Few studies have been conducted on the transition to parenthood in the context of Korean society, where rapid modernization has brought about abrupt changes in family structure for young couples. The purpose of the present study is to describe the experiences of 52 urban Korean primiparous mothers during their transition to parenthood, by comparing maternal adaptation in nuclear and traditional family settings. All mothers were interviewed at the hospital after delivery and one week later, at each mother's home. The degree to which the pregnancies were planned, marital satisfaction, mothers' observation of traditional customs, such as Taegyo, levels of maternal depression and self esteem, and maternal adaptation were measured. The data show that mothers who lived in traditional family settings received more support from their families and were more likely to use their mothers as sources of information on childcare, to observe the traditional customs related to childbirth, and to breast-feed, than the nuclear family mothers. Although living in nuclear family settings, the nuclear family mothers maintained close contact with their families of origin. Their husbands were more involved in childcare, and the mothers were more likely to use books and peers as sources of knowledge about childcare. They were more self-reliant and less depressed than the traditional family mothers. The findings suggest that the transition to parenthood is influenced by mothers' lack of information about pregnancy and child care, by the lack of previous experience in childcare, and by the quality of the support mothers receive. These results provide support for preventive educational programs, designed to provide information and modeling of childrearing practices for new mothers. These principles should be based on the integration of the findings of modern psychology and medicine and traditional beliefs and practices of related to parenthood.

Enhancing and facilitating a strength-based intervention model presents a challenge for practitioners and those involved in program design and policy. This study examined a shift away from a deficit-based approach and toward strength-based assessment of family functioning within current early childhood practices. The initial effectiveness of the Family Functioning Style Scale in facilitating the re-framing of family functioning was assessed and patterns of reported family strengths were analyzed and compared. A random sample of 64 parents, equally representing four different early childhood program models, were asked to complete the scale, participate in informal discussion, complete a follow-up questionnaire, and answer follow-up questions individually three months later. The sample of parents reflected equal distribution among Head Start, Day Care, Early Intervention and Pre-School Special Education programs as well as represented equal distribution with respect to ages served (0-3, 3-5) and special education program and regular education models. The study also included a sample of 13 professionals, representing the four programs, who completed the scale based upon their knowledge of 13 of the families in the parent sample. While inter-class correlation coefficients indicated that there was no significant evidence to show that there was a difference in the rating of family strengths between parents and professionals, professionals expressed a need to gain further familiarity with the strengths of families they served. When asked if completing the scale helped them to identify family strengths, 77.6% of the respondents to this question indicated that they felt the scale had been effective. The area of strength most frequently reported by the total sample was in cohesion. The area of strength least frequently reported by this sample was in communication. Income was significantly correlated with the full scale score (FFSS) and the strength dimensions of competence and cohesion. Risk factors, such as low income and social isolation, were felt to impact the reporting of strengths within each sub-group. Several significant differences between the four sub-groups were reported with respect to the full scale mean scores as well as within several of the strength dimensions. This study supported further investigation of the use and effectiveness of scales as well as the option of interviews in order to assess family strengths and facilitate a strength-based model for intervention. In addition, the researcher emphasized the importance of staff training and policy formation in order to support program models in their effort to create environments which will maximize the recognition of family strengths and nurture the empowerment of families.

This study is an inquiry into the school life of pregnant teenagers and teenage mothers. The purpose of the study is to gain insight into conditions that exist in schools that make it possible for pregnant and parenting teenagers to be successful learners in school. An additional purpose is to gain insight into the difficulties pregnant and parenting mothers face that hinder their school success. Four research questions guide this study: Research Question 1: What conditions in schools do teenagers report make it possible for them to be successful leaners in school once they become pregnant? Research Question 2: What conditions in school do teenage, mothers report make it possible for them to become successful learners in school once they have a baby? Research Question 3: What do teenagers report as the major difficulties that hinder them from being successful learners in school once they are pregnant? Research Question 4: What do teenage mothers report as the major difficulties that hinder them from being successful learners in school once they have a baby? This study employs qualitative research methods. Twenty-one participants across the United States were interviewed. The interviews were transcribed verbatim then rewritten as narrative profiles. Each profile was searched for data that answered the four research questions. An open-coding strategy was used to identify themes in each narrative profile, and then across profiles that emerged for each research question. Three themes emerged on conditions in school that support learning: Social/Emotional Support, School Programs, Practices and Policies and Characteristics of Self. The mirrored opposite of these themes emerged as themes that hinder learning. In addition, three themes that hinder learning outside of school emerged: Lack of Social and Emotional Support Outside of School, Life Circumstances and Time. The challenges and support individual school settings create are complex because of the many variables that effect how the individual and the learning environment interact. Striking diversity, as well as common perceptions about the conditions that support and hinder success in school were evident in the findings.

