This dissertation addresses how the institution of the modern, nuclear family is accepted and contested in contemporary society. In particular, the dissertation focuses on the recent movement within the lesbian and gay community to gain access to the social, economic, and legal benefits of marriage. The research entailed structured open-ended interviews with 90 lesbians and gay men living in Massachusetts. The dissertation addresses three central questions: (1) How do the practices of lesbians and gay men (including same-sex ceremonies and struggling for the legal right to marry) reflect larger structural changes occurring within the institutions of marriage, family, and gender in the United States?; (2) Why and how are lesbians and gay men creating new meanings of marriage and family for themselves?; and (3) To what degree does gender influence lesbians' and gay men's conceptions of marriage and family?

This study is an exploration of the relationship between housing and the rearing of young children among families in poverty. A year long open-ended, qualitative investigation was conducted with three families living in a small town. Frequent visits allowed for familiarity with family members, household routines, social networks, changing circumstances, and life problems. Families spent at least part of the year in secure and pleasant non-profit housing; but time was also spent in inadequate housing, doubled up with relatives, or in one case in a homeless shelter. The children involved ranged from one to nine years of age. An in-depth analysis of particular events and circumstances in the household lives of these families clarified ways in which housing contributed to patterns of parental behavior and perception which powerfully undermined or supported the best interests of these children. A case is made for considering housing assistance as a most appropriate form of support for families living in poverty.

Improving parenting is an effective way to develop a resilient child. Positive parenting helps increase autonomy, social competence, sense of self, sense of purpose, and problem-solving skills, which are traits found in resilient children. Few parenting programs are specifically tailored for children five or younger, are preventive, nor promote resilience. This study compared what factors experts in the mental health field identified that help promote resilience, increase parental involvement and reduce attrition in treatment. A mixed methods survey was administered to nine experts with a follow-up phone interview to gather qualitative data and clarify responses. Therapists reported that capacity to adapt, being resourceful, being optimistic, having a sense of self, and empathy towards others were traits found in resilient children. To promote resilience, therapists used psycho-education, play, and homework when working with parents. When working with children, therapists used play, art therapy and sand tray activities to promote resilience. It was found that while most therapists were trained in an EBP parenting program, they were not commonly used for treatment. These experts reported that scheduling conflicts and costs influenced whether families continued in treatment; families who had access to transportation, participated in group therapy and were engaged to lead a group, were more likely to complete treatment. Furthermore, therapists reported that most of their clients were Caucasian, African-American and Hispanic and that they adapted the physical appearance of visuals and how they communicate the interventions to each family to ensure cultural sensitivity.

The purpose of this ethnographic study of Puerto Rican parental involvement was to understand how Puerto Rican families in Western Massachusetts view public education and participate in their children's educational experience. Although many studies look at parental involvement within white and non-marginalized families, only a few studies examine Puerto Rican parental involvement and the home environments of Puerto Rican families and how they support their child's education (Hine, 1992; Nieto, 1995, 2000). This study examines three distinct groups of Puerto Rican families with differing employment and income levels. For this study, the researcher interviewed twenty two Puerto Rican families. These families were either from the lower socioeconomic class, working class, or the professional class as determined by their employment and income. An ethnographic/qualitative research methodology was used within this research study, and this allowed the researcher to understand not only the participants' words but also the unique influences of both the community and neighborhoods in which the participants lived and raised their children. Data collection consisted of semi-structured interviews and observations of the families over a period of six months. The project's findings reveal that there are both similarities and differences between the three different social classes. This study highlights the importance of family relationships, bilingualism and biculturalism and Puerto Rican cultural pride as the central themes and findings that emerged within my study. Additionally, social class affected both the family's personal perceptions of their own skills and knowledge regarding their ability to support their children's education. Families with lower social economic class status were less likely to reach out to school staff and to question teachers given their perception that they did not have the same formal training or education as the teachers. However, families with greater income and education levels interacted more regularly, directly, and critically with school staff through actively engaging in dialogue with their child's teachers. To a greater degree, families with working class or professional class employment and incomes were able to operationalize or to name specific skills and knowledge that they could provide as parents to their children at home that would support their school experience.

