Chapter 1 introduces the study by means of its aim, scope, methodology and terminology. It also hosts summaries of all the folktales that are analysed in this study. Chapter 2 is a study of parenthood and its portrayal in Zulu folktales. Motherhood and fatherhood will be scrutinised separately. Chapter 3 concentrates on girl characters as siblings, brides and companions to old men. Chapter 4 analyses boy characters as herd boys, villains, tricksters and companions to old women. Chapter 5 concentrates on the status of the Zulu folktale. The influence of urbanisation, gender, and the media will receive attention. The lessons that folktales teach will be noted. Chapter 6 concludes and summarises this study and hosts recommendations on the promotion of Zulu folktales / African Languages / M.A. (African Languages)

This thesis investigates how the experience of labour market insecurity affects individuals’ life courses and family lives in the UK. It focuses on unemployment and temporary work as the two sources of insecurity and examines their consequences on partnership formation, transition into parenthood, the well-being within family, and partnership dissolution. It follows a longitudinal approach and uses a sample from the BHPS. The results showed that unemployment has serious negative consequences for individuals’ family outcomes. Temporary work also has some negative outcomes, particularly for the vulnerable groups. Unemployment and temporary employment seem to discourage young adults to form marital unions, whereas especially for the young and non-married men unemployment increased the risk of fatherhood. Temporary work has a similar effect for those with no educational qualification, who are more likely to have their first child. Unemployed individuals and their spouses report a drop in their life-satisfaction, psychological well-being and are more likely to feel depressed, and they face a greater risk of marital separation. Male temporary work is associated with poorer well-being for the low-skilled employees and those who report subjective job insecurity. The wives of men working on temporary contracts also suffer from a decline in the well-being. The thesis also looked into the consequences of insecurity at the couple level. Contrary to our initial assumption, dual-insecurity - where both of the spouses are in insecure employment - does not have the strongest effect on the family. Rather, role-reversal between the spouses has the largest impact for family outcomes. When a male partner is unemployed and the female partner is employed, or when the male partner is working on temporary basis and the female partner is working on permanent basis, then the couple delays transition into parenthood, it suffers from a decline in the well-being, and it is more likely to separate.

Den här studien har undersökt hur föräldrar till barn 0-2 år i Karlstad kommun konsumerar till sina barn inom tre produktkategorier; kläder, mat och leksaker. Syftet har varit att se om att få barn kan vara en drivande faktor för att bli en mer medveten konsument. Har personernas konsumtionsbeteende förändrats efter att de har fått barn? Enkäter och fokusgrupper har använts på fyra öppna förskolor i Karlstads kommun för att samla in data. Som teoretiskt ramverk har ekologisk modernisering, politisk konsumtion samt svag och stark hållbar konsumtion använts. Inom de tre produktkategorierna går det att se vissa skillnader. Enkätsvaren säger att respondenterna handlar kläder efter behov, men fokusgrupperna talar om att de handlar för att det är roligt, ett fritidsintresse. Inom mat har många blivit noggrannare med att handla ekologiskt, främst till barnet. Det är dock inte en stark ståndpunkt eftersom de flesta väljer oekologiskt om varan inte finns som ekologisk. Kategorin leksaker hade de flesta deltagarna inte hunnit handla så mycket från än, då deras barn fortfarande är små. De uttrycker dock att det är en svår kategori att veta så mycket om och de går oftast efter vad barnet visar intresse för. Överlag går det att se ett visst förändrat beteende, men deltagarna saknar en helhetssyn över konsumtionskedjan. Resultatet visar också att föräldrarna är starkt styrda av sociala normer som bestämmer vad som anses vara ett behov. Deltagarna reflekterar inte över konsumtionsnivån utan håller sig inom svag hållbar konsumtion där de istället väljer att byta ut vissa saker mot mer hållbara alternativ. Avsaknaden av helhetssynen märks också genom att de inte praktiserar politisk konsumtion i så stor utsträckning, de räknar helt enkelt inte med sig själva i konsumtionskedjan. Detta är kvalitativ studie som möjligen skulle fått andra resultat i andra sammanhang. / This study has examined how parents of children, age 0-2, in Karlstad consumes for their children within three product categories; clothing, food and toys. The aim was to see if having children could be a driving factor to become a more aware consumer. Have the participants consumption behaviour changed after they have had children? Surveys and focus groups have been completed in four open preschools in Karlstad municipality to collect data. As a theoretical framework has ecological modernization, political consumption and weak and strong sustainable consumption been used. Within the three product categories it is possible to see some differences. The survey result say that respondents shop for clothes according to need, but the focus groups talk about that they shop because it is fun, a hobby. It has become more important for the parents to buy organic food, mostly to the child. However, it is not a strong position because most respondents choose to buy conventional produced products if they don’t have an ecological alternative in the store. Because most of the respondents children where still small they hadn’t purchased that many toys yet. They express, however, that it is a difficult category to know that much about and they usually goes on what the child shows interest for. Overall, it is possible to see some changes in behaviour, but participants lack a comprehensive view of the consumption chain. They don’t reflect on the level of consumption and so they pursue on the path of weak sustainable consumption where they consumes the same amount but change to more sustainable materials. The lack of overall vision is also evident in that they don’t practice political consumption to any wider extent, they simply don’t see their own impact on the consumption chain. The result also shows that the parents are strongly guided by social norms that sets the rules for what they consider to be their needs. This is a qualitative study and could therefore have gotten a different result in another context.

