Normative ideas of what it means to be a ‘good’ parent can often come into conflict with non-monogamy. This thesis explores how non-monogamous parents living in Sweden adhere to certain normative relationship and family practices, while rejecting others. Additionally, this thesis identifies some of the counternormative strategies that non-monogamous parents integrate into their parenting practices. This research is based on data that was collected through nine semi-structured interviews with twelve non-monogamous parents living in Sweden. This data was then analyzed primarily using theoretical frameworks from within the fields of queer studies. Furthermore, concepts of queer kinship and family formation are utilized in order to understand the experiences of the participants. This study reveals that ideals around what it means to be a ‘good’ parent can create hardship for non-monogamous parents who do not adhere to mononormative family structures. The fear of facing stigma, conflict, or the loss of social relationships serves as a strong motivating factor for non-monogamous parents to maintain some normative family practices, such as dyadic parenting dynamics, child-centered lifestyles, and rigid familial borders. At the same time, many parents exercise small, daily acts of counterresistance to these pressures. Motivation for these practices often lies in the desire to open up possibilities for their children to live their lives in a free and authentic way, regardless of their gender, sexuality, or relationship orientation.

Monogamy is considered the romantic norm for establishing family and kinship. Alternative relationships such as polyfidelity, that is, a group romantic relationship, often face prejudice and social stigma resulting in a greater need for mental health counseling services compared to those who are not stigmatized. Yet counselors and counselor educators lack both understanding and cultural competency for serving this population. The purpose of this study was to better understand the dynamics of a polyfidelity relationship, as well as how a counselor might better serve the needs of individuals engaged in this type of relationship. In this study, 14 participants described what it was like to be in a polyfidelitous relationship. A combined theoretical framework-based on relational cultural theory, social constructionism, and queer theory was used to reveal the challenges, as well as the strengths, of such a relationship. It was discovered that there are an exponential number of relationship combinations when introducing an additional member into an existing 2-person relationship. As a result the relational component in counseling becomes compounded. For example, a 3-person relationship has 4 unique relationships, a 4-person relationship has 11 unique relationships, and a 5-person relationship has 26 unique relationship combinations. In addition, members of group relationships often use their group dynamics to check and balance one another, resolve conflict, and better express aspects of each partner's personality. The implications for social change are multifold in both furthering mental health professional's understanding of alternative families, as well as identifying the advantages and pitfalls of engaging in a polyfidelitous relationship.

Access to health care services is critical to both personal health outcomes and health equity within a community. While non-monogamous behavior is widespread, stigma surrounding consensual non-monogamy can create barriers to health care access. This research outlines the experiences of non-monogamous women during sexual health care visits, how class acts to modify those experiences, the barriers to health care access that they encounter, and the adaptive strategies they employ. The sample for this research was 23 consensually non-monogamous women. Participants were contacted through online support groups, message boards, and snowball sampling. In-depth interviews about their sexual health care experiences were conducted. Interviews were recorded, transcribed, and analyzed for themes related to the intersection of non-monogamy and health care experiences. The interactions between health care professionals and non-monogamous women, whether or not those women disclose their non-monogamous status, were often perceived as stigmatizing. Increased class status, both of participant and of provider, was described as increasing experiences of stigma and barriers to care. The information provided by this research may be used to better understand, and thus improve, the barriers health care access experienced by non-monogamous women. Suggestions given by the participants for improving their health care access and decreasing experiences of stigma are included.

