MultipliCities: The Infrastructure of African American Literature, 1899-1996 explores intersections between black fiction and canonical sociology through two extended case studies focusing on the authors Richard Wright and Paul Beatty. The formation of disciplinary sociology in the early twentieth century had a profound influence on the production and reception of African American literature. Sociologists at the University of Chicago were among the first to teach black fiction and poetry in the academy, and institutionalized a social scientific framework for comprehending black culture. This framework, which assumes that black writing produces racial knowledge about black experience, continues to pressure contemporary African American authors through the demands of the publishing industry today. At the same time, though, African American authors throughout the twentieth century have resisted sociological expectations for their work and responded critically to the social scientific study of the black community more broadly. MultipliCities studies black writers whose fiction is specifically critical of sociological conceptions of black personhood and place. While Richard Wright's best-selling Native Son (1940) has been canonized as a type of sociological fiction, I read against this critical tradition for the ways in which his juvenile delinquent protagonist, Bigger Thomas, evades his production as a social scientific object. I locate further evidence for Wright's revision of sociological knowledge production in his final, posthumously published novel, A Father's Law (1960; 2008), in which the main character is a sociologist and a serial killer who violently deforms the mastery of the social scientific expert. In my second case study, I turn to contemporary novelist Paul Beatty's post-civil rights era novel The White Boy Shuffle (1996), which I read as a mock ethnography in its description of a postindustrial ghetto that exceeds the sociological imagination of the so-called "culture of poverty." Though rap music is often interpreted as evidence of the alleged impoverishment of inner-city black community, in my final chapter I read Beatty's "hip hop novel" as challenging the social scientific expectations for black popular culture that are part of the ongoing legacy of the canonical sociology of race. / text

Neabejojama, kad tėvų tarpusavio nesutarimai gali būti vaiko streso priežastis. Sveikų vaikų tyrimai rodo, kad vedybiniai konfliktai gali būti ypač žalingi vaikams. Kaip šiuo atveju vedybiniai konfliktai siejasi su vaikų, sergančių bronchų astma, psichologiniu prisitaikymu tyrinėta dar nedaug. Šio tyrimo tikslas – patikrinti sąsajas tarp tėvų konfliktų raiškos, jų vaikų, sergančių BA, psichologinio prisitaikymo ir tam tikrų demografinių duomenų. Tyrime apklausti 192 vaikų, kurių amžius nuo 1,8 metų iki 12 metų amžiaus, tėvai. 86 vaikai, iš kurių 56 berniukai ir 30 mergaičių, serga lengva (N = 55) ir vidutine (N = 31) astmos forma. 106 to paties amžiaus vaikai, 55 berniukai ir 50 mergaičių, nesergančių jokia lėtine liga, sudarė kontrolinę grupę. Tyrime naudota Vaikų elgesio aprašai (CBCL/1½-5 ir CBCL6–18), Porų konfliktų ir problemų sprendimų skalė (CPS) bei vaiko aplinkos klausimynas. Tyrimo rezultatai rodo, kad vaikai, sergantys bronchų astma (BA), turi daugiau internalių sunkumų nei sveiki vaikai. Mergaitės, sergančios BA, turi daugiau eksternalių sunkumų nei sveikos jų bendraamžės. Sunkumų raiška, priklausomai nuo astmos sunkumo ir nuo sergančio vaiko lyties, nesiskiria. Nustatėme, kad ikimokyklinio amžiaus vaikai, sergantys bronchų astma, turi daugiau emocinių ir bendrų (elgesio ir emocinių) sunkumų nei sveiki jų bendraamžiai. Rezultatai atskleidė, kad BA sergančių vaikų tėvai (pagal mamų vertinimus) efektyviau sprendžia tarpusavio nesutarimus nei sveikų vaikų tėvai... [toliau žr. visą tekstą] / There is no doubt that parental conflicts can be the cause of child‘s stress. The studies of healthy children show that marital conflicts can be extremely harmful. However there are not many empirical studies of how marital conflicts relate to psychological adjustment in children with bronchial asthma. So the purpose of this study was to explore the relations between parental conflicts resolutions, their children with asthma psychological adjustment and certain demographic data. During the study parents of 192 children aged from 1,8 - 12 years were questionned. 86 children, 56 boys and 30 girls, were suffering from mild (N = 55) and moderate (N = 31) asthma forms. 106 of the same age children, 55 boys and 50 girls, without any chronic disease were used as a comparison group. In the study Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL/1½-5 and CBCL6–18), the Conflicts and Problem – Solving Scales (CPS) and child‘s environmental questionnaire were used. The analysis of results showed that children with asthma have more internal difficulties than healthy children. Girls with asthma have more external difficulties as compared to their healthy peers. The expression of these difficulties does not differ depending on the form of asthma or child‘s with asthma gender. It was found that pre-school age children with asthma have more emotional and general (emotional and behavioural) difficulties than their healthy peers. The study showed that parents who had children with asthma (under the mothers... [to full text]

