rise of single-parent households. These movies' redefined portrayals of the idealized nuclear family represent the shifting dynamics of modern society in terms of single-parent households and highlighted importance of intergenerational relationships.

Care is socially constructed, shaped by expectations embedded within particular relationships and the culturally-specific understandings of what it means to work, love and suffer. In this dissertation, I conceptualize care as a fundamental component of everyday life in which individuals are oriented towards the needs of others. Drawing on ethnographic fieldwork in a rural Konkomba community in northern Ghana, I explore the geographies of care shaping the everyday experiences of women engaged in intergenerational relationships as they encounter emerging dependencies associated with ageing. Dependencies emerge when an individual requires support and care from another, and in turn the struggles for, and the provision of this support has material and emotional implications for those involved. I make three primary contributions. First, I examine the potential for a feminist ethics of care within livelihoods approaches in order to destabilize notions of independence and material outcomes, arguing that livelihood strategies are characterized by interdependencies within families and communities. Second, I contribute to an understanding of the politics of care by considering women's mobility in the face of competing demands on their labor and resources. Despite responsibilities to provide a 'good death', women experience social and material hurdles to negotiate their mobility in order to provide end of life care to a parent. Third, I explore the embodied emotional experiences of elderly women as they experience dependencies and struggle to engage in material exchange and caring relationships. As a result of these emergence of dependencies, women's everyday lives are deeply shaped by experiences of love and suffering. In northern Ghana, as in other rural agrarian communities in developing regions, the elderly population is growing and a weak formal care infrastructure is ill-prepared to face the pressures of an ageing population. Through this dissertation, I highlight the complex geographies of care shaping everyday life experiences and contribute to an understanding of the particular issues faced by communities where intergenerational relationships are key to lives lived with care.

This thesis combines ethnographic methods with feminist political analysis to examine Congolese young people’s decision-making roles in families, households, communities and policy spaces in Kampala and Kyaka II refugee settlement, Uganda. As refugees and young people, research subjects face many structural constraints. However, their diverse experiences defy homogenising discourses of marginality as an inherent, fixed characteristic. Instead, this thesis develops and applies a conceptual framework of political marginalisation as a dynamic process in multiple spaces. Research findings show that young people’s decision-making roles vis-à-vis resource distribution and division of labour are relational and contextual. Their multiple subject positions and relationships in overlapping networks affect differential decision-making roles. In particular, social age and gender are major axes of decision-making processes. Analyses of inter-linkages across patterns of relationships reveal that research subjects in peer networks and intergenerational household networks with independent resources have more decision-making opportunities at household, community and policy levels than their counterparts in intergenerational family networks. This contradicts assumptions that young people without their biological parents are inherently ‘marginalised’, and highlights the political importance of decision-making processes in perceived ‘private’ spaces, such as families and households. Structure and power relationships thus situate decision-making processes and affect available choices, but they cannot solely explain political roles and behaviour. This thesis also stresses the importance of agentic beliefs, intentions and aspirations. As actors in dynamic marginalisation processes, some young people attempt to access central spaces through education, remunerated formal employment and physical mobility. Others use marginal and transitional spaces to provide alternatives to the status quo. Such creativity and productivity occasion possibilities of political change. However, UNHCR’s protection and assistance responses do not facilitate these transformative processes because of their focus on perceived essentialist characteristics of monolithic ‘marginals’. This thesis offers an alternative approach that recognises refugee young people’s political agency, as well as the structural and power dynamics that constrain their decision-making opportunities.

