team 6 final paper

University of the Western Cape AND University of North Carolina Collaboration

Comparison of Family Practices

South African Families Assignment 6

Authors: Nia Bridges nbridges@gmail.com , Melissa Brown

melissajudthbrown@gmail.com , Nelisa Pase nelisa.castor@gmail.com

Introduction

The project that is done firstly will make the students focus on developing an understanding of the impact of micro and macro influences on family practices in South Africa and the US. It is also to show an appreciation of the diversity of different family practices in both countries and a recognition of power relations in modern-day families.

The project is examining how similar or different families are including and excluding which country they are from. It is also looking at how families are, how children play a role in the family as well as how ‘old ways’ such as women being the child-bearers and take care of the husband .This while the husband was the bread-winner of the family comparing to ‘modern ways’ such as both genders working e.g. paid labour and both looking after the children. The importance of this project is to explore on how family rituals, traditions, and ceremonies are practiced in each family.

The central issues which were explored in this project were gender roles amongst families, racism in the past and the present in the family and the world, generations (such as passing on of information to the younger generation by the elderly), ethnicity of the different families, family type such as nuclear family or the 21^st century family (e.g. extended family).

The project called for each student to interview someone, finding out about the interviewee’s family lifestyle, culture, celebrations, how they dealt with difficult issues such as death and divorce. How the interviewee and their family perceived family. The interviewees had to give each student detailed feedback regarding gender, race, generations, class and age. Most of these issues will assist the students to compare the similarities and differences of the families.

Literature Review

According to Chambers (2001), family has always been perceived to be a man and women bond together by marriage with children which is known as a nuclear family. This type of family is bonded by family values which helps it to survive national struggles over different identities but was aimed at a certain race. According to the families interviewed, they showed a family from a post modern world, such as post apartheid era. These families included a variety of living arrangements where most of the families (e.g. Black families) had extended families living in the same household which showed that extended families are stronger compared to the white nuclear family. These families included single headed households, post divorced families and youth headed families. Traditional nuclear family is still a universal norm, the post-modern families with their cultures, differences and diversity is still new and under-research but seems to be something that everyone identifies with. The ‘different family’ restructured family e.g. step-family and showed individuals about social change and globalization. Chambers (2001) pointed the importance of extended families since different class, gender, race was part of the structure of the family.

In Family, State and Policy, Harding (1996) points out how different women are seen compared to when they were stay-home wives and now they are part of the working class. Women have changed from the child bearing ‘duty’ of unpaid domestic labour to the paid labour and also contributed to the household. Harding also mentions how it was a financial necessity for women and children to engage in paid labour instead of only the husband’s wages as the main source of the family. The other reason of including the women in the workplace was because there was labour shortage in the early post war decades in Britain and the men’s wages became less to support the entire family. Though women are included in the workplace, domestic and child-care work still remained as part of their work (Allan, 1985: 51). The reading also shows that though the change is slow but fewer men are taking the role of domestic responsibility and allowing women to be part of the workplace. Men were the breadwinners and women stay-at-home-wife/mother and during this time even when in the workplace, the domestic labour was still considered to be their duty.

The article, Family, Labour and Love mentions how an extended family remains important among some cultural groups and how they help each other as a family and a community. The extended family may have several generations, partners and siblings. Baker (2001) shows that whether family stays close, nearby, they still visit, write and assist with any help needed because of the closeness of a family and with any similarities, differences and difficulties and family experiences; there is always someone who is there to keep the family together through family values and ethos. Flemming (1997) says that in New Zealand, a family structure is based on who is considered to be part of the family, who is most loyal and trusted. Though the families are dropping the idea of a family head, in most cultural families it still exists but has less effect because of equality amongst male and females including children. This reading also pointed out on how important family structure is, how people choose their partners, how families practice rituals and ceremonies and how resources and labour and spread evenly amongst family members and the communities. Baker also showed how ‘authority figures’ in the households have equal responsibilities and how families extended are a norm amongst society.

