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There were two primary aims of the present study. The first aim was to examine the relationships between work-interference-with-family (WIF) and specific eating behaviors (eating vegetables, fruits, snack foods) reported by employed mothers, as it relates to health criteria such as BMI. Related to this first aim, household coping strategies were proposed as playing a significant role in the relationship between WIF and eating behaviors. The second aim was to investigate the crossover of WIF to specific child eating behaviors via mother feeding practices or mother eating behaviors. Self-report and other-report survey data were collected from working mothers and their children (recruited from the YMCA Afterschool Program in Hillsborough County), yielding a sample of 262 employed mothers and 238 mother-child dyads. Mother self-report results supported a negative relationship between WIF and mother eating vegetables on work days, but no relationships emerged for eating fruits or snack foods. Regarding the role of coping in the context of the WIF - eating behavior relationship, results were more supportive of a suppression effect than of a moderating effect of coping. There was no support for an indirect relationship between WIF and BMI via eating behaviors. Analysis of the crossover hypotheses revealed support for a negative association between WIF and the mother's feeding practices (monitoring behaviors), but no evidence was found for the hypothesized meditational relationships between mother WIF and child eating behavior (via mother eating and mother feeding) using multisource data. However, the results of supplementary analyses using only mother-report data supported several of the meditational crossover relationships. The results have implications for theoretical development and future research in the growing area of work-family and health. Major findings regarding WIF and specific eating behaviors, coping, and mother vs. child report are discussed.

Managing the conflict between work and family role demands is a critical issue that has generated substantial interest for both individuals and organizations in recent decades. One factor thought to contribute to the occurrence of work-family conflict (WFC) is the amount of time committed to activities in either the family or to the work domain. Because time is a finite resource, it has been posited that when one dedicates a certain amount of time to one domain, this will invariably take away from the amount of time available for activities in the other domain. The result of this is conflict between the domains of work and family (Greenhaus & Beutell, 1985). However, the relationship between time at work and work-family conflict is not always this clear. In the current study, it was proposed that work schedule fit is a moderator of the relationship between working hours and both forms WFC. That is, the nature of the relationship between the amount of time spent at work and WFC depends, in part, on perceived work schedule fit.Recent research has gone beyond the notion of the work and family domains existing in perpetual conflict and has begun to focus on how these two domains can benefit each other. It has been argued that certain resources gained in the work domain can be beneficial to the family domain, and vice-versa (Greenhaus & Powell, 2006). Furthermore, affective states in one domain can spill over to the next, which could have both positive and negative consequences. In the current study, it was proposed that work schedule fit is a resource that facilitates both positive spillover from work and positive spillover from the family. Hypotheses were tested using moderated multiple regression and zero-order correlations. Support was not found for proposed moderator hypotheses, however support for mediation was found in exploratory analyses. Support was also found for the proposed relationship between work schedule fit and both positive spillover from home and positive spillover from work. Implications of these findings are discussed.

No description available.

Magister Psychologiae - MPsych / Women’s roles in the workplace have increased but expectations within their family roles have not diminished. Work-family conflict (WFC) occurs when work and family roles are mutually incompatible in some respect. Mothers’ representations of their own particular personal contexts seem largely absent from the cultural iconography and so motivations for the study included bringing to light the phenomenological experiences of contemporary fulltime working mothers by developing a rich description of their lived experience. These ideas have not been widely explored in South Africa. The study aimed to explore how full-time working mothers experience work-family conflict, including how they conceptualise their dual roles, how salient each role is to them, the factors in the work and family domains which are particularly pertinent for them and any coping strategies they might employ. The study used as a theoretical framework the model of work-family conflict developed by Greenhaus and Beutell in 1985, together with an extension from the work of Amstad, Meier, Fasel, Elfering and Semmer in 2011. The study used a phenomenological methodology. Eight middle-class, professional, full-time working mothers from the Southern Suburbs and City Bowl of Cape Town were interviewed individually, using a semi-structured interview schedule. A qualitative paradigm was used to analyse the interviews. Emotional and cognitive repercussions of WFC were many, including feelings of unsustainability. Some participants acknowledged a need to compromise in order to cope, but the current normative messages are not conducive to this. Participants aspire, not to stop working, because the role of worker is regarded as important for self-definition, but to reduce their overall load. The generalisability of this study was reduced because of its localised ambit, its small size and some similarities in socio-economic profile among the participants. Future studies could further explore the choices or strategies which are successful in reducing WFC.

