scholarly journals Building a new life and (re)making a family

2019 ◽  
Vol 31 (3-2019) ◽  
pp. 287-302 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ada Ruis

This article presents results of a qualitative analysis based on biographic narratives of three young, well-educated women from Syria. They arrived in the Netherlands between 2015 and 2017 in the context of family reunion. The central question is how young Syrian women navigate between two major projects that ask for their agency, being family and work. It is argued that both occupational career development and the building of a family are ‘agentic projects’ that aim to contribute to the establishment of a new life and to regain continuity. The analyses demonstrate that both projects are closely intertwined. Agency emerges as highly relational and intersecting with the women’s position in the life course, timing of life events, ability to adapt career goals to the new situation, and impact of social contexts on family relations.

Author(s):  
Cornell Collin

Is God perfect? The recent volume entitled The Question of God’s Perfection stages a conversation on that topic between mostly Jewish philosophers, theologians, and scholars of rabbinic literature. Although it is neither a work of biblical theology nor a contribution to the theological interpretation of scripture, The Question of God’s Perfection yields stimulating results for these other, intersecting projects. After briefly describing the volume’s central question and contents, the present essay situates the volume’s offerings within the state of the biblical-theological and theological-interpretive fields. In its next section, it considers—and compares— The Question of God’s Perfection with one twentieth-century theological antecedent, the Dutch theologian K.H. Miskotte. In closing, it poses questions for ongoing discussion. The Question of God’s Perfection: Jewish and Christian Essays on the God of the Bible and Talmud, edited by Yoram Hazony & Dru Johnson. Philosophy of Religion – World Religions 8. Leiden, The Netherlands: Brill, 2019. ISBN 9789004387959


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-147
Author(s):  
Ryutaro Uchiyama ◽  
Rachel Spicer ◽  
Michael Muthukrishna

Abstract Behavioral genetics and cultural evolution have both revolutionized our understanding of human behavior—largely independent of each other. Here we reconcile these two fields under a dual inheritance framework, offering a more nuanced understanding of the interaction between genes and culture. Going beyond typical analyses of gene–environment interactions, we describe the cultural dynamics that shape these interactions by shaping the environment and population structure. A cultural evolutionary approach can explain, for example, how factors such as rates of innovation and diffusion, density of cultural sub-groups, and tolerance for behavioral diversity impact heritability estimates, thus yielding predictions for different social contexts. Moreover, when cumulative culture functionally overlaps with genes, genetic effects become masked, unmasked, or even reversed, and the causal effects of an identified gene become confounded with features of the cultural environment. The manner of confounding is specific to a particular society at a particular time, but a WEIRD (Western, educated, industrialized, rich, democratic) sampling problem obscures this boundedness. Cultural evolutionary dynamics are typically missing from models of gene-to-phenotype causality, hindering generalizability of genetic effects across societies and across time. We lay out a reconciled framework and use it to predict the ways in which heritability should differ between societies, between socioeconomic levels and other groupings within some societies but not others, and over the life course. An integrated cultural evolutionary behavioral genetic approach cuts through the nature–nurture debate and helps resolve controversies in topics such as IQ.


2019 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 257-272 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tjeerd W. Piersma ◽  
René Bekkers ◽  
Wim de Kort ◽  
Eva-Maria Merz

This article examines how blood donation loyalty changes across the life course as a result of life events. Previous studies have shown that life events affect involvement in prosocial behavior, possibly as a result of loss of human and social capital. Using registry data from the blood collection agency in the Netherlands, linked to longitudinal survey data from the Donor InSight study (N = 20,560), we examined whether life events are related to blood donor lapse. Childbirth, losing a job, and starting a job increase the likelihood of donor lapse, while health-related events (i.e., blood transfusion in a family member, death of a family member) decrease the likelihood of donor lapse. Moreover, results showed how social and practical concerns explain donors’ decisions to donate blood after the occurrence of life events. We discuss theoretical implications for further studies on prosocial and health-related behavior.


