Roots and correlates of perceived injustice in the division of family work

Abstract This study provides a comprehensive test of the distributive justice framework to explain justice evaluations of the division of family work. Using data of 632 dual‐earner couples with young children from 3 European countries, the analyses provided good support for the distributive justice framework. The frequency with which spouses compared each other's amounts of family work, the outcome of the comparison of the husband's family work with the family work performed by other men, and the extent to which the partner appreciated one's family work proved to be most predictive of justice evaluations. Notably, the evidence supports the model equally for women and men and for justice evaluations of the divisions of domestic work and child care.     

School-based social work and family therapy

This paper discusses the importance of family therapy as part of the armamentarium of school-based social work. It provides a rationale for school-based intervention, noting that the school represents for the child the one fixed point (i.e., constant experience) in an endlessly changing world. The author believes that family therapy should be emphasized in school because school social workers are in a strategic position to thoroughly assess family dysfunction. Further, he notes that unless adolescents' problems are understood in the context of improperly functioning families, any help provided will be impermanent at best.     

Linear dependence in multiple correlation work

The problem in multiple correlation work of nonsense results attributable to linear dependence of variables, which has been discussed by Ragnar Frisch in relation to economic data, is presented from the standpoint of its significance in psychological research. It is shown that a symmetric correlation determinant with unity in the diagonal cells can vanish only when there is a first-order or partial correlation of unity between one pair of the variables. On the basis of this result, it is argued that the problem should be expected to cause less difficulty in the field of psychology than in economics and that psychologists should be able to avoid the pitfall by bringing to bear their knowledge of the variables with which they are working.     

Advancing measurement of work and family domain boundary characteristics

Recent research offers promising theoretical frameworks for thinking about the work–family interface in terms of the boundaries individuals develop around work and family. However, measures for important constructs proposed by these theories are needed. Using two independent samples, we report on the refinement of existing boundary flexibility measures. Additionally, inter-domain transitions are introduced as a theoretically sound conceptualization of the frequency with which the work and family domains come in contact. Results from Study 1 further support the existence of two flexibility factors, willingness and ability, for the work and family domains, respectively. Results from Study 2 provide evidence for the nomological network surrounding the flexibility and inter-domain transitions measures in relation to role centrality, perceptions of domain blurring, and family-supportive organizational perceptions. Also, as hypothesized, boundary flexibility predicted inter-domain transitions, and inter-domain transitions predicted work–family conflict, with additional support for several hypothesized mediated effects between these constructs.     

Physical symptoms and the interplay of work and family roles

The paradigm underlying research on the relationship between work and physical-health symptoms in men has focused on workplace stressors and has ignored men's family roles. Research on women, work, and health suggests several necessary additions to this paradigm, including (a) a focus on job rewards and job concerns and (b) attention to the impact of family roles on the relationship between job rewards and concerns and physical health. We included these variables in a study of a disproportionate random sample of 403 employed 25- to 55-year-old women. Major findings are that (a) work rewards (e.g., helping others at work) are related to reports of low levels of physical symptoms; (b) work concerns (e.g., overload) are associated with reports of high levels of physical symptoms; (c) particular work rewards, which may be different for women than for men, mitigate the negative health effects of work concerns; (d) among employed mothers, satisfaction with salary is negatively related to physical-health symptoms; and (e) women in positive marriages or partnerships were more likely to reap physical-health benefits from the rewards of helping others at work and from supervisor support.     

Daily management of work and family goals in employed parents

This study uses one-week time-sampling information from 104 employed parents with pre-school children to examine the association between daily workloads, control strategies, and goal progress. In addition, it examines relationships between work- and family-goal progress and important stress indices such as positive/negative affect and cortisol levels. Multilevel models indicate that family-specific control strategies fostered daily family-goal progress whereas work-specific control strategies were unrelated to daily work-goal progress. Furthermore, employed parents who successfully pursued their work and family goals as part of their daily life routines reported concurrent higher positive and lower negative affect. Only family-goal progress was associated with reduced cortisol secretion whereas work-goal progress was not. Our findings illustrate the usefulness of examining the dynamic interplay between daily workloads, control strategies, goal progress, and stress in the daily lives of employed parents and suggest that the underlying mechanisms may be domain-specific.     

The development of therapeutic consultations in child-focused family work

This paper outlines the theoretical influences that have led to our use of a consultation approach to work with children and families. Winnicott's notion of therapeutic consultation, the narrative approach in family therapy, the use of letters in therapeutic work and the two-plus-one model of therapeutic contact are discussed. A model of the consultation interview and process is presented together with examples of consultation letters responding to typical client expectations of the process.     

Family-of-origin work and family therapy skills training: both-and.

Since the inception of field, theoreticians and teachers of family therapy have advocated for either problem-solving, skill-based training, or transgenerational training that emphasizes the therapist's own family-of-origin work. This article proposes an end to these polarized positions and argues for both-and, that is, a model of training that integrates the trainee's own family-of-origin work with live supervision and skills training. A family-of-origin curriculum designed for this purpose is described.     

Power and influence in the environment of family therapy

This paper explores some of the ways in which family therapy theory and practice limits an appreciation of the contexts of families and family therapists. It focuses particularly upon how the rules which underline patterns of relationships in social systems are made and maintained more by one part of a system than by another, and considers this (a) within families, (b) within various aspects of the social environment of families, and (c) within the organizational contexts of family therapists. It then proposes that the systemic thinking which family therapists apply to families is potentially applicable to wider contexts including international relationships.     