The present study had four main objectives. First, the relationship between the provision of spousal support and its theoretical antecedents and consequences was assessed as informed by the conservation of resources theory (Hobfoll, 1989). Second, the crossover of physicians' work interference with family conflict on their spouses' family demands (perceived family demands and family hours) was investigated. Next, the mediating role of social support as an explanation for the crossover process was examined using two distinct pathways. Lastly, the fourth objective of the present study was to investigate the relationships described above across multiple time points and using dual-source data (from physicians and their spouses). The final sample included matched responses from 126 couples across two time points. Results were generally supportive of the relationship between the provision of spousal support and the receipt of spousal support, perceived family demands, family hours, and work interference with family conflict (WIF) and were consistent with expected relationships according to COR theory. Results also provided support for the synchronous crossover of WIF on perceived family demands; however, results were generally unsupportive of the mediating role of the provision of spousal support in the crossover process. The present study makes several important contributions to the social support, work-family conflict, and crossover literatures by adding to the knowledge of the antecedents and consequences of the provision of spousal support, the growing body of research examining the crossover of WIF, and the understanding of the mediating role of the provision of spousal support in the crossover process. Major findings and areas of opportunity for future research are discussed.

This study was influenced by the circumstances of children in need of care and protection. I conducted the study through a lens that takes the perspectives of “family life” seriously. Section 28(1)(b) of South Africa’s Constitution provides for the right to family care, parental care, or appropriate alternative care to a child who is removed from family life. This provision prioritises the nurturing and development of children in families. South Africa has a diversity of family models which provide family or parental care to children. Children also face various challenges and difficulties in the family environment, such as abuse, neglect, poverty, exploitation, and other traumatic experiences which make them more vulnerable and in need of care and protection. These circumstances are identified as grounds for mandatory intervention and often influence the decision by the children’s court to remove children. The study demonstrates how family care, parental care, or appropriate alternative care are provided in South Africa’s Children’s Act, enforced by the judiciary, and have evolved in practice. Unfortunately, the Children’s Act does not explicitly provide for families, family care and the responsibility of the state to assist families to enable them to function optimally. Government and stakeholders therefore lack guidance in their engagement with the family to address the plight of children in families or raise the quality of life of the family on a continuous basis. The social worker who conducts investigations into the circumstances of the child who is in need of care and protection, must facilitate the provision of prevention and early intervention services with a view to strengthening the family. Unfortunately, social workers sometimes abuse their powers by removing children without prioritising the support needed to keep them in families. Furthermore, the state’s assistance in supporting families may be challenging due to resource constraints, underspending on the state budget, and delay in the delivery of services. Before the children’s court decides to remove the child into alternative care it must, upon identifying a specific ground for mandatory alternative care intervention, conduct an investigation and hold an inquiry regarding the circumstances of the child. The parent and the child must have access to information and participate in the decision-making process. Once the decision to remove the child is reached, the children’s court can opt for different alternative care options. It is crucial to decide on alternative care of a nature and quality that resembles family life. Such care must enable the child and the parent to mutually enjoy each other’s company, as this is an essential element of family life. Thus, the state must put measures in place to ensure that the child establishes contact and has a continuous relationship with family members in view of possible reunification with the family. Alternative care must also provide permanency planning which must explore the option of reuniting the child with his or her family after removal, or adoption if reunification efforts fail. Although adoption is preferred upon failure of reunification efforts, it is challenged by policy and practice which, if not carefully considered, may impact on the right of the child to family life. South Africa has ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and is bound to develop its policies in line with the CRC. It is an issue of concern as to whether the implementation of the Children’s Act goes far enough in meeting CRC standards or complying with the Constitution. Thus, the study is means of comparative research, which includes international standards and foreign jurisdictions, with the view of suggesting improvements for South African child legislation. Recommendations for the best possible options towards refining the Children’s Act are made. The proposed provisions could advance the reform of child and family services and thus make a difference in the lives of children in families. / Thesis (LLD)--University of Pretoria, 2012. / gm2013 / Private Law / unrestricted