In other research, Dallos & Sapsford, ( 1995) states that either through choice, or accident many people live in ways that do not correspond to the stereotypes of family life. In this we find that families may look similar from the outside however are very different from the inside. Families no matter what kind tend to have a life cycle – so they change and evolve. There exists a myth that the nuclear family gets things right if they try harder, which makes it difficult for the members in the family to realize that they belong to a wider community- within a social context. There does exist a lot of variation in the UK as to what family is- a lot of the variation depends on historical changes, culture, geographical location and other variables (Dallos & Sapsford, 1995). Family relationships with when they act to promote a sense of solidarity, members feel that they are in a group as apposed to being alone. The view of family is also that is provides a set of roles with in social order as wives, husbands and children. They have notes some disadvantages to nuclear families as being the exploitation of women and abuses of children which is making the nuclear family seem less popular. The defining of a family is seen as negotiation and where tasks need to be completed.Attention is placed on the social inequalities which do exist and are within the rubrics of class, gender and age differences. The symbolic order of children in the family as well as social identities and self concepts (Cheal,1999).

Examples of Concepts are care giving, intensive mothering, inter-household transactions, role segregation, caring about, taking care of couples and social identity (Cheal,1999 ).Each of these above mentioned concepts such as care giving was defined as not just as one activity bit consisting of a whole set of tasks. Most of the care-giving and almost all intimate personal care is given by someone living in the household. Age as a factor for childcaring and care giving is also thought of as being important. The elderly are also needing care as well from those who are younger and who are either part of the family household or by somebody in another household. The understanding of family roles, social identities and self concepts about childcare and care-giving are connected as they reinforce the commitment to the way children will be raised and helped by close family. In the reading focus is also placed on money (the exchange, employment, money management),which is involved in many of the activities a family does. Focal to this chapter is the balancing of employment with that of family life. It is easier if there are two parents who live together and balance the responsibility of family life and employment.

In the New Family, Sarah Irwin argues that an increase in individualism has modified the family dynamic creating new forms of diversity in family structure. Furthermore Irwin argues that female strides towards individuality have altered the women’s position within the family. This changes the division of labor in the family. Irwin also states that instead of the male being the primary ‘breadwinner’, with the changing economy, it is necessary of women to earn a wage. The changing economy has increased wages for women in comparison to men, but in doing so the traditional domestic division of labor does too. This creates problems in the marriage and child rearing, such as decreased fertility and increased divorce rates. This then creates the modern ‘negotiated’ family. This then pushed the disagreement between “women’s expectations of equality and continuity of gender inequality.” Irwin presents that even though females are involved in the work force, there is still inequality in the ‘new family’ and there are still many characteristics of the traditional family present in the ‘new family’.

In chapter The New Family, Silva (1999) discusses the routine of a woman in running a home. She proposes that the work of a housewife has transformed with increased technological innovations in the home. She argues that the use of household technologies for the disposition and practice in caring has changed the way traditional care giving methods are practiced at home. Inventions such as the washing machine and the dishwasher are not ways of supporting traditional preconceived gender roles. The problem is that a women’s time is not valued. These appliances are created to divide the labor up between the two working partners and even the children. This article is similar to Sarah Irwin’s article as it defines families as transitioning entities from traditional ‘breadwinner/housewife’ families to dual wage earning relationships. One finds that they core understanding of the family is highlighted in a different way by each author.

Methods

In our methods, we had to choose anyone that we either knew or a stranger to assist us with answering the questionnaires we were given. Each of the three students, two South Africans and one American student had to get an individual who would be able to assist answering a questionnaire which targeted specific issues such as gender roles, racism, age, generation and family. The student had to get detailed answers from their interviewees which would help them understand about the interviewee’s family and the family roles, traditions, rituals and cultures. We also had to use some of the PLA techniques which would give us a better understanding of how to construct and understand the different interviews. Each interview was done face-to-face and the interviewees’ answers were written down verbatim for their voices to be heard.

Nelisa Pase interviewed Valarie, who is a friend. She interviewed him to get a better understanding of the different Xhosa families, cultures, rituals, clan names and how the family roles were either similar or different compared to her own family. In South Africa, there are many Xhosa families who are mostly situated in the Eastern and Western Cape. Some of them are also scattered across the different provinces. She also wanted to see if they practiced the usual rituals e.g. imbeleko, ilobola and the boys in the community going to initiation school.

