L’affidamento familiare: le strategie educative elaborate dagli affidatari

Foster care is a condition of welcoming children with families in serious difficulty, legally regulated, aimed at guaranteeing to minors a suitable space for growth, and to families of origin the possibility of overcoming the problems so as to consent the return of the children. It is a challenging educational condition, to be deepened with research. The complexity of the backgrounds of origin and the co-presence of multiple risk factors in fact generate in children and young people in foster care, important difficulties in development, which foster families have to cope with, also with the support of specialists, services and associations. However, the skills that caregivers come to build over the years are valuable, deserving of pedagogical insights, so that good practices of positive parenting can be valued and shared. In this paper we will report the results of a survey, carried out with a national sample of 323 foster families. The study makes it possible to investigate the reasons for the custody prevision, the relationships with families of origin, the difficult life trajectories of the children in foster care (transitions, placements, discontinuities, years of foster care, continuation of relationships after foster care). In this way it is possible to identify the needs highlighted by the minors, the relevant problems that emerge and the promising strategies adopted by the foster families.

Retour d’emigration, Enjeux Fonciers et Defi de Developpement a Zoukougbeu et Gregbeu (Centre-Ouest, Côte d’Evoire)

La crise politico-militaire de 2010 en Côte d’Ivoire a affecté les flux migratoires dans certaines régions du pays. On a assisté au retour massif de certaines populations dans leurs régions d’origine. Cette étude explore la question de la réinsertion des émigrants dans le jeu foncier de leur zone de départ, et met en exergue les enjeux sociaux liés à leur réintégration. L’étude vise à appréhender les stratégies développées par les populations résidentes et les émigrants dans la quête de ces derniers à intégrer l’arène foncière de leurs familles d’origine. La collecte des données a mobilisé la recherche documentaire, l’enquête par questionnaire, l’entretien et l’observation dans les sous-préfectures de Zoukougbeu et Gregbeu. L’étude relève que le retour définitif ou partiel des émigrants traduit un jeu de repositionnement, tant chez eux que chez les résidents. Le paradoxe de l’autochtone frustré par la raréfaction foncière mais qui constitue un acteur impulsant la dynamique sociale, politique et économique est expressif. En somme, cette étude invite à une politique de modernisation de l’agriculture afin que l’espoir des émigrants internes et externes (diaspora) débouche sur un retour partiel ou définitif réussi, avec des investissements productifs. The politico-military crisis of 2010 in Ivory Coast has affected migratory flows in some regions of the country. We have seen the massive return of some populations to their regions of origin. This study explores the question of the reintegration of emigrants into the land game of their area of departure, and highlights the social issues linked to their reintegration. The study aims to understand the strategies developed by resident populations and emigrants in the latter's quest to integrate the land arena of their families of origin. Data collection involved documentary research, questionnaire survey, interview and observation in the sub-prefectures of Zoukougbeu and Gregbeu. The study notes that the final or partial return of emigrants reflects a repositioning game, both for them and for residents. The paradox of the native frustrated by land scarcity but who is an actor driving social, political and economic dynamics is expressive. In short, this study calls for a policy of modernizing agriculture so that the hope of internal and external emigrants (diaspora) leads to a successful partial or final return, with productive investments.

Straight Culture

The men interviewed considered straightness as an identity, a way of life, or a community. Identifying as straight meant they could continue relationships with their women partners, children, extended family, friends, and other people in their straight communities, relationships they did not think possible with a gay or bisexual identity. It also meant they could avoid stigma and could feel connected to a socially dominant group. In terms of identity, having sex with men was largely irrelevant. They were not “closeted” gay or bisexual men. They identified as straight. In short, the men interviewed were secretive about their sex with men, not their identities. Embeddedness in heterosexual culture reinforces their straight identity, regardless of the fact that they might have sex with men. Key straight institutions described by the men interviewed included their childhood families of origin; religion; school or youth sports; and the families they formed as adults. Most felt that part of a straight man’s life in a rural area or small town was being a husband or father and found great meaning in this. Not coincidentally, many also perceived partnerships with women or childrearing as central to their straight and masculine identities.