Cette recherche traite des relations intergénérationnelles entre grands-parents et petitsenfants du point de vue des enfants. Afin de mieux comprendre ces relations, six rencontres ont été réalisées auprès de 36 garçons et filles, âgés de sept à dix ans, pendant leur période scolaire. Les enfants appartiennent à la classe moyenne de la ville de Porto Alegre (RS) et font partie de quatre groupes familiaux diversifiés : ils vivent dans des familles biparentales, monoparentales, reconstituées ou tri-générationnelles, ce qui a permis d’observer ces relations selon différents points de vue. Dans cette recherche, les enfants parlent de leur mode de vie dans ces différents contextes familiaux et de la manière dont s’établit le contact avec leurs grands-parents. Au travers de leurs biographies, nous pouvons observer l’interférence des divorces et des remariages dans les relations intergénérationnelles, l’importance du chaînon établi par la génération intermédiaire et la forte propension au contact avec la lignée maternelle. Dans leur expérience de petits-enfants, ces garçons et ces filles racontent des moments d’attention, de découvertes, d’aventures et de jeu, dans lesquels la maison des grands-parents apparaît dans toute son importance et sa singularité. Il s’agit d’un important lieu de passage dans l’univers des enfants et ceux-ci nous montrent, à travers leurs connaissances, que la relation avec les grands-parents contribue à la propre constitution du je de l’enfant. Le contact intergénérationnel apparaît comme un processus interactif et co-éducatif où tant les plus âgés que les plus jeunes ont la chance d’apprendre et d’enseigner. Pour les enfants, les liens qui les unissent peuvent être tellement forts que même la finitude des grands-parents n’est pas capable de briser ces liens. / Esta pesquisa trata das relações intergeracionais entre avós e netos a partir da perspectiva das crianças. Com o objetivo de conhecer melhor essas relações, 36 meninos e meninas, com idades entre sete e dez anos, foram entrevistados ao longo de seis encontros ocorridos durante o período escolar. As crianças, pertencentes à classe média e média alta da cidade de Porto Alegre (RS), fazem parte de quatro grupos familiares diversificados: vivem em famílias nucleares, monoparentais, reconstituídas e conviventes com avós, o que possibilitou olhar para essas relações a partir de diferentes lugares. Nesta pesquisa, as crianças falam sobre o modo como elas vivem nessas diferentes famílias e sobre como o contato com os avós se estabelece dentro desses diferentes contextos. Em suas biografias, podemos observar o atravessamento do divórcio e dos recasamentos nas relações intergeracionais, a importância dos elos estabelecidos pela geração do meio e uma forte inclinação ao contato com a linha materna. Na experiência de ser neto, meninos e meninas narram momentos de cuidado, de descobertas, de aventura e de brincadeira, nos quais a casa dos avós aparece com toda a sua relevância e singularidade. Esse é um importante espaço de trânsito do universo das crianças, e elas nos mostram, por meio de seus saberes, que o convívio com os avós contribui para a própria constituição do eu infantil. O contato intergeracional surge como um processo interativo e co-educativo, onde tanto os mais velhos, quanto os mais novos, têm a chance de aprender e ensinar. Para as crianças, os vínculos que os unem podem ser tão fortes que nem a finitude dos avós é capaz de desfazer esses laços. / This thesis examines intergenerational relationships between grandparents and grandchildren from the child’s point of view. In an effort to understand these relationships better, 36 boys and girls aged between seven and ten years were interviewed in the course of six meetings, which took place during school hours. The children interviewed came from middle and upper middle class families in the city of Porto Alegre (in the Brazilian State of Rio Grande do Sul) and belong to four different family types: nuclear, single parent, reconstituted and three-generation. This enabled intergenerational relationships to be studied in different circumstances. In this thesis, children talk about how they live in their families and about how contact with grandparents is established within the family structures under analysis. The children’s biographies show the effect of divorce and remarriage on intergenerational relationships, the importance of ties established by the middle generation and a strong propensity to establish and maintain contact with the maternal family line. In their experience as grandchildren, boys and girls report moments of care, discovery, adventure and play, and their grandparents’ home appears in its full relevance and uniqueness. This is an important place in the child’s world, and the children show, through their knowledge, that living with grandparents contributes to the constitution of the childhood self. Intergenerational contact is revealed to be an interactive and co-educational process, which provides old and young alike with opportunities to learn and teach. Children’s ties to their grandparents may be so strong that not even the latter’s death can break them.

