Contemporary Chinese families are experiencing an increasingly rapid pace of change because of economic growth and the consequences of the One Child policy. These changes are leading to changing expectations concerning gender roles and relationships in families, including those of fathers and daughters. In addition, the long history of Confucianism in Chinese society gives men's roles in families their own specific meanings. The thesis analyses the family lives of girls and their fathers at key points of historical change and in the life course of young people and fathers living in Shanghai. Its contribution to knowledge rests on exploring the applicability of western theories about changing family practices and relationships in a Chinese context. The study examines daughters' and fathers' perspectives of father-daughter relationships among two cohorts of girls aged 13/14 and aged 16/1 7. It seeks to understand how girls and fathers construct their identities as teenagers and as fathers; their family practices; and how they negotiate parental authority and adolescent independence. A multi-method research design was employed: four focus groups conducted in schools, a questionnaire survey with girls ~=767) and their fathers ~=599), and eight pairs of semi structured interviews carried out separately with daughters and their fathers. It was found that most girls were generally happy with their relationships with their mothers and fathers. Both fathers and their daughters valued their fathers' financial and emotional support. Although fathers 'cared about' their daughters, they did not perceive themselves as the parent who should 'take care of their daughter's daily lives. Fathers were also found to spend less time with their daughters, especially those in the older cohort, compared with mothers. Overall, fathers' involvement was mainly focused on girls' education. However, fathers also exercised power over areas of their daughters' social lives, such as going out and making friends, internet use and romantic relationships.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:bl.uk/oai:ethos.bl.uk:573076 |
| Date | January 2012 |
| Creators | Xu, Qiong |
| Publisher | University College London (University of London) |
| Source Sets | Ethos UK |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Electronic Thesis or Dissertation |
| Source | http://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/10020679/ |
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