Family Matters articles from March 2001

Family Matters archives from March 2001

Celebrating some Australian milestones. (Director's report).
March 22, 2001... The year 2001 marks four anniversaries of relevance to the Institute. The first of course is the Centenary of Federation, and this provided the impetus for us to publish in this edition of Family Matters several feature articles that look back...

Changing families in Australia 1901-2001: even in the short course of Australian history since Federation, there have been profound changes in family structure and values that continue to generate resentment and uncertainty. In order to understand where the family is heading, it helps to know whence it has come.
March 22, 2001... In the 1970s the marriage rate declined. Young people delayed marriage and having children. They increasingly entered into de facto relationships. Openly homosexual relationships became more widespread. The divorce rate spiralled. Sole-parent...

Australian families in transition: some socio-demographic trends 1901-2001: the concern generated by family change sometimes causes great angst. But it can also be a sign of healthy vigilance about the direction society is heading -- its ability to adapt and evolve. This article traces key transitions in family life since Federation, some of their causes, and how we might best understand their implications.
March 22, 2001... The family is the "crucible of change" since it is within our families that we respond to the various social and economic processes that envelop us. In Australia, as elsewhere, the family has undergone increasingly rapid change over the past...

Families and income security: changing patterns of social security and related policy issues: there are lessons, both positive and negative, to be learned from Australia's experiences with assisting families with children over the last century.
March 22, 2001... In common with other countries, Australia has a range of policies with the objective of providing income security to families with children. The level and means by which assistance is provided to Australian families has developed over the 20th...

Children and parenting: the past hundred years: beliefs, attitudes, and practices regarding parents' care for their children have been changing over the past century, with new views being particularly reflected in the advice meted out to parents by professionals. This historical overview illuminates the challenges facing researchers, policy-makers, practitioners and parents in the century ahead.
March 22, 2001... Freud once listed bringing up children as one of three "impossible professions" -- the other two being governing nations and psychoanalysis. Looking back on an entire century of child rearing in western societies, a progression of views on...

A history of child protection back to the future? The maltreatment of children has occurred through history.
March 22, 2001... This article gives an overview of the development of child protection and efforts to prevent child abuse and neglect. It highlights the cyclical nature of the evolution of child protection services, noting that many of the current approaches...

The first twenty-one years. (Australian Institute of Family Studies).
March 22, 2001... The year 2001 marks the twenty-first year of operations for the Australian Institute of Family Studies. While organisations do not usually celebrate their"coming of age" anniversary, it seems an appropriate time to examine how the Institute has...

Emerging family research issues 2002 ... (Australian Institute of Family Studies).
March 22, 2001... The Australian Institute of Family Studies has started the new millennium with a broad array of ongoing research projects across its three research streams (Children and Parenting, Family and Marriage, Family and Society) and with some major...

Starting out together: through cohabitation or marriage: over the last few decades, family formation patterns have changed considerably. Increasing numbers of couples are cohabiting, although the majority still eventually marry. A study conducted by the Australian Institute of Family Studies highlights the changing trends in relationship formation and subsequent pathways.(Statistical Data Included)
March 22, 2001... Over the last few decades, family formation patterns have changed considerably in Australia and other western countries. Although the majority of people still get married, marriage rates have declined. Those who now enter into marriage do so...

Making marriages last: why do some marriages dissolve in a relatively short space of time, while others go on for as long as 75 years or more, still vibrant happy relationships enjoyed by both partners? This article examines theoretical explanations of how marriages "succeed" or "fail" and reviews three studies that have gone to the source and asked long-married couples how they explain the longevity of their marriage.
March 22, 2001... Although marriage rates are declining, marriage and children (not necessarily concurrently) seem still to be part of the long-term outlook of the majority of young Australians (McCabe and Cummins 1998). However, unlike many of the baby boom...

Establishment of the Family Court of Australia and its early years: the 25th anniversary is an event of great significant to the Family Court of Australia -- a Court which was conceived almost as an afterthought, had a difficult gestation and birth, and survived a troubled infancy. (A personal perspective).
March 22, 2001... Twenty-five years is not in itself a significant time in terms of the history of courts: the High Court of Australia moves towards its centenary (1903); the Supreme Court of New South Wales moves towards its bicentenary (1814 if one measures it...

Families, Labour and Love: Family Diversity in a changing world. (Book Notes).
March 22, 2001... Families, labour and love: Family diversity in a changing world, by Maureen Baker, Allen and Unwin, Crows Nest 2001. Price $42.95. This discussion of family trends in Australia, New Zealand and Canada focuses on how these three "settler...

Youth, Education and Risk: Facing the Future. (Book Notes).
March 22, 2001... Youth, education and risk: Facing the future, by Peter Dwyer and Johanna Wyn, Routledge Falmer, London 2001. Price $57.20. This book examines the transition of today's Western youth to adulthood, and how the social and economic changes of...

Australian Social Trends 2001. (Book Notes).
March 22, 2001... Australian social trends 2001 Australian Bureau of Statistics, Canberra, 2001. Price $44.00 Now in its eighth year, Australian Social Trends continues to be an outstanding reference source for statistics on Australian social issues....

Creating a Safe Place: Helping Children and Families Recover From Child Sexual Abuse. (Book Notes).
March 22, 2001... Creating a safe place: Helping children and families recover form child sexual abuse, by the NCH Children and Families Project, Jessica Kingsley, London, 2001. Price $56.95. This book was produced by the Children and Families Project, a...

Not in Front of the Children? How Conflict Between Parents Affects Children. (Book Notes).
March 22, 2001... Not in front of the children? How conflict between parents affects children, by Gordon Harold, Jan Pryor and Jenny Reynolds, One Plus One, London, 2001. This book, which summarises research into marital conflict and how it affects...

Becoming Parents: Exploring the Bonds Between Mothers, Fathers and their Infants. (Book Notes).
March 22, 2001... Becoming parents: Exploring the bonds between mothers, fathers and their infants, by Judith Feeney, Lydia Hohaus, Patricia Noller and Richard Alexander, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2001. Price $44.95. This Australian study...

The Patchwork Nation Re-thinking government-Re-building community. (Book Notes).
March 22, 2001... THE PATCHWORK NATION Re-thinking government-Re-building community, by Don Edgar, HarperCollins, Sydney, 2001. Price $27.95. In his most recent book, Don Edgar argues for"the re-building of Australian democracy, the reinvention of business...

The Changing Face of Australia: A Century of Immigration 1901-2000. (Book Notes).
March 22, 2001... The changing face of Australia: A century of immigration 1901-2000, by Kate Walsh, Allen and Unwin, Crow's Nest, 2001. Price $31.50. This impressive publication chronicles in photographs and text the last hundred years of immigration to...

Seminars.(Brief Article)
March 22, 2001... LIVING STANDARDS OF OLDER NEW ZEALANDERS Associate Professor Peter Travers, Head of the School of Social Administration and Social Work, Faculty of SociaI Sciences, Flinders University, presented a seminar at the Institute on 16 August...