Submitted by Oliveira Santos Dilzaná (dilznana@yahoo.com.br) on 2016-08-02T13:44:42Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Marcia Queiroz de Carvalho Gomes .pdf: 1788949 bytes, checksum: d531f7c1f824f0265b5777ebabd7fb4a (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Oliveira Santos Dilzaná (dilznana@yahoo.com.br) on 2016-08-02T13:56:39Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 1 Marcia Queiroz de Carvalho Gomes .pdf: 1788949 bytes, checksum: d531f7c1f824f0265b5777ebabd7fb4a (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-02T13:56:39Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Marcia Queiroz de Carvalho Gomes .pdf: 1788949 bytes, checksum: d531f7c1f824f0265b5777ebabd7fb4a (MD5) / O trabalho documenta e analisa as novas formas de solidariedade intergeracional, considerando que nas sociedades contemporâneas as relações sociais se tornaram mais complexas à medida em que as estruturas social e familiar se reconfiguraram, alterando as formas de troca entre as gerações. A institucionalização do sistema de proteção social público ou da solidariedade pública concorreu para modificar a dinâmica do sistema de proteção social familiar ou das solidariedades primárias. Tomo como campo de análise o cotidiano das trocas vivenciadas por mulheres e homens idosos pertencentes às classes populares de Salvador, em contextos relacionais distintos, ou seja, aqueles que mantêm vínculos de solidariedade primária, representados por idosos/as moradores da comunidade/bairro, e aqueles que se encontram em situação limite entre a solidariedade primária, a solidariedade secundária ou pública e a prestada por estranhos, representados por idosos/as moradores/as de asilo público. Trata-se de um estudo qualitativo, a partir da observação direta, com registro sistemático das visitas em diário de campo, e entrevistas semi-estruturadas e abertas, feitas com trinta e um idosos/as, e seis profissionais vinculados à gestão pública da velhice. Considerando que a solidariedade familiar não é dada, mas construída na dinâmica das relações de troca e ainda que as políticas sociais do Estado afetam as relações familiares, concluo que as formas de solidariedade intergeracionais na atualidade vêm se configurando como um circuito de relações de interdependência entre a solidariedade pública e a primária, imprescindíveis uma à outra, conformando novas possibilidades de troca entre as gerações. This thesis is aimed at reporting and analyzing the new ways through which intergenerational solidarity takes place by taking into account the complexity of contemporary social relations as a result of the reshaping of social and family structures that alters the ways intergenerational exchanges occur. The institutionalization of the public protection system or the public solidarity has contributed to change the dynamics of the family’s social protection system or primary solidarity. The everyday exchanges among low-income elderly men and women in Salvador (Bahia, Brazil) comprise the field in which two distinctive relational contexts are analyzed, namely, the one presenting primary solidarity bonds, consisting of those elderly dwelling in communities/districts, and the one presenting a borderline situation among primary, secondary/public or provided-by-strangers kinds of solidarity, consisting of institutionalized elderly in public nursing homes. This is a qualitative study based on both direct observation, systematically recorded in field journals, and open-ended and semi-structured interviews carried out among thirty-one elderly subjects and seven practitioners dealing with the public management of the elderly population. Given that family solidarity is a social construct resulting from the dynamics of the exchange relations and that social governmental policies play a role in family relationships, the ways contemporary intergenerational solidarity occurs can be concluded to comprise a set of interdependent relations between public and primary kinds of solidarity, one being vital to the other, thus presenting new possibilities for interchange between generations.