The Situation of Institutional Care: Reflections and Lived Experiences of Inmates in Child Care Centers of Southern Ethiopia

Institutionalization has a negative impact on children’s psychological adjustment. The absence of proper care for a staggering number of children devoid of parental care has been recognized as a severe problem requiring comprehensive and urgent intervention. The purpose of this research was to examine children’s living experiences in care institutions in Ethiopia. Qualitative research approach was used in which data were collected using in-depth interview, observation, key informant interviews, and focus group discussion methods. Data were tape-recorded, transcribed, manually organized after searching themes within the data. The results of the study show that inmates consider the basic needs fulfilled by the institution as better than they received in the family of origin. It was also found that the institution has problems in terms of fulfilling the emotional and psychological needs of the children. Furthermore, research participants experience feelings of loneliness and being neglected in the institution. In addition, difficulties of establishing relationship were also found. Above all, the institution lacks the experience of reintegrating the children to their families of origin. Whereas institutional care is found to be better in terms of fulfilling the basic needs of the children, it has problems when it comes to fulfilling the emotional and psycho-social needs of the children hosted. Therefore, the personnel of the institution should take trainings to improve the level of emotional attachment they should maintain with the children. Moreover, the institution should have a clear long-term strategic plan about how to admit the children, how to care for them, and finally how to reintegrate them to their families of origin.

Diasporic Sexual Citizenship: Queer Language, (Im)Possible Subjects, and Transfiliation

This chapter reviews scholarship on queer language in the diaspora through the lens of flexible accumulation and neoliberal citizenship. The relevance of these ideas to queer linguistic data is illustrated through an analysis of ethnographic fieldwork with 2Fik (pronounced “Toufik”), a French citizen of Moroccan descent and multidisciplinary artist living in Québec, Canada. Queer diasporic speakers like 2Fik stake claims of belonging to multiple spatiotemporalities, drawing on new intersectional possibilities involving families of origin, various local communities, and still wider diasporic terrains—for example, the Maghrebi homeland(s), French society and Francophone global cities, and the broader global and often queer North Atlantic. Yet the use of flexible language(s) associated with “queer diasporic citizenship” differs from previous examples in the extant scholarship. 2Fik’s use of performance and virtual-mediated spaces questions the response to his invitations to participate in a diasporic citizenry, highlighting elements of hypersubjectivity, dis-identification, transgressive filiation (transfiliation), and dissidence.

From Horse and Buggy to GPS: Life on a Saskatchewan Farm

From Horse and Buggy to GPS: Life on a Saskatchewan FarmBy Roderic BeaujotAbstract:This book tells the story of Leon and Dorothy Beaujot, their lives on a family farm in Saskatchewan (1945-1985), and the stories of their parents who arrived in Canada from Belgium and France over the period 1892 to 1911. With a focus on earning a living and raising families, these farming families underwent much change that took them from horse and buggy days to increasing specialization and mechanization in agriculture. The book starts with a short description of the conditions that allowed for European settlement in Western Canada. Another chapter covers the rise and the almost disappearance of the Saint Hubert community in Saskatchewan, founded in 1885, and settled by immigrants from France and Belgium. In order to compare experiences to those of family members who remained in Europe, short descriptions are also made of the lives of uncles, aunts and first cousins of Leon and Dorothy Beaujot, across the four families of origin: Beaujot, Sénéchaud, Mullie, Smets.

Family formation among lalas (lesbians) in urban China: Strategies for forming families and navigating relationships with families of origin

This article explores the ways in which Chinese lesbians, who identify themselves as lalas, form their own families and navigate their relationships with families of origin. To date, there is a lack of research on families formed by same-sex couples in urban China, where homosexuality remains stigmatized. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with 35 lala-identified women in Beijing, this article shows that lalas’ formation of families has been shaped by, but at the same time shaping, their relationships with their families of origin, who tend to embrace heteronormative family beliefs. Engaging with ongoing debates on choice and individualization, this study reveals the tensions between lalas’ family aspirations and gendered, familial, material, and socio-political constraints imposed on female-led same-sex families. It contributes to sociological understanding of family change by revealing alternative paths to same-sex family formation in a context where the act of coming out is challenging and families formed by same-sex couples remain largely invisible.