Relations of work identity,family identity,situational demands,and sex with employee work hours

This study examined relations of multiple indicators of work identity and family identity with the number of weekly hours worked by 193 married business professionals. We found that men generally worked long hours regardless of the situational demands to work long hours and the strength of their work and family identities. Women's work hours, on the other hand, were associated with their work and family identities when weak situational demands permitted discretion over their work hours. We suggest that these sex differences can be explained by the ways in which women and men construe their work and family identities.     

The influence of family environment and child temperament on work/family role strain for mothers and fathers

This study examined the additive effect of structural variables, child characteristics, and the family environment on mothers' and fathers' work/family role strain. Differences between mothers and fathers on these variables were also examined. The sample consisted of 36 dualearner families whose children had been in daycare from infancy through 4 years of age. Structural variables included work schedules and time spent with child for mothers only, fathers only, and both parents together with child. Child characteristics included temperament and health. Family environment variables included different components of the family environment (conflict, cohesion, expressiveness, organization, and control) and parenting daily hassles. Results showed that mothers' time with child and caregiving for child were greater than fathers'. Mothers reported more expressiveness in the family and more daily hassles with children than fathers. Mothers' level of role strain was also significantly higher than fathers'. For mothers, role strain was associated with hours away from home, child sociability, family conflict, and daily hassles resulting in an R² of 0.57. Fathers' role strain was associated with family expressiveness, organization, and their wives' daily hassles resulting in an R² of 0.37. Data suggest that mothers' and fathers' role strain may be driven by somewhat different factors. For women, aspects of the family and the child and work hours accounted for a considerable portion of the variance while for men, only aspects of the family environment were associated with their level of role strain. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Work time,work interference with family,and psychological distress

Despite public concern about time pressures experienced by working parents, few scholars have explicitly examined the effects of work time on work-family conflict. The authors developed and tested a model of the predictors of work time and the relationships between time, work interference with family (WIF). and psychological distress. Survey data came from 513 employees in a Fortune 500 company. As predicted, several work and family characteristics were significantly related to work time. In addition, work time was significantly, positively related to WIF, which in turn was significantly, negatively related to distress. The results suggest that work time fully or partially mediates the effects of many work and family characteristics on WIF.     

Spouses' family work participation and its relation to wives' occupational level

Past statistical and conceptual limitations may mistakenly overstate women's and men's unequal participation in family work. The present study used log-linear models to examine spouses' participation in household work and parenting and their perceptions of equity regarding this participation. Wives' occupational level, an important but often overlooked source of variation, was used to classify couples according to three family types—single-wage traditional (TR)—and two types of dual-wage families—dual-earner (DE) in which wives held jobs while husbands held jobs or careers, and dual-career (DC). Data were taken from a study of 81 couples of comparable socioeconomic status and age who had an adolescent child living at home. As hypothesized, results indicated more sharing of household work in dual-wage families than typically reported, particularly for DC families. Husbands and wives in all family types were largely in agreement regarding the distribution of responsibility for household and parenting tasks, but perceptions of equity varied by family type. Spouses with comparable perceptions of fairness reported higher marital satisfaction.Appreciation is expressed to Sue Lucas and Darl Lewis for their assistance with this study. Portions of this paper were presented at the Third Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Society, Washington, DC June, 1991.     

Adults returning to school: the impact on family and work

The authors examined the impact of attending a Weekend College (WEC) program on adult students' family, work, and social life. Student participants responded to a 26-item questionnaire and three open-ended questions. Regression analyses of the 566 completed surveys revealed that satisfaction with school and support from family and the work place were predictive of lower levels of stress. Content analyses of responses to open-ended questions showed that expected stress was the result of time constraints but also highlighted the positive aspects of continuing one's education. The study includes suggestions for designing programs to meet the needs of adult students.     

Disaster rescue work: The consequences for the family

This paper reports on the findings of a pilot study investigating the impact of disaster relief work on the wives and family members of the relief workers. The study revealed that the wives did experience stress, although the nature of the problems identifed changed with each phase of disaster involvement. Children may also be affected. The age of the child may be an important determinant of the nature and severity of their problems. Interventions that could be adopted to deal with these concerns are outlined.     

When family considerations influence work decisions: Decision-making processes

The work–family literature has provided an abundance of evidence that various family factors are linked to various work decisions, suggesting that the “family-relatedness” of work decisions is a prevalent phenomenon (Greenhaus & Powell, 2012). However, the cognitive processes by which such linkages occur have received little attention. We offer a framework by which to examine individuals' decision-making processes when they take family considerations into account in their work decisions. The framework suggests stages through which individuals proceed when making a work decision that takes family considerations into account and cognitive processes that influence how they proceed through each stage.     

AIDS/HIV in the work of family therapy trainees

A group of family therapy trainees were asked about their experience at work and knowledge of AIDS/HIV. The majority had already encountered AIDS-related issues in the context of their work. On the whole, they were well informed about AIDS/HIV, although specific gaps in their knowledge were identified. It is recommended that provision be made for the training of family therapists in this area.     

Interface between work and family: A longitudinal individual and crossover perspective

This study assessed longitudinal individual and crossover relationships between work‐family conflict and well‐being in the domains of work (job satisfaction) and family (parental distress) in a sample of 239 dual‐earner couples. The results revealed only longitudinal individual effects over a 1‐year period. First, high family‐to‐work conflict (WFC) at Time 1 was related to a high level of work‐to‐family conflict (WFC) 1 year later in both partners. Second, the wife's high level of FWC was related to her decreased job satisfaction 1 year later. Thus, the longitudinal effects identified supported normal causality, that is, work‐family conflict led to poor well‐being outcomes or increased perceived work‐family conflict later on. Longitudinal crossover effects from one partner to another were not observed within a 1‐year perspective.