Cette recherche traite des relations intergénérationnelles entre grands-parents et petitsenfants du point de vue des enfants. Afin de mieux comprendre ces relations, six rencontres ont été réalisées auprès de 36 garçons et filles, âgés de sept à dix ans, pendant leur période scolaire. Les enfants appartiennent à la classe moyenne de la ville de Porto Alegre (RS) et font partie de quatre groupes familiaux diversifiés : ils vivent dans des familles biparentales, monoparentales, reconstituées ou tri-générationnelles, ce qui a permis d’observer ces relations selon différents points de vue. Dans cette recherche, les enfants parlent de leur mode de vie dans ces différents contextes familiaux et de la manière dont s’établit le contact avec leurs grands-parents. Au travers de leurs biographies, nous pouvons observer l’interférence des divorces et des remariages dans les relations intergénérationnelles, l’importance du chaînon établi par la génération intermédiaire et la forte propension au contact avec la lignée maternelle. Dans leur expérience de petits-enfants, ces garçons et ces filles racontent des moments d’attention, de découvertes, d’aventures et de jeu, dans lesquels la maison des grands-parents apparaît dans toute son importance et sa singularité. Il s’agit d’un important lieu de passage dans l’univers des enfants et ceux-ci nous montrent, à travers leurs connaissances, que la relation avec les grands-parents contribue à la propre constitution du je de l’enfant. Le contact intergénérationnel apparaît comme un processus interactif et co-éducatif où tant les plus âgés que les plus jeunes ont la chance d’apprendre et d’enseigner. Pour les enfants, les liens qui les unissent peuvent être tellement forts que même la finitude des grands-parents n’est pas capable de briser ces liens. / Esta pesquisa trata das relações intergeracionais entre avós e netos a partir da perspectiva das crianças. Com o objetivo de conhecer melhor essas relações, 36 meninos e meninas, com idades entre sete e dez anos, foram entrevistados ao longo de seis encontros ocorridos durante o período escolar. As crianças, pertencentes à classe média e média alta da cidade de Porto Alegre (RS), fazem parte de quatro grupos familiares diversificados: vivem em famílias nucleares, monoparentais, reconstituídas e conviventes com avós, o que possibilitou olhar para essas relações a partir de diferentes lugares. Nesta pesquisa, as crianças falam sobre o modo como elas vivem nessas diferentes famílias e sobre como o contato com os avós se estabelece dentro desses diferentes contextos. Em suas biografias, podemos observar o atravessamento do divórcio e dos recasamentos nas relações intergeracionais, a importância dos elos estabelecidos pela geração do meio e uma forte inclinação ao contato com a linha materna. Na experiência de ser neto, meninos e meninas narram momentos de cuidado, de descobertas, de aventura e de brincadeira, nos quais a casa dos avós aparece com toda a sua relevância e singularidade. Esse é um importante espaço de trânsito do universo das crianças, e elas nos mostram, por meio de seus saberes, que o convívio com os avós contribui para a própria constituição do eu infantil. O contato intergeracional surge como um processo interativo e co-educativo, onde tanto os mais velhos, quanto os mais novos, têm a chance de aprender e ensinar. Para as crianças, os vínculos que os unem podem ser tão fortes que nem a finitude dos avós é capaz de desfazer esses laços. / This thesis examines intergenerational relationships between grandparents and grandchildren from the child’s point of view. In an effort to understand these relationships better, 36 boys and girls aged between seven and ten years were interviewed in the course of six meetings, which took place during school hours. The children interviewed came from middle and upper middle class families in the city of Porto Alegre (in the Brazilian State of Rio Grande do Sul) and belong to four different family types: nuclear, single parent, reconstituted and three-generation. This enabled intergenerational relationships to be studied in different circumstances. In this thesis, children talk about how they live in their families and about how contact with grandparents is established within the family structures under analysis. The children’s biographies show the effect of divorce and remarriage on intergenerational relationships, the importance of ties established by the middle generation and a strong propensity to establish and maintain contact with the maternal family line. In their experience as grandchildren, boys and girls report moments of care, discovery, adventure and play, and their grandparents’ home appears in its full relevance and uniqueness. This is an important place in the child’s world, and the children show, through their knowledge, that living with grandparents contributes to the constitution of the childhood self. Intergenerational contact is revealed to be an interactive and co-educational process, which provides old and young alike with opportunities to learn and teach. Children’s ties to their grandparents may be so strong that not even the latter’s death can break them.

My thesis deals with three generations living together in families in the context of past and present, with possible applications into social work. It focuses on an intergenerational solidarity and a mutual help among members of three-generational families which are adequate indicators of mutual relationships. Using ideas of Christian ethics and results of sociological researches it tries to answer the question about the importance of three generations living together within a family and using the theory of social behavior it tries to specify bases of three-generational families living together in cooparation with a social worker.