This study aims to explore and highlight alternative relationships in relation to the norm of monogamy. The perspective we have had with this study, is of a qualitative and investigative character. We have deeply interviewed four participants who are, or have been, in a polyamorous relationship. We have studied how the respondents see and handle their choices of life. We also wanted to know what kind of reactions they have faced from society. Another issue we have studied deeper is how the participants define jealousy and infidelity. We have anchored the discussion in different relation- and family-related theories to understand and problematize the norm of monogamy. What we come to understand is that the participants found different ways, to satisfy their desires and to fulfill their romantic needs. There have been differences in their desires and needs met in the relationship and we wanted to study how their delimitations seems to vary. Two of our participants have embraced both their romantic and lustful feelings for others and has had a very liberal approach to relationships. The other two participants has only accepted sexual contacts with other people, no feelings involved, and they needed to have an arrangement about this with their partner. Our participants have not experienced any major reactions from the society. However, we have been able to see that they have used various strategies to avoid stigmatization. We could also see that jealousy is often associated with a feeling of ownership.

Submitted by Filipe dos Santos (fsantos@pucsp.br) on 2017-11-14T11:47:45Z No. of bitstreams: 1 Graziele Campos da Silva.pdf: 707150 bytes, checksum: ec701d3914a6c7cb058d48aa2056974a (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2017-11-14T11:47:45Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 Graziele Campos da Silva.pdf: 707150 bytes, checksum: ec701d3914a6c7cb058d48aa2056974a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2017-10-03 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / The polyamorist proposal defends "new" ways to establish relationships, aiming nonhierarchical interactions and mutual cooperation, seeking to guarantee women sexualaffective freedom, assuming that monogamy is a prison and that romantic love must be fought. To distinguish itself from the other modalities of open relationship throughout history and the open relations of contemporaneity, the polyamory puts emphasis on love. Other highlights include freedom, equality, negotiation and communication. The aim of this work is to locate the discourse of romantic love within the polyamorist narrative, based on the analysis of feminist theory, starting from the questioning: Does polyamor practice disrupt romantic love? There are two axes that lead us to consider that it doesn’t: love remains at the center of the project of women’s life and there is no equality in relationships. This is a qualitative research, based on the follow-up of the virtual groups of discussion of Facebook, participant observation in group "Poliafetividade" and the analysis of four in-depth interviews of polyamorist women / A proposta poliamorista defende “novas” formas de se relacionar, visando interações não hierárquicas e de cooperação mútua, buscando garantir à mulher sua liberdade sexual-afetiva, pressupondo que a monogamia é uma prisão e que o amor romântico deve ser combatido. Para se distinguir das outras modalidades de relacionamento aberto ao longo da história e das relações abertas da contemporaneidade, o poliamor põe ênfase no amor. Outros elementos destacados são: liberdade, igualdade, negociação e comunicação. O objetivo deste trabalho é localizar o discurso do amor romântico dentro da narrativa poliamorista, tendo como base de análise a teoria feminista, partindo da premissa de que a prática do poliamor não descontrói o amor romântico. Dois eixos nos levam a essas considerações: o amor permanece no centro do projeto de vida e não há igualdade nas relações. Trata-se de uma pesquisa qualitativa, realizada a partir do acompanhamento dos grupos virtuais de discussão do Facebook, da observação participante no grupo “Poliafetividade” e da análise de quatro entrevistas em profundidade com mulheres poliamoristas