Malgré l’intérêt accru du public et de la recherche durant les deux dernières décennies pour le phénomène des jeunes de la rue, certains aspects de leurs réalités sont encore peu examinés et mal connus. L’un de ces aspects concerne la parentalité. Pour mieux comprendre les besoins des jeunes en situation de rue qui sont parents ou en voie de l’être et comprendre dans quelle mesure un service s’adressant spécifiquement à eux arrive à y répondre, cette étude a cherché à décrire et comprendre l’expérience d’utilisation du Service à la famille de l’organisme Dans la rue, telle que vécue par des jeunes qui s’y sont adressés. Plus précisément, les objectifs étaient de : situer le Service à la famille dans la démarche de recherche d’aide des jeunes; comprendre ce qui amène un jeune à utiliser le Service à la famille et les activités qui y sont offertes; décrire l’expérience d’utilisation du service; connaître la perception qu’en ont les jeunes; et estimer leur appréciation du service. Pour ce faire, des entrevues semi-dirigées par téléphone ont eu lieu avec neuf jeunes ayant eu un suivi au Service à la famille, au cours desquelles certains thèmes ont été explorés : la recherche d’aide en lien avec la situation parentale, l’expérience d’utilisation des services et des activités du Service à la famille, le portrait de celui-ci, et la satisfaction à son égard. Au moment de l’entrevue, tous les jeunes étaient parents d’au moins un enfant et la majorité d’entre eux avait fait appel au Service à la famille la première fois durant la grossesse pour de l’aide sous diverses formes en rapport à celle-ci. Des besoins de divers ordres ont amené les jeunes à faire appel au Service à la famille. Ceux-ci pouvaient être comblés, mais pas nécessairement toujours, par le biais des rencontres avec les intervenantes du Service à la famille et par la participation aux activités de groupe offertes par la ressource et, par ailleurs, pouvaient concorder avec les objectifs d’intervention explicites du service. Dans l’ensemble, les entrevues suggèrent que les jeunes perçoivent le Service à la famille et, plus précisément, les intervenantes qui y travaillent, d’un œil favorable. Les interviewés formulent en effet une appréciation positive sur un bon nombre d’éléments se rapportant à leur expérience d’utilisation de la ressource. Des jeunes perçoivent néanmoins des limites dans la capacité du Service à la famille à fournir l’aide attendue, notamment des restrictions budgétaires et une surcharge de travail des intervenantes liée à une forte demande de services. Même si les jeunes n’ont pas nécessairement demandé de l’aide de la ressource dans l’optique de prévenir la violence familiale et la négligence, mandat premier du Service à la famille, une bonne part d’entre eux reconnaissent avoir reçu de l’aide utile à cet égard de la part des intervenantes, notamment lorsqu’ils ont rapporté avoir vécu des relations amoureuses teintées de violence conjugale. Ils reconnaissent également différentes façons par le biais desquelles les intervenantes les auraient encouragés à être bien et à prendre soin d’eux-mêmes afin de pouvoir bien s’occuper de leur(s) enfant(s). Tous les jeunes interviewés ont exprimé une satisfaction à l’égard du suivi reçu au Service à la famille et ils ont affirmé qu’ils le recommanderaient à d’autres personnes. L’approche d’intervention préconisée par la ressource est considérée comme un point fort dans la réponse aux besoins des jeunes. Cette approche aurait permis aux jeunes devenus parents d’être aidés en fonction de ce dont ils avaient besoin à un moment précis. L’un des aspects de l’utilisation du service qui gagneraient à être améliorés, aux yeux des jeunes, est l’accessibilité; l’aide dont les interviewés considéraient avoir besoin n’ayant pas toujours été à leur disposition alors qu’ils l’avaient demandée. Devant la perception d’un manque de disponibilité des intervenantes, des jeunes proposent des pistes d’amélioration qui permettraient à l’aide dispensée par le Service à la famille d’être plus accessible aux jeunes quand ils considèrent en avoir besoin. / Event though there has been an increased public and research interest in the street youth phenomenon in the past two decades, some aspects of their lives, one of them being parenthood, have not been yet thoroughly examined and therefore, remain unknown to a certain extent. In order to gain a better understanding of street youth’s needs related to becoming a parent, as well as an understanding of the extent to which a service specifically tailored for such a population manages to satisfy their needs, this study had the purpose of describing and understanding the service utilization experience of the Service à la famille from the Montreal street youth agency Dans la rue. More specifically, the objectives were to: gain an awareness and understanding of the persons and resources street youths who become parents turn to for help, and the significance of the Service à la famille among these resources; understand what brings a youth to the Service à la famille and what makes him or her use the services and activities offered; and finally, describe the perceptions and estimate the level of appreciation of the Service à la famille. Semi-structured phone interviews were conducted with nine youths who had used the Service à la famille and had had a follow-up. During the interview, the following themes were explored: help seeking related to becoming a parent, the utilization experience of the services and activities offered by the Service à la famille, the portrait of the service, and level of satisfaction regarding the service utilization experience. At the time of the interview, all youths were parents of at least one child, and the majority had first sought help at the Service à la famille during pregnancy to satisfy different needs related to becoming a parent. A variety of needs brought the youths to seek help at the Service à la famille. These needs could be satisfied, but not necessarily at all times, through meetings with the staff and participation in group activities offered by the service. At times, their needs corresponded to the explicit intervention goals of the service. In general, the interviews suggest that youths have a positive perception of the Service à la famille, and more precisely, of the staff. The interviewees named a considerable number of elements they appreciated from their service utilization experience. Youths nevertheless perceive limitations in the ability of the Service à la famille to give help, especially budgetary constraints and the staff’s workload related to high demand of services. Even though youths did not necessarily seek help from the service in order to prevent family violence or negligence, which is the mandate of the Service à la famille, much of them acknowledge having received valuable assistance in this regard on the part of the staff, especially when they reported having been in a violent intimate relationship. They also recognize different ways through which the staff encouraged them to feel good and take care of themselves in order to do the same with their child or children. All interviewees were satisfied with the follow-up they received from the Service à la famille and claimed they would recommend the service to others. The intervention approach advocated by the service is considered to be a strong element in responding appropriately to youths’ needs. This approach appears to have allowed youths who became parents to get the help they needed at a specific moment in time. According to youths, an aspect of service utilization which could be improved is access to help; since the help interviewees needed was not always available when they asked for it. Since youths perceive a lack of staff availability, they offer suggestions for improvement that would allow the aid supplied by the service to be more accessible to youths when they seek help.