The person who she interviewed was a 26 year old Xhosa, South African male who is originally from Transkei and later on moved to Cape Town for a better future. He is from a close-knit family. He had a questionnaire which he had to respond to thoroughly explaining in detail how his family dealt with some issues such as death, racism, sickness which were raised on the questionnaire. Other questions were how the family deals with issues involving children, if children have a say in the family, how women are viewed and what the status of the elderly. The interviewee also had to explain how spouses are treated in the different families.

Melissa Brown interviewed Katy, who is a friend from high school. She interviewed her to get a good understanding about her family, how different cultures/rituals and how gender roles are in her family compared to Melissa’s family. In the Western Cape Province of South Africa, coloureds display differences in language and traditional norms depending on their religion and on the area they grow up in. Katy is from Malmesbury and Melissa is a Capetonian which makes their beliefs, traditions, rituals different from each other’s families, based on the one area being perceived as rural and the other urban.

Katy is a 28 year old coloured female who explained in detail about her family giving directly who is in the household and their everyday duties. She is South African and comes from a very close nuclear family with her father, mother and siblings. In her interview she explained how their rituals are more similar to celebrations such as weddings, anniversaries, confirmation as a celebration of their faith, sweet sixteen (16^th birthday) and godparent at the birth of a new baby.

Nia Bridges interviewed Sarah, who is a friend. She interviewed her because she wanted insight into the family structure of a middle class family. In the United States of America (USA), there are many family structures based on income levels, family traditions, and individual goals. The region of where the family was primarily established also affects family structures. Sarah is from a middle class family who was raised in the northern region of USA and Nia is from a lower class family raised in southern USA.

Sarah is a 21 year old female from the United States of America and is part of a close family consisting of a mother, a father, and an older sister. She explained the organization of her family as it applies to gender roles and family traditions. In her interview was asked to respond to questions about her families responses to unpaid labour, paid labour, racism, migrations, illnesses, and community outreach programs.

Each student was given a guideline of questions with a consent form which an interviewee had to read, understand and sign, showing that they partake fully understanding what they have read. The consent form explained about what the research is about and who will use the information as well as informing the interviewee about their confidentiality and voluntary. The questions which the interviewers used where either to be changed or use the same questions which were provided. The questions given were easily understood and would be able to give the interviewer a detailed explanation of the family and the different issues which they were focusing on such as gender, race and age. Majority of the questions that each student used worked very well and answered the questions perfectly giving a better understanding into the interviewees’ families.

The questions about dwellings and organization of the family life, racism, patterns of work such as paid and unpaid labour, family rituals and ceremonies and decision making were questions which were targeted to gain more information. The few questions which gave us thin material were family property, migration and the family and community resources and influences because the interviewees had little information on such issues.

During the interviews, there were few problems that we ran into such as interviewees’ giving one sentence answers, lacking information on some of the questions asked. The questions were either taboo according to their culture/ traditions or were not something that the family focused on during family conversations. The interviewee also gave less information because they thought that there were too many questions.

We also experienced problems with the PLA techniques especially uploading the information, getting students to give us information especially tracing back their family for a family tree. The techniques such as the family tree would help the interviewer to understand about the family size, provide a way to share about the family and the relationships among the key person (the interviewee) and the rest of their family. The interviewee felt more comfortable with techniques which they were similar to.

In order to get more, richer data, we could have used more questions about family history, gender roles, rituals and traditions which would have helped us get more information since these were the questions that gave us more data and richer information. We should have also introduced more of the PLA techniques to the interviewees in order to get more information which can be more practical.