Background: Consensual non-monogamous couples (CNMCs) are viewed less favourably than their heteromononormative counterparts by the general population and by healthcare providers. Research indicates that they are less likely to seek health care and are at greater risk for STIs and HIV. This stigma and judgment perceived by CNMCs can be even further compounded when these couples choose to have a child. No study to date has looked at consensual non-monogamous parenting couples (CNMPCs) during the transition to parenthood. The aim of the present study was to explore Manitoban CNMCs’ perceptions of the conciliation between their parenting role and their sexual lifestyle during the transition to parenthood. Methodology: This mixed methods descriptive, exploratory study used a triangulation design-convergence model. Six participants identifying as CNMCs during the transition to parenthood were interviewed using a semi-structured interview guide as well as completing an online questionnaire. Results: The participants in this sample experienced challenges in regard to their transition to parenthood as many other parents do, yet this transition was more harmonious for some participants compared to others. Consensual non-monogamy (CNM) was a sexual lifestyle chosen either before or during this transition. However, the lifestyle did stop during conception and pregnancy, and was resumed several months after childbirth. Relationship breakdown may occur, but not necessarily associated with CNM. The conciliation of parenting and sexual roles is facilitated when communication and intimacy are present between partners. Participants emphasized the importance of family before their chosen sexual lifestyle. The relationship with health care providers is critical for participants of CNM as it impacts how they seek health care or disclose their lifestyle. This is more important during the transition to parenthood as more challenges can be present. Three phases that CNMCs pass through were also identified, contemplation, acting and incorporation, to integrate CNM as a lifestyle. Discussion: These findings permitted a closer look at the conciliation of the parenting role and the sexual lifestyle of CNMPCs during their transition to parenthood. These findings demonstrated not only how CNMPCs were similar and different from participants in other studies, but also highlighted how they were uniquely distinct. This distinction appears to stem from a certain resilience gained from the three phases of the incorporation of CNM as a lifestyle that appears to buffer these couples in situations of stress. A new proposed model, CNMPCs’ Model of Resilience during the Incorporation of CNM as a Lifestyle While Parenting, is suggested. There is a need for more psychosexual education for perinatal nurses in regard to sexuality minorities such as CNMPCs in the context of the transition to parenthood.

This essay aims to examine what subject positions are possible within the discourse of relationship anarchy. Through semi-structured interviews with four people who define themselves as relationship anarchists I've made a discourse analysis to determine how these relationship anarchists explain what, in the discourse they’re in, is described as an relationship anarchistic way of being, what isn’t and how they relate to this. Relationship anarchy is described as an ideology based on freedom. It is about the right to define their relationships as they like, as something constantly changing and that does not hold a specific value based on its label. But it is apparent that the freedom is relative when it occurs in a discourse where other standards are created. Based on these standards, both the hegemonic discourse, where being a couple is the relationship standard, and the counter-hegemonic relationship anarchist discourse, the respondents are positioning themselves as something different from that, and that their way of practicing relationships are based on responsibility and communication. Based on this I find that there are three possible subject positions within relationship anarchy: the idealogical, the player and the responsible.

Människor formar kärleksrelationer på många olika sätt. I dagens samhälle är seriellmonogami normen och det ansedda idealet. Idealiseringen av monogama relationermedför en nedvärdering av icke-monogama relationer och de personer som praktiserar dessa,däribland polyamorösa. Trots detta finns många fördelar med polyamorösa relationerdokumenterade. Våra huvudsakliga syften med den här studien var att få en förståelse förpolyamorösas upplevelser av mononormen samt undersöka vilka relationsfrämjande aspektersom finns i polyamorösa relationer. Vi genomförde tio semistrukturerade telefonintervjuer medpersoner som identifierade sig som polyamorösa. Utifrån denna datainsamling genomförde vitematisk analys. Analysen resulterade i tre större huvudteman: ”minoritetsupplevelser”,”relationsfrämjande aspekter” och ”polypositiva upplevelser”, samt några mindre teman. Vidrog slutsatsen att polyamorösa kan mötas av fördomar och praktiska begränsningar och attmononormen kan bidra till minoritetsstress som hanteras med eller tar sig uttryck iinternaliserade fördomar, skyddsbeteenden och pro-aktiva polynormaliserande handlingar. Vikunde också konstatera att polyrelationer präglas av öppen kommunikation, aktiva uttryck avkärlek och omsorg, villighet till anpassning, polypositiva attityder och en syn på obehagligakänslor som hanterbara. Polyamorösa upplever sina relationer som allmänt positiva medhänsyn till personlig utveckling, livsbejakande och positiva upplevelser avparamourer. Samhället, och speciellt de som arbetar inom människovårdande yrken, bör ta tillsig denna kunskap för att kunna säkerställa ett inkluderande bemötande av polyamorösa. / People form romantic relationships in various ways. In today’s society, serialmonogamy is the norm and the considered ideal relational form. The idealization ofmonogamous relationships implies a disparagement of non-monogamous relationships andthose who practice these, for example polyamorous people. In spite of this, many benefits ofpolyamorous relationships have been documented. Our main aims of this study was to gaininsight of how polyamorous people experience the mononorm, and to examine relationshippromoting aspects of polyamorous relationships. We conducted ten semi-structured telephoneinterviews with people who identified as polyamorous. Based on this collection of data weconducted a thematic analysis. The analysis resulted in three main themes: “minorityexperiences”, “relationship promoting aspects” and “poly-positive experiences”, and someminor themes. We concluded that polyamorous people can face prejudices and practicallimitations and that the mononorm can contribute to minority stress which is coped with orexpressed in internalized prejudices, safeguarding behaviors and poly normalizing actions. Wecould also state that polyamorous relationships are characterized by open communication,active expressions of love and care, willingness to make adjustments, poly-positive attitudesand a view of uncomfortable emotions as manageable. Polyamorous people experience theirrelationships as positive in general, taking into account personal development, life affirmationand positive experiences of paramours. Society, and especially human care professionals,should take this knowledge into consideration to be able to ensure an inclusive treatment ofpolyamorous people.