Informed by object-relations theory (as formulated by Alice Miller, D. W. Winnicott, and Christopher Bollas), this study explores the emotional impact upon children of parental unavailability in a sequence of four Cather novels published between 1915 and 1923--The Song of the Lark, My Antonia, One of Ours, A Lost Lady. However varied the scenarios or parental absence in these texts (whether inscribed as parents' dying, as parents' relocating and leaving children behind, or as parent's failing to recognize their children's emotional needs), their absence bears strikingly similar consequences in the lives of their children. What may be those children's most far-reaching loss is a psychic one: namely, that of the parental mirror, to adopt the language of object-relations. What recurrently characterizes the adulthoods of Cather's child-protagonists is the quest for a surrogate mirroring-object in which they seek a glimpse of a part of the self that plagues them by its half-detected presence--suggesting that in Cather, realization of self must be preceded by recognition by another. As Cather's protagonists attach themselves to various objects (another family, a social cause, an art), so do they characteristically elide an emotionally injurious past by erecting in its place an idealized past which becomes the object of a most intense nostalgia. This dynamic--by which the image of one's childhood (at the center of which often figure one's parents) is preserved at a cost to the integrity of the self--underwrites depression, as that concept has been defined by object--relations theory.

The purpose of this study was to explore the meaning of the experience of foregoing motherhood in the context of a lesbian identity. Five lesbian mothers and five lesbian non-mothers were interviewed using a guided in-depth interview format. Lesbian mothers were included because it was believed that they could articulate the meaning that the pursuit of motherhood had for them; thus shedding light on the converse experience of foregoing motherhood. Five common themes emerged about the meaning of foregoing motherhood: Self perception and understanding of self; Self as a lesbian; Self in relation to others; Self in relation to the decision to either pursue or forego motherhood; and Self in the future. Results indicate that self understanding was the most salient source of meaning for narrators; most of whom reported having an intuitive sense of whether or not they were predisposed for motherhood. Results also suggest that lesbian identity was not a salient factor in the decision to forego motherhood, except in one case in which internalized homophobia precluded the narrator from following her internal predilection for motherhood. Partner relationships were cited as one of the few factors that could conceivably force a reconsideration of the decision to forego motherhood. Family of origin was a salient source of meaning, but not as salient as the narrator's own sense of internal predilection about motherhood. The decision to forego motherhood was an easy one for most narrators because it was in line with who they internally knew themselves to be. Interestingly enough though, non-motherhood was not a salient aspect of identity for non-mothers in this study. And finally, non-mothers had less of a clear sense about their future identity and/or future familial relationships than did their mothering peers. A review of existent literature, limitations of the study, a comparison of results to the existent literature and the associated practical and research implications are presented, as are a comprehensive presentation and analysis of results. In conclusion, this study articulates the need for further research on the experience of foregoing motherhood in the context of a lesbian identity.

This dissertation presents the results of a study designed to explore the personal experience of being children of Holocaust survivors or children of parents who served the Third Reich. The clinical literature reveals some of the psychological problems reported by children of Holocaust survivors, but there is no information about the difficulties experienced by the children of perpetrators or by-standers of the Third Reich. Little is known about the strengths and resources used by this second generation to manage and make meaning out of this painful and difficult legacy. This study included a review of the literature on the historical, sociological, and psychological context of Nazi atrocities as well as a glimpse into current thinking in Holocaust studies. Qualitative research was conducted with eight participants, four children of Holocaust survivors, and four children of parents who served the Third Reich. Data from in-depth interviews were grouped into four themes that were common to all the participants; when and how the participants learned about the Holocaust, the effect of this legacy on their personal development during childhood, the impact of the legacy on the participants' chosen professions or work in the world, and the participants' current values and thoughts on spiritual and social issues. Thematic analysis of each category further defined the experience of the participants and offered a data base for emerging implications. The implications include: the need for further study of the effects of war and genocide on the second generation, the need for greater education, and the inclusion of the second generation in treatment of psychological trauma, the need to provide opportunities for the descendants of both sides to speak and have their stories heard in a safe and non-judgmental environment, and the greater concern about the long-term psychological damage of wars, genocide, and group violence on future generations.

For the last three decades, social historians who studied early America expanded older interpretations of colonial economy and society to include family, social position and gender as legitimate topical themes. During that same period, economic scholars have used social historians' community and household studies to explore rural self-sufficiency, the development of commercial agriculture and the Atlantic sea trade. Despite the recent use of family household economies to explore and explain colonial economy and society, most have entirely neglected one of the most fundamental early American industries: domestic textile production. Colonial historians have previously used information about wool, flax and hemp in broadbased arguments about the productive side of the colonial economy, yet few have considered textile production a significant colonial economic activity. As a result, textile-producing networks, construed as either economic or social phenomenon, have largely gone unnoticed. This study draws evidence from a broad array of sources including the probate inventories of Essex and Suffolk County, Massachusetts, extant account books, trial transcripts, court records and material culture. Combined with a working knowledge of cloth-making, those records reveal that domestic textile production was a major form of social organization, especially in early Massachusetts. Textile-producing networks clearly served to draw households, neighborhoods and regions together in particular ways. From the processing of fibers to the finishing of cloth, intense cooperation and an extensive system of corporate labor were key elements of textile production. Simply put, no one gender or age group was responsible, rather a confluence of female and male as well as young and old laborers was necessary to the success of the industry. Ultimately, because cloth was so important to the daily lives of colonists, their labors made an important contribution to the available domestic supply and to the success of their colony. At the same time, the system of cooperative networks necessary to the industry profoundly influenced the development of both the society and economy of early Massachusetts Bay.