Results

Table 1: Family Structure

	Valarie	Katy	Sarah
Parent's Sexuality	Heterosexual	Heterosexual	Heterosexual
Number of Dependents	4	3	3
Elderly Cohabitation	No	Yes	Yes
Married Children	Moved out	Moved out	Moved out
Family Relationship	Close	Close	Close

Participant Responses Dealing with Affection and a Close Family:
“We enjoy getting together there and spend most of our time around the kitchen table catching up on the time we did not see each other.”
“We a very close family. Every family member in the household meets family traditions such as imbeleko which is the welcoming of the child to the family and to the ancestors.
“We interact with our neighbors and they are like family to us”
“The people that love you regardless and are biologically related to you, but has close friends that are practically family but are not related… Loved uncontrollably”

Table 2: Elderly, Sick and Children

	Valarie	Katy	Sarah
Takes care of Elderly	Elderly	Men and Women	Women
Takes care of Children	Women	Women	Women
Takes Care of Sick	Men and Women	Women	Men and Women
Status of Elderly	High status	Highly Respected	High status
Importance of Children	Bring Unity	Learning Opportunity	Bring Unity

Participant Responses Dealing with Respect of Elders:
“Elders always have a high status in the family and in the communication”
“My parents has always told us that we must respect our elders”
“We have a high value for our elderly. We look up to the older people. I value their wisdom—wisdom comes with age”

Table 3: Unpaid Labor versus Paid Labour

	Valarie	Katy	Sarah
Household choirs	unpaid labour	unpaid labour	unpaid labour
Male Youth Participation	Yes	No	Not Applicable
Female Youth Participation	Yes	Yes	Yes
Male Adult Participation	No	No	Yes
Female Adult Participaton	Yes	Yes	Yes

Participant Responses Dealing with Contributing to the Family via Income:
“The women have to work. Women cannot be laying about being ‘swash-swash’”
“Children grown or not work to help with financial situations”
“We all, except my mother and sister has our own income and pays our own bills”
“My father supports my mother and we all support my sister”
“Gwenneth also does needle work as an extra income and that money normally goes towards her household”

Table 4: Males and Females compared in Indoor versus Outdoor Unpaid Labour

	Valarie	Katy	Sarah
Cleaning	Females	Females	Females
Cooking	Females	Females	Females
Lawn and Garden	Males	Males	Males

Table 5: Occupation, Education, and Gender

	Valarie	Katy	Sarah
Male Youth	Financial Advisor	Teacher	Not Applicable
Female Youth	Student	Administrative Officer	Student
Male Adult	Marketer	Worker	Government Worker
Female Adult	Social Worker	Housewife	Day Care Provider

Participant Response Dealing with Gender Roles and Occupation:
“Kaden is a 60 year old male… he is a teacher for the last 36 years”
“Gwenneth is a 57 year old housewife and stay at home mom”
“Camilla is a 32 year old female… the jobs she is in requires a lot of concentrating since she sits in meetings and does the minutes and sees that decisions taken is implemented.”
“I, Katy am a 28 year old female who has completed my studies and is trying to build up my practice, but I also have another job as an administrative officer”
“Anneline is a 19 year old female… she is a student and studies at the same institution as the one her sister, Katy works”
“My sister is a nanny, lifeguard and works as pharmacist technician”
“My father works for the USDA”
“I teach at a home school”
“an uncle who is a CEO”
“a Uncle that workds at a tax firm”
“my grandmother works in a pharmacy”

Table 6: Rituals, Traditions, and Cultures

	Valarie	Katy	Sarah
Religious	Yes	Yes	Yes
Rituals	Imbeleko	Christening	Holiday Gatherings
Importance	High	High	High
Age Transitional Ritual	Yes	Yes	No
Passed down via	Elderly	Elderly	Elderly

Table 7: Race, Racism, and Reactions

	Valarie	Katy	Sarah
Families Race	Black	Black	Black
Cultural Racsim	Part of Society	Part of Society	Part of society
Exposure to Racism	Apartheid	Apartheid	Segregation
Response	Do not discriminate	Do not discriminate	Do not discriminate

Table 8: Communication Within the Family

	Valarie	Katy	Sarah
Decision Makers	Parents	Father	Parents
Conflict Resolution	In immediate family	In immediate family	In immediate family

Table 9: Usage and Availability of Community Resources

	Valarie	Katy	Sarah
Available	Yes	Yes	Yes
Use Resources	Yes	Yes	No
Issues	Far and expensive	None	Prefers Privacy