Author(s):  
Mª del Mar Molero ◽  
Mª del Carmen Pérez-Fuentes ◽  
José J. Gázquez ◽  
Erica Sclavo

Social changes, life events, and the difficulties that accompany ageing can lead to situations of loneliness and, in the worst cases, isolation. In cases of institutionalization, the attenuating effect of family support may increase when people are faced by the need to deal with a new life stage like old age. The goal of this study was to analyze the frequency and type of family contacts that are maintained in old people's residences, as well as the old people's degree of satisfaction with such contacts. A sample of 50 institutionalized people over 70 years of age completed the Cuestionario de Evaluación de Calidad de Vida en contexto Residencial (CECAVI-R, in Spanish, the Questionnaire to Assess Quality of Life within a Residential Context). The results show that the oldest people in the residences have more frequent family contacts. Taking gender into account, the frequency of family contacts varied as a function of the visitor (grandchildren, siblings, etc.). Lastly, the analysis of satisfaction with family relations was positive, and the younger inmates displayed the least satisfaction.


Author(s):  
Stuart Bedston ◽  
Yang Hu ◽  
Georgia Philip ◽  
Lindsay Youansamouth ◽  
Marian Brandon ◽  
...  

BackgroundDespite progress in understanding mothers' (re)appearances within family justice, fathers have not yet received due attention in research on recurrent care proceedings. Aims Compare parents' gendered risks of entering subsequent care proceedings; Map family relations underpinning recurrent care proceedings; Investigate the role of family members' life course characteristics (e.g. age, number of children) in shaping the risk of returning to court. MethodsAnalysis drew on 2007/08-2017/18 administrative records from the Child and Family Court Advisory and Support Services (Cafcass) in England. From a sample of recurrent parents (N = 24,460), a latent class analysis established profiles of who they returned with. A competing risks analysis of all parents (N = 165,550) modelled the risk of returning into each profile given index characteristics. ResultsOverall rate of return for mothers was 1.7 times that of fathers: 22% after 5 years, compared to 13% for fathers, and 29% and 17% after 10 years, respectively. Five distinct profiles of recurrent parents were established: 'recurrent family', 'recurrent couple', 're-partnered couple', 'complex recurrence', and 'lone parent'. The vast majority of fathers who entered subsequent proceedings did so as either a part of a recurrent family (41%) or recurrent couple (36%). However, these two profiles represented a much smaller proportion (25% and 19%, respectively) of all recurrent mothers, while the remainder returned with either a new partner or as a lone parent (49%), both with a new child. Complex recurrence represented a small proportion for both mothers and fathers (7% and 11%, respectively). The risk of each of these profiles is characterised by the distinct life course positions of the parent. ConclusionThe results underscore the value of a relational approach and understanding a parent's position within the life course in social work research towards building a fuller picture of recurrence.


2005 ◽  
Vol 50 (S13) ◽  
pp. 247-274 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hilde Bras ◽  
Jan Kok

This article investigates developments in and antecedents of socially mixed marriage in the rural Dutch province of Zeeland during the long nineteenth century, taking individual and family histories, community contexts, and temporal influences into account. A government report of the 1850s said of Zeeland that farmers and workers lived “in indifference together”. However, our analysis of about 163,000 marriage certificates reveals that 30 to 40 per cent of these rural inhabitants continued to marry outside their original social class. Multivariate logistic regressions show that heterogamous marriages can be explained first and foremost by the life-course experiences of grooms and brides prior to marriage. Previous transitions in their occupational careers (especially to non-rural occupations for grooms, and to service for brides), in their migration trajectories (particularly moves to urban areas), and changes in the sphere of personal relationships (entering widowhood, ageing) are crucial in understanding marriage mobility.


Author(s):  
Arun S. Karlamangla ◽  
Teresa E. Seeman

Psychosocial factors over the life course and major life events are associated with the health, functional status, and survival of older adults. This chapter discusses the biological mechanisms through which these influences are thought to operate, and how life stresses might accelerate the usual ageing of biological systems. It starts with a brief description of psychosocial determinants of health and functioning before elaborating on the allostatic mechanisms by which the body adapts its internal physiological milieu in response to perceived stressors. The price paid for frequent and recurring adaptation is eventual dysregulation of the mediators of allostasis, or allostatic load. We close with a brief discussion of allostatic load links to health outcomes in older adults and potential interventions that might ameliorate the impact of psychosocial adversities on health.


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