Abstract The purpose of this research is to describe fathers' experiences in the context of family life after the birth of a baby. The approach to the topic is phenomenological. The data were collected in two stages from partners or husbands of women who had given birth to a child in a central hospital. First, 30 fathers were interviewed in 1999, three months after the child's birth. Three years later, in the spring and summer of 2002, 15 out of the 30 fathers were selected for a second interview on the basis of their ample talking and subsequent ability to express their experiences best. There were both first-timers and more experienced fathers among the informants. The open, conversational interviews yielded 650 pages of material, which was analyzed by the phenomenological method developed by Amadeo Giorgi and further developed by Juha Perttula in Finland. The study produced 15 individual situational meaning structures concerning the fathers' experiences. These individual meaning structures were used to create a general situational meaning structure concerning the fathers' experiences of family life after the birth of a baby. The family life after the birth of a baby involved the meaning of obtaining and building a home. It produced joy, happiness, but also responsibility and concern. The wife's pregnancy, the delivery and the new child entailed growing as a father and developing as a man. It also called for adjusting to the changed situation. The fathers' experiences of family life after the birth of a baby were influenced by their own childhood experiences and upbringing, by their growth into fatherhood and by their actions as fathers. The atmosphere of the home was based on the relationship between the husband and wife. The fathers appreciated the professionals' way of meeting and caring for the expectant family, but felt that the approach was mother-oriented and ignored the fathers. / Tiivistelmä Tutkimuksessa kuvaillaan isien kokemuksia perheenlisäyksen yhteydessä. Tutkimuksen lähestymistapa on fenomenologinen. Keräsin keskussairaalassa synnyttäneiden äitien avo- tai aviomiehiltä aineiston kahdessa eri vaiheessa: vuonna 1999 haastattelin kolmen kuukauden kuluttua synnytyksestä 30:tä perheenlisäyksen kokenutta isää ja kolmen vuoden kuluttua ensimmäisestä haastattelusta valitsin heidän keskuudestaan 15 isää, jotka puhuivat riittävästi ja ilmaisivat näin kokemuksiaan parhaiten. Nämä isät haastattelin kevään ja kesän 2002 aikana uudelleen. Isät olivat vaihtelevasti joko ensimmäisen lapsen isiä, tai joissakin perheissä oli useita lapsia. Tutkimusaineistona olivat isien avoimet keskustelunomaiset haastattelut, joita kertyi kaikkiaan 650 sivua. Analysoin aineiston Amadeo Giorgin kehittämällä ja Juha Perttulan edelleen kehittämällä analyysimenetelmällä. Tämän tutkimuksen tuloksena muodostui 15 yksilökohtaista situationaalista merkitysrakennetta isien kokemuksista perheenlisäyksen yhteydessä. Niiden avulla tämän tutkimuksen tuloksena muodostettiin yleinen situationaalinen merkitysrakenne isien kokemuksista perheenlisäyksen yhteydessä. Koettu perheenlisäys merkitsi isille kodin rakentumista ja rakentamista. Se tuotti iloa, onnea ja myös vastuuta sekä huolta. Vaimon raskaus, synnytys ja uusi lapsi merkitsivät kasvamista isänä ja kehittymistä miehenä. Perheenlisäys merkitsi sopeutumista uuteen muuttuneeseen tilanteeseen. Isien kokemuksiin perheenlisäyksestä vaikuttivat lapsuuden kokemukset, isäksi kasvaminen, kasvatus ja isänä toimiminen. Miehen ja vaimon välinen parisuhde oli perusta kodin ilmapiirille. Odottavan perheen kohtaaminen ja hoito koettiin äitisuuntautuneeksi ja arvokkaaksi mutta isät ohittavaksi.

