Parenting Council Research Clearinghouse: Library "W"
We’re a Family - A study of how lesbians and gay men are creating and maintaining family in New Zealand
Authors:
Alexandra Gunn and Nicola Surtees
Date:
2009
Published by:
Families Commission
Location:
New Zealand
Abstract:
Lesbians and gay men can face significant challenges as they seek to create and maintain families that include children but in most cases they overcome these challenges with considerable success, new research funded by the Families Commission has found.
The paper “We’re a family”: A study of how lesbians and gay men are creating and maintaining family in New Zealand by Alexandra Gunn and Nicola Surtees from the University of Canterbury, was supported by the Commission’s “Blue Skies” research grant scheme. Twenty interviews were conducted with parents from 19 families. The majority of interviews were with lesbian mothers either parenting as single women or as couples. Two of these couples were also parenting with single gay men. One interview was with a gay male couple.
The authors found that there were different challenges facing gay and lesbian parents depending upon whether they were using assisted reproduction, or whether they were bringing children into a family from a previous heterosexual relationship.
This small qualitative study into whānau was funded by the Families Commission through its Blue Skies Research Fund. The aim of this study was to explore with Māori within the policy environment their understandings of the concept of whānau and its use in social policy settings. The literature covers a period of 60 years, and has been reported on by conceptually diverse disciplines. The result has been a range of constructs and new ways of viewing whānau. Māori interviewed for this project asserted the primacy of the whānau tuturu based on whakapapa as forming the ‘intrinsic whānau’, with the metaphorical use of whānau forming an outer layer. Differences between the ‘intrinsic whānau’, the ‘whānau ā kaupapa’ and family were also described. While the notion of whānau – both biological and ā kaupapa – has been used in policy settings since the 1980s, participants felt it was not the role of academics and policy-makers to define whānau assume its meaning and embed the notion in legislation. Both the assumed understandings of the concept of whānau and its application within Western legal approaches pose risks for Māori. Given the breadth and depth of the notion of whānau, it would be difficult for policy and legislation to capture its whole meaning and to apply it appropriately.
Whānau Socialisation Through Everyday Talk- A pilot study
Authors:
Huia Tomlins-Janke and Arohia Durie
Date:
2008
Published by:
Families Commission
Location:
New Zealand
Abstract:
This pilot study that explores what māori whānau talk about in their everyday lives and how such talk contributes to whānau socialisation.
The Whänau Talk project was a pilot study conducted to explore what Mäori whänau (families) talk about in their everyday lives and how such talk contributes to whänau socialisation. In Growing Up Mäori, Witi Ihimaera compiled views of people from a range of Mäori backgrounds (Ihimaera, 1998, p 28). In some sense the contents of Ihimaera’s book helped to illuminate the findings in the Whänau Talk project – not so much because they explore what the documented whänau talked about, but because each text shows how the socialisation of the person concerned influenced the way they grew up
Whanau Toko I Te Ora: A Parenting Skills Programme
Author:
Ian Livingstone
Date:
2002
Published by:
Ministry of Education: Education Counts
Location:
New Zealand
Abstract:
The Māori Women's Welfare League undertakes a parent support & development programme: Whanau Toko i te Ora. Evaluation of the programme comprised of 16 case study interviews. General findings are as follows: The health environment of whanau on entry to the programme in general was poor; Two-thirds of the whanau had improved their housing and transport circumstances over the period, either by reducing overcrowding in their existing homes, or by moving to another home with better facilities and services; Virtually all the caregivers in the study were on a benefit; Nearly all those in the study had left school by the end of the fifth form, without formal qualifications; The whanau in the study encompassed a wide range of ages, but half had at least one child of preschool age, in most cases attending a kohanga reo; Every home had a TV, and in almost every case, caregivers said they monitored their children's viewing; Very few of the caregivers were fluent in te reo Māori, but during the programme most whanau began to identify more strongly with their Māori heritage, learning the language, and using it more often and naturally in conversation.
What makes parenting programmes work in disadvantaged areas?
Author:
Stephen Scott, Thomas O'Connor and Annabel Futh
Date:
2006
Published by:
Joseph Rowntree Foundation
Location:
Britain
Abstract:
There is increasing enthusiasm in government and the community for parenting programmes. However, little is known about what influences their effectiveness in poor, ethnically diverse areas. In this study, Stephen Scott, Thomas O'Connor and Annabel Futh from King's College London conducted a controlled trial of a parenting programme – PALS – in primary schools in central London.
When School’s Out: Conversations with Parents, Carers and Children about out of School Services
Date:
2007
Published by:
Families Commission
Location:
New Zealand
Abstract:
Caring for children outside of school hours can be a juggling act for many parents. Families often combine raising school-aged children with numerous other activities, such as paid employment, caring for younger children or older relatives, and study or voluntary work. This means that families’ needs and preferences for out of school childcare differ.
The Families Commission held 19 consultation meetings throughout the country and ran an online questionnaire to ask families about their OSS needs. Almost 350 adults and 190 children attended the meetings and over 600 people responded to the questionnaire on our online feedback panel The Couch.
This paper provides a case study of the preferences for infant care of four women with very different personal situations and levels of career commitment. It looks at the women's preferences for infant care, and how their arrangements impacted on family life, infant well-being, and employment. The study presented here is small and exploratory in beginning to examine choices in the type of childcare and the quality of childcare valued and used by parents of infants. It identifies that parents' know what is quality care for their baby but this can conflict with what they know they should want as a member of society.
Whose Role is it anyway?: Implementing family–friendly workplace practices in New Zealand
Author:
Susan Lilley
Date:
2004
Publisher:
This project was under the supervision of Dr. Jane Higgins and Dr. Ruth McManus, Department of Sociology and Anthropology University of Canterbury
Location:
New Zealand
Abstract:
Family friendly workplace practices and ‘work-life balance’ initiatives seem to be a significant issue in the 21st century. These polices, designed to help people raise children and engage in life style activities while participating in paid work, are increasingly on the agenda of international organisations and governments around the world. This new focus is in response to the changing nature of work and family that flows from the impact of globalisation and shifting demographics.
This research report provides a descriptive picture of the reciprocal relationship between paid work and family life and raising children. Specifically, it provides insight into the work and lifestyle preferences and expectations of New Zealanders, and how paid work and family life are managed, as well as the division of housework and childcare responsibilities.
Written with both the student of social and community work and the practising social and community worker in mind. All aspects of social and community work are covered in this book that builds on and substantially extends the authors’ earlier work Supporting Families (1999).
This edition continues a strong emphasis upon context, the cornerstone of effective social and community work practice. It covers the key areas of reflective practice, policy, management and leadership, approaches to support, and diversity.
Each chapter contains questions that can be used as teaching aids or reflection prompters in practice. The book includes a new chapter which provides a detailed examination of current ‘strengths-based’ thinking internationally.