No description available.

Made available in DSpace on 2015-05-14T13:16:16Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 arquivototal.pdf: 2444653 bytes, checksum: 4ffb7187848d533921aa2e6d844abb2a (MD5) Previous issue date: 2013-03-27 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / The main goal of this dissertation was to know in what extent the values, love and jealous explain the attitudes toward polyamory. It also aimed at developing a measure of self-report (explicit), Attitudes toward Polyamory Scale (ATPS) and an implicit measure (IAT-Monogamy/Polyamory) measure in order to evaluate such attitudes. Thus, it was conducted four empirical studies. Study 1 corresponded to the elaboration of the Attitudes toward Polyamory Scale (ATPS). Participants were 207 students from two private universities of João Pessoa (PB), with ages ranging from 18 to 50 (m = 25.7, sd = 7.19), most being male (56%). They answered a questionnaire divided in two parts. The first part had seven open questions, and the second, socio demographic questions. Participants answers were evaluated by automatic content analysis (ALCESTE). Two different classes were listed. In short, they revealed a comprehension of the problematic surrounding the polyamory dynamics as a romantic relationship. Study 2 presented the psychometric parameters of the proposed measure (ATPS). Participants were 261 undergraduate students from João Pessoa (PB), with ages ranging from 18 to 63 years (m = 30.1; sd = 9.80), most being female (57,5 %). The ATPS presented two components with internal consistency (Cronbach s alph) of .86 and .78, respectively. Reading the items content has allowed to define them as polyamory as a possibility of relationship and feelings regarding the polyamory . Study 3 describes how human values, the dimensions of polyamory and the factors of jealous explain attitudes toward polyamory; and, moreover, it aimed to test the two dimensional model of the ATPS. Participants of this study were 242 undergraduate students from the state of Piauí, with mean age of 23 years (sd = 5.28, amplitude of 18 to 50), most being female (64.2%). It was evident that the affective dimension, especially jealousy, had greater predictive power on explaining these attitudes; and that polyamory as a possibility of relationship was less conventional to people who engage socially accepted norms regarding romantic relationships, such as those guided by normative values. Results also confirmed the two factor structure of the ATPS. Finally, Study 4 sought to construct an implicit measure in order to evaluate attitudes toward polyamory, and analyze the relation between implicit and explicit measures of this construct. Two versions of the IAT-Monogamy/Polyamory were used. The pencil and paper version counted with the participation of 170 students from a public university from Piauí (PI), with mean age of 22 years (sd = 5.15), most being female (70%). In the computerized version, participants were 100 students from a public university of Piauí-PI, with mean age of 22 years (sd = 2.93). There were significant correlations between implicit and explicit measures, indicating that when people had favorable explicit attitudes toward polyamory, respectively, they expressed favorable implicit attitudes toward this form of relationship. However, for students, monogamy and polyamory were not presented on opposite sides, suggesting that people favorable to monogamy are not necessarily opposed to