This study represents an attempt to describe the extent and features of safe haven legislation in the United States, discuss implementation issues, and to examine if the legislation is reaching its intended target audience in order to answer the question, "Is safe haven legislation an efficacious response to infant abandonment?" Safe havens are designated locations where infants can be anonymously abandoned without fear of prosecution or incarceration. As of May of 2006, forty-seven states have passed such legislation, citing the need for an alternative to unsafe infant abandonment leading to an infant's death, and an alternative to infanticide (the killing of an infant within one year of its birth). Since the initial passage of this legislation in Texas in 1999, there have been more unsafe infant abandonments than accounts of safe haven abandonments. As this legislation provides for anonymous infant abandonment researchers cannot study the population of women actually utilizing safe havens. Therefore, the study of women seeking connection with safe havens in comparison to the population of women who have engaged in infant abandonment resulting in an infant's death is considered one of the sole viable sources of insight into this problem. The scope of the research is exploratory in nature and analyses are considered preliminary due to the lack of data that exists in this area and the relative newness of the legislation.A quantitative analysis of women likely to utilize safe havens reveals that they have a mean age of 19, are unmarried, have entered into prenatal care late, have disclosed their pregnancy to someone, and are currently dating the birthfather. The findings from this analysis were compared to those from a national linked birth and infant death dataset to ascertain if women seeking safe havens have similar biopsychosocial characteristics as those engaging in unsafe abandonment leading to an infant's death. Similar biopsychosocial characteristics were found including mother's age, marital status, late entry into prenatal care, disclosure of pregnancy, and dating status. A regression analysis was used to construct a biopsychosocial profile of women likely to abandon an infant. Findings suggest that legislators and those involved with safe havens have some knowledge of their target population, but are not effectively reaching this audience, nor promoting the existence of safe havens. They also appear to be utilizing research findings on infanticide inappropriately, in order to profile their target audience. This effectively limits the promulgation of education and early identification services that could prevent both safe haven and unsafe infant abandonments. This study concludes with policy reform recommendations.

It is the purpose of this study to investigate the influence of age, siblings, family structure, religious beliefs, mother's occupation, father's occupation, homemaking courses taken, status of parents, number of rooms in home, and students' work hours after school on the Negro girl's interest in curriculum items on personal, family and community relationships.

This thesis investigates the prevalence of religious themes in the work of several prominent contemporary women writers—Margaret Atwood, Michèle Roberts, Alice Walker and A.L. Kennedy. Relying on Luce Irigaray’s recent theorisations of the religious and its relationship to feminine subjectivity, this research considers the subversive potential of engaging with religious discourse through literature, and contributes to burgeoning criticism of feminist revisionary writing. The novels analysed in this thesis show, often in violent detail, that the way the religious dimension has been conceptualised and articulated enforces negative views of female sexuality, justifies violence against the body, alienates women from autonomous creative expression and paralyses the development of a subjectivity in the feminine. Rather than looking at women’s religious revision primarily as a means of asserting female authority, as previous studies have done, I argue that these writers, in addition to critiquing patriarchal religion, articulate ways of being and knowing that subvert the binary logic that dominates Western religious discourse. Chapter I contextualises this research in Luce Irigaray’s theories and outlines existing work on feminist revisionist literature. The remaining chapters offer close readings of key novels in light of these theories: Chapter II examines Atwood’s interrogation of oppositional logic in religious discourse through her novel The Handmaid’s Tale. Chapter III explores two novels by Roberts that expose the violence inherent in religious discourse and deconstruct the subjection of the (female) body to the (masculine) Word. Chapters IV and V analyse the fiction of Kennedy and Walker respectively, revealing how their novels confront the religious denigration of feminine sexuality and refigure the connection between eroticism and divinity. Evident in each of these fictional accounts is a forceful critique of religious discourse, as well as an attempt to more closely reconcile foundational religious oppositions between divinity and humanity, flesh and spirit, and body and Word.