The relationship between mothers and daughters has been shown to be generally positive and strong throughout the life cycle. The relationship may become strained, however, as mothers become dependent due to deteriorating health or chronic health conditions. It has long been recognized in both the gerontological and intergenerational literatures that caring for a dependent elderly parent can be burdensome and stressful for some caregiving adult daughters. Using the elaborated wear-and-tear hypothesis, this study examined longitudinally the impact of the amount of care given on 140 caregiving daughters' perception of the quality of their relationship with their elderly dependent mothers. It was hypothesized that increases in the amount of care given by caregiving daughters over time would lead to a corresponding decrease in relationship quality. It was also hypothesized that relationship quality and amount of care given would be stable over time. Results indicated that providing more care does decrease relationship quality between caregiving daughters and care-receiving mothers over time although it does not do so initially. Further, the results of study showed that relationship quality and amount of care given, on average, are stable over time. / Graduation date: 1997

It is well established that family members, particularly adult children, are involved in their frail parents' decision making. It remains unclear however, how intergenerational decision-making influence is exercised and how it relates to personal and relationship characteristics. This study examined the impact of decision-making strategies and a mother's level of dependence on her daughter on perceived relationship quality as measured by intimacy. The purposive sample consisted of 64 pairs of elderly mothers and their caregiving daughters. Face-to-face interviews explored the connections of various decision-making influence strategies, demographic characteristics, and relationship quality. Mother's level of dependence on her daughter for assistance was measured by a list of 53 caregiving tasks and activities. A series of four multiple regression analyses was used to predict relationship quality from the decision-making influence strategies (i.e., option-seeking, overt negative, covert negative, positive) used by elderly mothers and their caregiving daughters and mother's level of dependence on her daughter. The factors that were most predictive of mothers' perceived intimacy were: (a) mothers' reported use of positive decision-making strategies (e.g., asking partner how she feels, imagining her feelings) and mothers' reported use of fewer covert negative strategies (e.g., ignoring the need for a decision, withholding support); and (b) daughters' reported use of fewer overt negative strategies (e.g., showing anger, irritation, criticizing). The factors that were most predictive of daughters' perceived intimacy were: (a) daughters' reported use of fewer overt negative strategies (e.g., showing anger, irritation, criticizing); (b) daughters' reported use of positive influence strategies (e.g., asking partner how she feels, imagining her feelings); and (c) mothers' reported use of positive strategies (e.g., asking how she feels, trying to imagine her feelings). Mother's level of dependence on her daughter was not found to be predictive of mothers' or daughters' perceived intimacy. These results as well as recommendations for future research and practice are presented. / Graduation date: 1993

This novel is a work of fiction that explores the relationships between three women in the remote mountain village of Gildone in Southern Italy. It begins in 1956 after the protagonist, Liliana Farinacci, discovers she is pregnant. Her husband, Domenico, leaves Italy for Venezuela to find work. Before marrying Domenico, Liliana's former boyfriend, Raphael, confesses his love for her and leaves to better himself in Venezuela. Abandoned and alone Liliana escapes her sorrows at the family bakery that she runs. The novel follows Liliana, the birth of her daughter, Francesca, and the birth of her granddaughter Anna. Liliana copes with all the gossip in the small town. She also learns that the one secret her mother kept from her might have made a difference in her life's choices and happiness. / by Gloria Panzera. / Preliminary p. vii numbered as "1". / Thesis (M.F.A.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2010. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, Fla., 2010. Mode of access: World Wide Web.

The increasing elderly population is creating a greater need for care providers. Research indicates that while caregiving can be rewarding, it can also generate stress which, in turn, impacts individual well-being. Social support, however, may foster the well-being of persons who are experiencing stressful events. The purpose of this study was to examine the contribution of perceived social support from close family (siblings, spouse, and children) and background characteristics to well-being for a sample of women caring for mothers who were not cognitively impaired. The sample for this study (N=65) was drawn from a larger five year western Oregon study of women caregivers (Walker, 1986), and included only those women who: participated during the third year of the larger study; were married; and had at least one child and one sibling. Data were collected via face-to-face interviews. Pearson correlations and multiple regressions were used to assess the contribution of family support and background characteristics to well-being. Well-being, as measured by the CES-D scale, was the dependent variable in all regressions. The independent variables included the caregiver's self-reported health, and her perceptions of support (measured by supportiveness, positivity of contact, and conflict) from siblings, spouse, and children. Overall, results from this study indicated that women caregivers' perceptions of relationships with close family did impact their well-being. While measures designed to tap supportiveness and positivity of contact were not significantly related to well-being, conflict was. Specifically, conflict with a spouse was associated with lower well-being. Second to conflict with a spouse, respondent's health was the strongest predictor of wellbeing: poor health was significantly associated with lower well-being. In general, recommendations and implications focused on the need for: (a) repeating this type of research among other caregiver populations; (b) developing multidimensional measures of family support; (c) services that provide individuals with positive ways to deal with lifetensions that foster interpersonal conflict; and (d) services that target caregivers who are in poor health. / Graduation date: 1992

