Mariela Muñoz

Mariela Muñoz became the first transsexual widely socially recognized as a mother in Argentina. She emerged as a leading figure during her struggle to recover legal custody of three of her children, which had been previously annulled by a judge. Moreover, in 1997 she became the first transsexual recognized as a woman by the state. This text analyzes the making of Mariela Muñoz's motherhood repertoires to redefine political, social, and intimate citizenship. It argues that her politics were paradoxical, in that she appealed to traditional meanings of womanhood such as fulfilment through motherhood and the duty of care for others. On the other hand, these uses of key cultural symbols displaced the imagined margins for travestis and transexuales and helped her enjoy popular support.

Beethovens Auseinandersetzung um die Vormundschaft über seinen Neffen Karl aus historischer und soziologischer Perspektive

This article investigates from a historical and sociological perspective, Beethoven's struggle for the guardianship of his nephew, Karl, from November 1815 until September 1820. Its purpose is to illuminate Beethoven's knowledge and actions in the case of guardianship against the backdrop of contemporary historical and sociological conditions. In the early nineteenth century guardianship meant most certainly more than just the acceptance of legal custody of a minor; rather it was understood as an expression of the public recognition of talent, assets and social standing, as well as of character and honor. It furthermore functioned as an indicator of social status and position. Of great significance were also aspects of the position of legal guardian, the types of disputes with relatives, matters of family politics, the societal roles of fathers, issues of child-rearing, perceptions of status and rank, the traditional construction of gender difference and, lastly, norms of sexual behavior. The article reads Beethoven's letters and statements against the guardianship provisions of the Allgemeines Bürgerliches Gesetzbuch and contemporary legal practice, and argues that his struggle for Karl's guardianship was motivated by his ideas about social advancement through education as well as gendered norms of good parenthood.

Children’s Villages and pleases in system of humanitarian assistance to children in need in Ukraine

The present article deals with he place of SOS Children’s Villages in the general system of ensuring appropriate care of children whose parental rights. The aim of this paper is to analyze the state of SOS Children’s Villages in Ukraine, its effectively and development on panhuman principles. After all, every year in Ukraine about 10 thousand children are left without parental care for various reasons. They need qualified help of psychologists, sociologists, lawyers in the local community. This problem has significant scientific significance, it has provoked a lively discussion and raises the question: «What is the place, SOS Children’s Villages and pleases in system of humanitarian assistance to children in need in Ukraine?». The results of this analysis istle vision on realizations of children’s rights in the community where there are all the conditions of orphans and children whose parents are deprived of parental rights. The legal status and meaning of SOS Children’s Villages in the sphere of ensuring appropriate care of orphans and children whose parents don’t have legal custody of them is defined. Key words: orphans, kids whose, parents are deprived of parental rights, SOS Children’s Village, SOS mothers SOS family, German Gmeiner.

Swedish Gay Men's Pursuit of Fatherhood

The aim of the present work is to explore how gay fathers have experienced legal obstacles throughout their process of becoming fathers, and what strategies they have used to cope with the difficulties they have met. The study used semi-structured interviews to capture the fathers’ experiences, and a constructivist grounded theory to analyse the data. Interviews with thirty gay fathers in Sweden were included in the study. The participants had become fathers through surrogacy, shared parenthood with women, or foster care. Legal obstacles had played a prominent role in all three family forms, as well as in adoption – which some participants had unsuccessfully pursued. Obstacles marked both their pursuit of fatherhood and their establishment of legal custody. Some participants had eventually given up their initially preferred path to parenthood and searched for another route. To overcome legal obstacles, the participants had utilised one or more strategies; such as being persistent and well prepared, pretending to be straight, and finding access to assisted reproduction treatment abroad. Regardless of the path to parenthood, the participants stressed the necessity of possessing adequate personal or economic resources to become parents.

Divorced fathers' perceptions of parental disclosures to children

[ACCESS RESTRICTED TO THE UNIVERSITY OF MISSOURI AT AUTHOR'S REQUEST.] Parental disclosures about divorce-related topics can help children understand changes and reduce uncertainty following divorce; however, such disclosures can be often hurtful and damaging if they contain harmful and inappropriate messages. Although divorced fathers are important in children's lives, little is known about these fathers' perceptions of parental disclosures. This study examines divorced fathers' perceptions of the inappropriateness of parental disclosures, drawing upon sensitizing concepts from family systems and communication privacy management theories. Using vignette techniques, I conducted a grounded theory study of 20 divorced fathers who had shared or legal custody of a child in adolescence. Fathers' judgments about the inappropriateness of disclosures were generally consistent when discussing disclosures made by other parents. However, I found fathers were less consistent when evaluating their own disclosures. Fathers' judgments were influenced by various factors (e.g., life experiences), and these factors functioned as guiding premises for their own behaviors and disclosing strategies regarding how much and when to share information with their children.

Política social para la infancia en escenarios de violencia: el caso del FANVI en Ciudad Juárez, Chihuahua, 2011-2014

El objetivo de este artículo es comprender, desde la perspectiva del actor, la implementación del fideicomiso Fondo de Atención para los Niños y Niñas, Hijos de las Víctimas de la Lucha Contra el Crimen. Se utilizó el enfoque de la teoría fundamentada, para entrevistar a madres (viudas) y abuelas de los niños incluidos o marginados de esta política. Los resultados principales fueron que se obstaculizó y se excluyó a muchos niños que tenían derecho a recibir la ayuda del programa, debido a disposiciones informales de los funcionarios públicos; que las abuelas y las madres biológicas tuvieron que enfrentar el dilema de mantener o ceder la custodia legal de los niños y que los medios masivos de comunicación lucraron con el dolor de estas familias y, de manera subsidiaria, visibilizaron las deficiencias de la implementación de este programa en un contexto de violencia estructural y criminal.Palabras clave: evaluación de políticas públicas; programas de acción social; prevención del delito; teoría fundamentada; huérfanos; víctimas de delitos; crimen organizado; delitos con violencia; error de exclusión; Ciudad Juárez. Social policy for children in scenes of violence: the case of fanvi in Ciudad Juarez, Chihuahua, 2011-2014Abstract: the objective of this article is to understand, from the perspective of the actor, the implementation of a trust called Fund for the Care of Boys and Girls, Children of the Victims of the Fight against Crime (fanvi, acronym in Spanish). Using the approach of grounded theory, unstructured interviews with mothers (widows) and grandmothers of the children included or marginalized in this policy were conducted. The main results were: many children who were eligible for program assistance were excluded due to informal arrangements of civil servants; grandmothers and biological mothers had to face the dilemma of maintaining or transferring legal custody of children; and the mass media profited from the pain of these families and, secondarily, they exhibited deficiencies when implementing this program in a context of structural and criminal violence.Key words: evaluation of public policies; social action programs; crime prevention; grounded theory; orphans; victims of crime; organized crime; violent crime; exclusion error; Ciudad Juarez.

Communication Among Parents Who Share Physical Custody After Divorce or Separation

This study produces a grounded theory of the process of communication with former partners for 30 men and women who share physical and legal custody of their children following divorce or separation. The formality of the custody arrangement was the core factor that influenced the ways in which study participants established and maintained boundaries regarding when, how, and what they communicated with their former partners. Other factors that played a role included the relationship with the former partner, the child, and the introduction of new partners. One cannot simply assume that because parents share physical and legal custody, they communicate with their former partners in a particular way; instead, the formality of the custody arrangement and the establishment of communication boundaries needs to be examined in order to understand how coparents communicate with their former partners.