Cette recherche traite des relations intergénérationnelles entre grands-parents et petitsenfants du point de vue des enfants. Afin de mieux comprendre ces relations, six rencontres ont été réalisées auprès de 36 garçons et filles, âgés de sept à dix ans, pendant leur période scolaire. Les enfants appartiennent à la classe moyenne de la ville de Porto Alegre (RS) et font partie de quatre groupes familiaux diversifiés : ils vivent dans des familles biparentales, monoparentales, reconstituées ou tri-générationnelles, ce qui a permis d’observer ces relations selon différents points de vue. Dans cette recherche, les enfants parlent de leur mode de vie dans ces différents contextes familiaux et de la manière dont s’établit le contact avec leurs grands-parents. Au travers de leurs biographies, nous pouvons observer l’interférence des divorces et des remariages dans les relations intergénérationnelles, l’importance du chaînon établi par la génération intermédiaire et la forte propension au contact avec la lignée maternelle. Dans leur expérience de petits-enfants, ces garçons et ces filles racontent des moments d’attention, de découvertes, d’aventures et de jeu, dans lesquels la maison des grands-parents apparaît dans toute son importance et sa singularité. Il s’agit d’un important lieu de passage dans l’univers des enfants et ceux-ci nous montrent, à travers leurs connaissances, que la relation avec les grands-parents contribue à la propre constitution du je de l’enfant. Le contact intergénérationnel apparaît comme un processus interactif et co-éducatif où tant les plus âgés que les plus jeunes ont la chance d’apprendre et d’enseigner. Pour les enfants, les liens qui les unissent peuvent être tellement forts que même la finitude des grands-parents n’est pas capable de briser ces liens. / Esta pesquisa trata das relações intergeracionais entre avós e netos a partir da perspectiva das crianças. Com o objetivo de conhecer melhor essas relações, 36 meninos e meninas, com idades entre sete e dez anos, foram entrevistados ao longo de seis encontros ocorridos durante o período escolar. As crianças, pertencentes à classe média e média alta da cidade de Porto Alegre (RS), fazem parte de quatro grupos familiares diversificados: vivem em famílias nucleares, monoparentais, reconstituídas e conviventes com avós, o que possibilitou olhar para essas relações a partir de diferentes lugares. Nesta pesquisa, as crianças falam sobre o modo como elas vivem nessas diferentes famílias e sobre como o contato com os avós se estabelece dentro desses diferentes contextos. Em suas biografias, podemos observar o atravessamento do divórcio e dos recasamentos nas relações intergeracionais, a importância dos elos estabelecidos pela geração do meio e uma forte inclinação ao contato com a linha materna. Na experiência de ser neto, meninos e meninas narram momentos de cuidado, de descobertas, de aventura e de brincadeira, nos quais a casa dos avós aparece com toda a sua relevância e singularidade. Esse é um importante espaço de trânsito do universo das crianças, e elas nos mostram, por meio de seus saberes, que o convívio com os avós contribui para a própria constituição do eu infantil. O contato intergeracional surge como um processo interativo e co-educativo, onde tanto os mais velhos, quanto os mais novos, têm a chance de aprender e ensinar. Para as crianças, os vínculos que os unem podem ser tão fortes que nem a finitude dos avós é capaz de desfazer esses laços. / This thesis examines intergenerational relationships between grandparents and grandchildren from the child’s point of view. In an effort to understand these relationships better, 36 boys and girls aged between seven and ten years were interviewed in the course of six meetings, which took place during school hours. The children interviewed came from middle and upper middle class families in the city of Porto Alegre (in the Brazilian State of Rio Grande do Sul) and belong to four different family types: nuclear, single parent, reconstituted and three-generation. This enabled intergenerational relationships to be studied in different circumstances. In this thesis, children talk about how they live in their families and about how contact with grandparents is established within the family structures under analysis. The children’s biographies show the effect of divorce and remarriage on intergenerational relationships, the importance of ties established by the middle generation and a strong propensity to establish and maintain contact with the maternal family line. In their experience as grandchildren, boys and girls report moments of care, discovery, adventure and play, and their grandparents’ home appears in its full relevance and uniqueness. This is an important place in the child’s world, and the children show, through their knowledge, that living with grandparents contributes to the constitution of the childhood self. Intergenerational contact is revealed to be an interactive and co-educational process, which provides old and young alike with opportunities to learn and teach. Children’s ties to their grandparents may be so strong that not even the latter’s death can break them.