The demographics of today's workforce are changing at a rapid pace. Organizations are seeing an increase in the number of dual-career families, women entering the labor market, and single-parent households. Such changes have affected both organizations and the employees themselves. Employees are finding the need to manage increasing conflict between family and work roles. In response, some organizations are beginning to offer a variety of alternative work arrangements to enable workers to better balance opposing family and work demands. Organizations, in return, retain a greater number of skilled, quality, workers and obtain a broader pool of applicants. Furthermore, working an alternative, more preferred schedule may also reduce role overload and conflict and lessen excessive job involvement. These variables have been shown to relate to work/family conflict, ultimately affecting job satisfaction, commitment, and the propensity to remain with the organization. The purpose of this dissertation was to expand a model of work/family conflict by studying the effects of preferred versus unpreferred work schedules on work family conflict and the antecedents and outcomes of work/family conflict. Specifically, this study examined whether and how the desire to work a preferred schedule affected the relationship between work based role stressors, job involvement and work/family conflict on one hand, and job satisfaction, job commitment, and the intention to leave on the other, among a group of professional employees. A questionnaire consisting of eight summated scales was distributed to 122 employees of three firms: a computer firm, an electronics firm, and a hospital. Path analysis was used to analyze the results, offering a more robust interpretation of the responses. The results of the path analysis indicated that the desire to work a preferred schedule both directly and indirectly (through role conflict) affected work/family conflict, moderately supporting the extended model. Most respondents indicated that they would prefer a different work schedule to better balance work and family obligations. The work schedule preferred most often by employees was a full-time flexible schedule, four or five days per week. No relationship was found between the desire to work a preferred schedule and role overload, job involvement, or organizational outcomes.

This dissertation is a critique of current scholarship on the urban underclass, based upon the lives of impoverished minority youth who reside in Springfield, Massachusetts. My ethnography illustrates that the range of behaviors and lifestyles that characterize these youngsters and their families defy over-simplified generalizations of an urban underclass. I argue that the failure to provide a more accurate description of the lives of the urban poor has, in effect, reinforced the victim-blaming tendencies inherent in American culture and has likewise diminished the quality of public services the poor receive. To this end, I emphasize the need for a conceptual framework that overcomes monolithic characterizations of the urban poor and instead captures the complexity that underlies the behaviors and the identities of the urban poor (particularly street youth) as they struggle to acquire the resources necessary to the survival of their families and their communities.

This study describes the socioeconomic characteristics, assesses the basic information about special education the Hispanic parents are interested in knowing about through educational workshops and orientation, and identifies the need for services that allow the Hispanic parents active participation in the educational processes of their children with special needs. The involvement of parents in the education of their children with special needs at the national level was mandated by Public Law 94-142, The Education of All Handicapped Children Act of 1975. According to this Federal Law, the parents have the right to be active participants in decision making related to the educational needs of their children, especially in the development of the Individualized Educational Plan (IEP). According to the literature reviewed, parents are usually less prepared to actively participate in IEP conferences since they possess the least amount of knowledge pertaining to laws, advocacy, rights, sources, and special education procedures. Studies have demonstrated that participation of parents in the decision-making process has been passive, limited to giving and receiving information, and sometimes simply signing the Individualized Educational Plan (IEP). The lack of knowledge about Public Law 94-142 and about the procedures of special education related to services makes necessary the creation of educational workshops addressed to parents of children with special needs. In the first part of this study, it was found that Hispanic parents surveyed in the site selected for this research study show particular socioeconomic characteristics that should be taken into consideration when active participation and involvement in the educational process of their children with special needs is expected. Findings in the second and third part of this study should be taken into consideration by school personnel, administrators, and community-based program directors when planning, developing, and providing educational workshops, counseling, and orientation to a culturally-diverse population.