The aim of this thesis is to historize discourses of parenthood by analyzing how they are negotiated and legitimized in Swedish non-literary and wide spread texts published in the 1870s, 1940s and 2010s. The analyzed corpus consists of the following: family and women’s movement magazines from the 1870s; a public counseling brochure and weekly magazines from the 1940s; blog texts; online health counseling; parent magazines; and public welfare information from the 2010s. The study moreover aims to make an inventory of which visual and lexico-grammatical resources realize legitimating strategies in the texts. Theoretically, the thesis draws on constructivist and feminist discourse theories and social semiotics. There is an emphasis on subject positions and power relations. The thesis investigates which parental subject positions are legitimized in the corpus, what power relations they reproduce, and furthermore how different positions are transformed as discontinuities of each other and over time. The results are presented in four analytical chapters. In the first of these, findings derived from the legitimation analysis of the 1870s are presented. The following two chapters present the results derived from the analysis of the 1940s and 2010s. The fourth research chapter presents an inventory of semiotic resources with the potential to realize legitimating strategies. One crucial discourse-historical result regards how the position of the mother as primary caretaker predominates in the research data. However, the position is mainly legitimized during the 1870s and transformed into legitimacy during the 1940s and 2010s. The analysis furthermore captures how the same position is legitimized during the 1870s with reference to a discourse concerning a divine order of things. Although this divine discourse is muted during the 1940s and 2010s, it continues to imprint the representations. Moreover, the analysis captures how discourses of legitimate parenthood constitute discourses of manhood, Swedishness, expert knowledge, responsiveness to children, consumption and risk management throughout the investigated periods, yet in discontinuous ways. The overall conclusion drawn is that legitimized discourses from one historical setting can constitute silent foundations for representations in later historical contexts. By unraveling history from past to present, the thesis shows how it is possible to identify presupposed lineages of today’s ideas and discourses, and thereby to deconstruct hegemonic truths and the power relations they reproduce.

Mémoire numérisé par la Division de la gestion de documents et des archives de l'Université de Montréal.

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