Dena B. Targ

Gender differences in the economic, psychological and social effects of plant closings in an expanding economy

Abstract The experiences of women and men workers displaced from jobs in 1989 by three plant closings in Indiana were examined. The focus was on three interrelated hypotheses concerning gender differences in the economic, psychological, and social effects of job loss. Questionnaires were sent to workers shortly after the closings and twelve months after the closings. Findings on economic effects indicated no gender difference in reemployment. When reemployed, both men and women suffered wage loss, but women lost less proportionately, due to their lower absolute wages prior to the closings. No gender differences were found in psychological effects and family relationships. Displaced women workers were somewhat more alienated from social institutions and more likely to support government actions to remedy unemployment.

A call for greater attention to the role of employers in developing, transforming, and implementing family policies

The authors contend that employer-initiated workplace policies should be considered as part of the patchwork that constitutes U.S. family policy. To provide a background, historical evidence of employer-initiated policies intentionally used as family policies is summarized. The view is then explicated that failure to take economic conditions and workplace policies into account may lead to faulty conclusions about the reasons for major changes in family life. The current status of selected employer-initiated workplace policies and recent trends is summarized. Next, some of the dilemmas inherent in considering connections between government- and employer-initiated policies are identified. Finally, suggestions for future directions are offered. The article should be considered with the following caveat in mind: the focus is exclusively on the influence of policies on families, but families are not merely reactive.

Grandparents Raising Grandchildren Impact of a National Satellite Video Program

The 1999 national videoconference Grandparents Raising Grandchildren: Implications for Professionals and Agencies educated professionals about the problems grandparents face as they parent a second time and encouraged professionals to work together on community-based solutions. Congruent with an ecological perspective, the videoconference portrayed problems and solutions as based in individuals and families, local communities, and the larger society. Those in attendance had a better understanding of the issues and programs that could address them. Many participants reported they planned to work locally with others to provide educational programs. Follow-up evaluations confirmed that participants actually did get involved in their communities. They addressed the situation of grandparents raising grandchildren through new or expanded local task forces or coalitions. The impact of this videoconference documents that a videoconference is a viable method of educating professionals and grandparents on issues of parenting again and can help facilitate community members to work together on emerging needs.

Feminist Family Sociology: Some Reflections

Abstract Teaching is a political act in the broadest context of that word; some person is choosing, for whatever reasons, to teach a set of values, ideas, assumptions, and pieces of information, and in so doing, to omit other values, ideas assumptions, and pieces of information. … To omit women entirely makes one kind of political statement; to include women as a target for humor makes another. To include women with seriousness and vision and with some attention to the perspective of women as a hitherto subordinate group is simply another kind of political act (Howe 1983: 111).

Ideology and utopia in family studies since the second world war

Synopsis Mannheim conceptualized the thought and action system of a society as directed toward either stability or change. The former framework, ‘ideology≐, takes a metaphysical view of the past and present and thus precludes the possibility of change. The latter framework, ‘utopia≐, focuses on change and thus denies the validity of the present. Ideology and utopia have alternately characterized the United States since the Second World War.The period following the war was dominated by proponents of social stability; the 1960s were dominated by pro ponents of social change; the 1970s are again the stage for proponents of stability. This paper contends that this struggle has been reflected in a debate within family studies concerning stability and change in the nuclear family. The major issues in this debate include stability vs change in the nuclear family; the role and status of women in the family and in society; the males contribution to the family; and the relationship of the family to the care of children. The debate between ideology and utopia in family studies since the Second World War is presented and critiqued. Particular attention is given to the emergent ideological stance which is currently being taken toward the family. The conclusion is drawn that this ideological stance will prevent family studies from considering innovative solutions to family-related problems which are currently troubling women, men and children.