The main argument in this dissertation is that changes in male nuptiality in rural India between 1921 and 1981 was a form of household adaptation to wage dependency and proletarianization in the countryside. The male nuptiality in rural India in 1921 was characterized by extremely early marriage throughout the country. Under conditions of high mortality of that period, early marrying men had an advantage in forming joint households (with both parents present). Male nuptiality in rural India grew more diverse in 1981, and came to be characterized by at least two distinctive nuptiality regimes: One which strongly resembled peasant nuptiality of the early 20th century and the second represented an emergent adult pattern of nuptiality among males in rural India. The variation in marriage age of males in rural India was significantly related to the level agricultural proletarianization in 1981. Regions characterized by early male nuptiality were generally dominated by household-based or peasant production, while regions of later marriage among males were more likely to have a substantial wage labor sector. Due to declines in mortality, the possibility of young men living in a joint household with both parents rose between 1921 and 1981, regardless of age at marriage. But within each level of mortality, early marrying men still had better chances of being able to form a joint household (with both parents). Marriage postponement among males in some parts of rural India may have modified many aspects of the household development process. More important, it may have allowed greater flexibility with respect to the timing of household formation, and also ensured that men were financially able to support a family when they married.

Research into the role of the family in the etiology and maintenance of bulimia is scant, and typically concentrates on bulimic-anorexics rather than normal weight bulimics. This study attempts to bridge the gap, and investigates two questions: (1) do normal weight bulimics come from more "enmeshed" families than do normal weight nonbulimics; and (2) what are the bulimic woman's family beliefs regarding food, eating, and weight? Eighty normal weight women between 18 and 26 years were divided into three groups: bulimics (N = 21), nonbulimic clinical controls (N = 25), and nonbulimic normal controls (N = 34). Each woman completed a questionnaire comprised of demographic questions, the Bulimia Test, a measure of family functioning developed by Bloom, and The Separation-Individuation Test of Adolescence. Each of the inventories yielded scale scores upon which the three groups were compared. In addition, four of the bulimic women were interviewed in depth about their families. Analyses of variance revealed that bulimics perceive their families as less cohesive, and operating in a less democratic and more laissez-faire fashion than their nonbulimic counterparts. Further, bulimics tend to deny that they may need others, to avoid more symbiotic relationships, and to experience greater engulfment anxiety than the nonbulimics. Questions generated by the investigator concerning the family's beliefs and behaviors around food, eating, and weight were factor analyzed, and the three groups were compared on 5 of the factors. Bulimics were found to perceive their families as using food inappropriately and as not engaging in healthy eating habits more than the nonbulimics. Results suggest that the bulimic women in this sample perceive their families as more "enmeshed" than do the other women, and that the families of bulimics gave their daughters confusing and unhealthy messages about food and eating, which probably remain with them. It is believed that these women lack appropriate coping skills, as a result of their family upbringing, and return to their maladaptive eating patterns in times of stress. Alternative explanations and future directions are offered.

In this work I argue on the one hand that the modern family of the west deserves criticism for its role in the persistence of unmet need, of hurtful and unnecessary inequality, and of a harmful management, denial and denigration of difference. On the other hand, I also argue that the modern family deserves some defending, both for its role in creating us as people for whom the legitimacy of our order can be an issue, and because it is a locus of much that people experience as worthwhile. I am concerned in this work not only with the ambiguity of the modern family, but also with the general problem posed by ambiguity and affirmation. I approach this issue from the point of view on an "ontology of discordance." By this view, each way of constructing a self (and so any possible way of forming society) necessarily involves exclusion and loss, and perhaps means denial and denigration as well. I do not think, however, that this fact is necessarily any cause for "pessimism," as there are still grounds on which to defend social order as an achievement. In particular the fact of discordance calls on us to create forms of order which acknowledge their own impositional quality. This means that we must create greater institutional space for unmanaged difference. Along these lines, I affirm the importance, in modern conditions, of maintaining a category of "family," but by this term I mean only a relation whereby child care and household are accorded some distance from the state and from the "public" realm. The point is that we should avoid detailing what constitutes a "family" and instead provide vastly increased across the board support for multiple forms of householding. In particular we need to support all the individuals who care for and protect children. My conclusion is that under modern conditions this kind of minimalist defense of family best serves the causes of equality for women, space for difference, and the end of the imposition of social class.