This study examines the lives of fifteen women from five families of Muncie, Indiana, women.. Each participating family has represented (in maternal decension), a grandmother, a mother, and a daughter. With one exception, all were born, raised, and are still living in Muncie, the "Middletown" of 1929, Robert S. and Helen M. Lynd's seminal study.The data determined what the persistent challenges were in the lives of these three generations of women, and what approaches they used to respond to them. Family relationships, attitudes toward women in the workplace, relationships between men and women, and an understanding and comparison of the attitudes of each generation are included in the study. Data were largely obtained by means of the ethnographic interview technique.Data indicated similar approaches to meeting challenges were used within a family, and approaches varied from family to family.A variety of approaches were used situationallyby all the women of all generations.The study supported prior research showing that religiosity strongly transfers from generation to generation. / Department of Educational Leadership

The purpose of this study was to develop a deeper understanding of the experiences of Latina women in Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) relationships. Young Women's Christian Association-Women In Need Growing Stronger (YWCA-WINGS) is a program in Los Angeles County that works with victims and survivors of IPV.

Drawing on standpoint and intersectionality theories, this study explores the degree to which New York State’s Rockefeller Drug Laws and interactions between criminal, educational, and welfare policies have contributed to the maintenance of a culture of surveillance in which the lives of African American women in distressed households are overseen and influenced by oppressive policies and governmental institutions. Qualitative secondary analysis of longitudinal ethnographic data was conducted. Two detailed family cases are the focus of the study. Findings demonstrate multiple disadvantages that impoverished African American families struggling with alcohol and/or other drugs (AOD) use and/or sale experience. These disadvantages accumulated intergenerationally, in a snowball effect making it difficult for participants to maintain stable lives. For instance, oppressive policies, discrimination, poverty, AOD use, and violence hindered many participants’ ability to obtain a high school degree which in turn contributed to the obstacles they faced finding meaningful employment. Findings explored the tension between participants’ experiences with oppression and the multiple ways they either assimilated or resisted their oppression. While the Rockefeller Drug Laws assume that harsh sentences deter people from AOD use/sale, none of the participants mentioned imprisonment as a motivator to avoid AOD. Participants’ classification of crack, cocaine, and heroin as the most dangerous AOD were congruent with the Rockefeller Drug Laws’ classification of AOD. However, the way the law dispensed prison sentences reduced people to their AOD use because it disregarded all other aspects of their lives. Unlike the Rockefeller Drug Laws, participants found drug use to be sometimes a functional activity insofar as it was an additional source of income and a coping strategy in dealing with oppression. Findings indicate that simply addressing problematic AOD use among impoverished African American families in New York at the micro level is not sufficient or feasible. While it is important to examine and address individual needs and problems associated to AOD use, macro forces such as lack of meaningful employment for unskilled workers must be addressed. Social workers must foster critical thought, support an operational definition of AOD abuse/dependence, and advocate for social justice within the field of AOD use. / text

published_or_final_version / Social Work / Master / Master of Social Sciences

It has been widely believed that modernity is a byproduct of a nuclear family system, a highly urbanized society, and a secular way of life. As such, developing countries are characterized as modern insofar as their social and cultural structures are able to correspond to these criteria. To examine the validity of these propositions, data on two randomly-selected generations--daughters and mothers in the United Arab Emirates--were generated.

The life experiences of two first generation Hmong refugee women form the basis of this study. Through loosely structured but guided interviews, memories of their lives in Laos and in refugee camps in Thailand, as well as their perspectives, feelings, and opinions about current aspects of their lives, the effects of American culture on their family; and their engagement in the language and culture learning process are explored. An examination of the involvement of Hmong women in research and ethnographic accounts concerning Hmong culture, history, and experience, show that Hmong women's perspectives have often been overlooked or disregarded. One purpose of this study is to afford an opportunity to hear the voices of these Hmong women, whose lives are centered in the home and in maintenance of family, and whose responsibilities and cultural roles have limited their contribution to research and literature on the Hmong and their participation in refugee and immigrant resettlement and English language programs. The data for this study was collected in tape recorded interviews using an informal, loosely structured interview process: a conversational narrative rather than a formal oral history interview. This data was then transcribed and reconstructed to form both a chronological personal history and a view of the culture and current lives of the informants. The perspectives of the women in this study, revealed through the conversational narratives, are shown to reflect the informants past reality and demonstrate their attempts to adjust to a new cultural identity and environment. Moreover, conversational narratives and oral histories are shown to be potentially valuable resources for culture and language learning and suggest meaningful applications for English as a Second Language education and refugee resettlement.