polyamory. / O objetivo desta tese foi conhecer em que medida os valores, o amor e o ciúme explicam a atitude das pessoas diante do poliamor. Também, buscou-se elaborar uma medida de autorrelato (explícita), Escala de Atitudes Frente ao Poliamor (EAFP) e uma medida implícita (TAI-Monogamia/Poliamor) com o intuito de mensurar tais atitudes. Para tanto, foram realizados quatro estudos empíricos. O Estudo 1 diz respeito à elaboração da Escala de Atitudes Frente ao Poliamor (EAFP). Participaram 207 estudantes de duas universidades particular da cidade de João Pessoa PB, com idades variando de 18 a 50 anos (m = 25,7 e dp = 7,19), sendo em sua maioria do sexo masculino (56%). Eles responderam a um questionário que se encontrava dividido em duas partes. A primeira parte possuía sete perguntas abertas, e a segunda parte, perguntas de natureza sócio-demográficas. As respostas dos participantes foram avaliadas por meio da análise de conteúdo automática (ALCESTE). Foram elencadas duas classes distintas. Em síntese, eles revelaram a compreensão da problemática em torno da dinâmica do poliamor enquanto relacionamento amoroso. O Estudo 2 apresenta os parâmetros psicométricos da medida proposta (EAFP). Participaram 261 estudantes universitários da cidade de João Pessoa - PB, com idades variando de 18 a 63 anos (m = 30,1, dp = 9,80), sendo a maioria do sexo feminino (57,5 %). A EAFP apresentou dois componentes com consistência interna (alfa de Cronbach) de 0,86 e 0,78 respectivamente. A leitura do conteúdo dos seus itens permitiu defini-los como poliamor como possibilidade de relacionamento e sentimento em relação à prática do poliamor . O Estudo 3 descreve como as variáveis valores humanos, as dimensões do amor e os fatores do ciúme explicam as atitudes frente ao poliamor; e, ainda, pretendeu-se testar o modelo bidimensional da EAFP. Participaram desta pesquisa 242 estudantes universitários do estado do Piauí, com idade média de 23 anos (dp = 5,28 amplitude de 18 a 50 anos), sendo a maioria do sexo feminino (64,2%). Evidenciou-se que a dimensão afetiva, em especial o ciúme, pareceu possuir maior poder preditivo de explicação destas atitudes; e que o poliamor enquanto relacionamento amoroso mostrou-se ainda menos convencional para as pessoas que aderem às normas socialmente aceitas para as relações amorosas, a exemplo daqueles que se pautam por valores normativos. Os resultados também confirmaram a estrutura bifatorial da EAFP. Por fim, o Estudo 4 tratou de construir uma medida implícita com o intuito de mensurar atitudes frente ao poliamor, e analisar as relações entre as medidas implícita e explícita acerca deste construto. Foram utilizadas as duas versões do TAI-Monogamia/Poliamor. A versão lápis e papel, contou com a participação de 170 estudantes de uma Universidade Pública do Piauí-PI, com idade média de 22 anos (dp = 5,15), sendo a maioria do sexo feminino (70,0%). Na versão computadorizada, participaram 100 estudantes de uma universidade pública do Piauí- PI, com idade média de 22 anos (dp = 2,93). Verificaram-se correlações significativas entre as medidas implícita e explícita, indicando que quando as pessoas apresentavam atitudes explicitas favoráveis ao poliamor respectivamente elas manifestavam atitudes implícitas favoráveis a esta forma de relacionamento. Entretanto, para os estudantes monogamia e poliamor não se apresentaram em lados opostos, sugerindo que as pessoas favoráveis à monogamia necessariamente não se mostraram contrárias ao poliamor.