The effects of prenatal substance exposure on newborn behavior and subsequent attachment quality was investigated in a sample of 29 drug-exposed infants. Participants in this study were part of a larger sample of high-risk women and their infants enrolled in a longitudinal study. Data regarding prenatal substance use, 4 weeks prior to delivery, was available for 17 infants. Prenatal substance use data were obtained from substance use histories, obstetrical and neonatal medical chart reviews and case manager notes. Frequency of substance use was reported as either $>$1 time per day, 1 time per day, 3-6 times per week, 1-2 times per week, 1-3 times per month and unknown. Qualitative substance-use data were converted to quantitative data and were correlated with newborn behavior (NBAS Lester clusters and Als dimensions). At 1 month, maternal report of prenatal substance exposure 4 weeks prior to delivery was significantly associated with the reflex cluster of the NBAS. Increased amounts of drug-exposure was related to an infant displaying an increased number of abnormal reflexes at the 1-month NBAS assessment. NBAS individual items; inanimate auditory stimuli and self-quieting were found to be positively related to attachment security, suggesting that infants with these abilities may appear more attractive to their caregivers, thus helping to create a more positive "goodness-of-fit" between infant and caregiver. Prenatal substance use throughout pregnancy (n = 13) was found to be positively associated with security of attachment (p =.03). Other factors undetected within this study (i.e. social support), may have influenced interactions between infant and caregiver and subsequently increased the potential for secure attachment. Finally, an infant's ability to attend to stimuli was found to be positively related to the attachment subcategories A1-B2 in the Strange Situation, lending further support to the idea that infant temperamental characteristics may influence whether infants are more likely to be classified as "avoidant" or "resistant", but not secure vs. insecure. Findings from this study suggest that infants exposed to drugs prenatally continue to show physiological abnormalities through the first month of life. The results were discussed in terms of implications for child development and future research.

Over the centuries, human infants have been fed with their mothers' breast milk. The development of alternatives, i.e., animal milk and artificial formula, have given contemporary mothers a second choice. Although both methods of infant feeding are capable of sustaining the human infant at this early stage of development, most scholars maintain that human milk is the most nutritious and best first-food for human infants. Most experts in infant nutrition generally recommend the mother's milk as her infant's first food, especially for healthy mothers and infants. Specifically, this study surveyed infant feeding choice and practice among samples of expectant mothers in three states in the United States. A total of 180 mothers from various clinics and agencies in three states were surveyed. These subjects completed a pre-delivery questionnaire on infant feeding choice and a post-delivery questionnaire on infant feeding practice. Chi-square tests and correlation analysis were used for data analysis. Results of the study highlight significant factors that influenced the subjects' choice of infant feeding methods before delivery and infant feeding practice after delivery. The subjects' demography, education, income, marital status, consultation with a nutritionist, childbirth education classes, and family infant feeding history were all found to be statistically significant factors that influenced pre-delivery choice and practice of infant feeding methods. The subjects' age, occupation and parity were not influential factors in choice of infant feeding methods. However, mothers' age, occupation and availability of support to mothers significantly influenced infant feeding practice. Post-delivery data analysis showed that the availability of after-delivery support system for mothers, type of feeding initiated immediately after delivery, latching, and feeding schedule were all statistically significant factors that influenced the subjects' post-delivery infant feeding practice. Other factors that influenced subjects' choice and practice of infant feeding methods includes influences of the media, hospital staff practices, peers/friends, spouse, and the baby's grandparents. The key findings and other general findings discussed later in this study are of significant importance to parents, child care service providers, early childhood educators, child developmentalists, doctors, nurses, and pediatricians.

This dissertation examines a number of issues regarding employer-provided work-family programs. Chapter 1 provides a brief overview of the rise of employer-provided work-family programs and research in this field. Chapter 2 is a case study of the implementation of a model work-family program in a major U.S. corporation. It examines the degree to which this corporation succeeded in providing adequate information and equitable access to the various benefits and policies that comprised its work-family program. In analyzing the successes and failures of this organization, by extension I call into question the success of other large corporations in providing programs that are equitable in terms of employee wage level, race/ethnicity, and location within the organization. Chapter 3 models the decisions by dual-earner couples regarding the allocation of their own time toward childcare activities versus the time they purchase paid childcare services, using individual and joint parental time budgets as choice variables. First, I demonstrate a relationship between working non-traditional full-time day schedules that approximate those available through flextime programs and the staggering of time at home by working couples. Then, regression analysis establishes a relationship between the time budgets thus established and the allocation of childcare time among mother, father, and paid service providers. Data from the 1992 National Study of the Changing Workforce (NSCW) is used for this research. Chapter 4 examines the preferences of women who are members of labor unions for various work-family benefits and policies. Drawing again on the 1992 NSCW data, I explore possible explanations for similarities and differences between the preferences held by union women and men and union vs. non-union working women.