Analysis

In analyzing the data we found that there were many similarities from the interviews. In our open chat with our group members in we found common ground amongst each other and we could relate as the core descriptions of our families were similar – Mother as care giver- the person one goes to then in the time of emotional distress, Father- as being the one that provides the physical means of change in the family whether it be fees for tuition or buying an asset. The decision making roles in the families was done by both father and mother and the involvement of siblings in some cases. Household chores which were to benefit everybody are shared so that there is the understanding that it can be done if all help out a little- the Mother in the house can not do everything as well as being used as a teaching mechanism for the girls in the household to learn what would need to be done in there own house one day. These similarities were discussed in the group as being positive for us as it means that even though we are different in culture and world economic view ( America being a developed country and South Africa a developing country ) we have found common ground .Our findings within our group have resulted in us agreeing that we are not that different in our views of family, roles that family members have and the provision of care with in the family, as these are cores issues which were areas of concern when we started with the assignments. This allowed us to see that from the results in the interviews that in some cases themes such as the understanding of a nuclear family which is heterosexual come through very strongly. The view however from those interviewed is that each family did have there own background which made them seem just a little different. We found this came through in the literature as well as Dallos & Sapsford, ( 1995) states that we find that families may look similar from the outside however are very different from the inside. Families no matter what kind tend to have a life cycle – so they change and evolve. We have learnt that some families are open to change, for some the elderly play a vital role in sharing and passing down of traditions to the younger members of the family. However one things remains still in all three interviews in looking at the distribution of labour in the household we find that women still do all the caring for the sick ,elderly and the children in the household. These women are also working in the labour market as well as then taking care of the household. We find in the literature that Harding, (1996) points out that though men are seen as the breadwinners and women as stay-at-home-wife/mother, even when they are to be in the workplace, the domestic labour is still considered to be their duty. During this time the women discussed as in the interviews are to give different kinds of care when needed – David Cheal points out the understanding of family roles, social identities and self concepts about childcare and care giving are connected as they reinforce the commitment to the way children will be raised and be helped by close family. This is what came through from all the interviews that there is a connection with extended families and these have an influence on the events for the daily lives of some. The elderly where seen as also providing a learning opportunity to those who are in the family. However it is not clear whether discipline issues was also dealt with by the Elderly in the family. As conflict as pointed out by all 3 interviews was that it was dealt with the nuclear family.

One can not say in the Analysis that all results showed that we were in complete agreement as we still have the fact that one interviewee was from a rural community this meant that in her interview the results showed that service provisions were lacking. In the area of racial social makers and gender we found once again that the when decisions are made there was also a difference, such as in the Xhosa culture, the males are dominant especially when it comes to decisions makings. So we find that this would create a different environment for the family as power is with the one who is allowed to make decisions. This is thus different from what Baker, M (2001) states as the New Zealand perceptive which highlighted that families are dropping the idea of a family head, in most cultural families it still exists but has less effect because of equality amongst male and females including children. We find culture has a determining factor which is still strong in many African families. The use of technology is also highlighted as we find in the American families that social networking catered for the engagement with family members.

Racism as a theme was not that foremost for those who were interviewed which we are a group thought may due to the race of those interviewed. They did express that in the family there were members who did have exposure to it however they themselves were not that exposed to it. For those who were exposed to racism in the family it was a time when they stood together to protect each other. The family did allow for them as member to discuss it but the understanding came through that everybody needs to be treated the same. However for one interviewee it seems to be an area which subconsciously she would place focus on it as her parents advised her that it is a reality in the world and work place.

We found that in the interviews in only one that the person who earned the money in the household was more valued than the others. We find also that in some families not all family members stay together in the main family household. However they know they have a base to come back to where they can be sharing of the some ideas in the household.

Conclusion

In conclusion we have found that due to the fact that we on different continents we find that amongst those we interview that family life, family roles and family participation in everyday was still of great importance to many. We found that even though people say that they wish they were not that involved in family life they still treasure these moments of family connection. We have found that in using ourselves as the interviewer and using our background as a point of reference it allowed us greater insight. So were able to internalize the comments/answers by the interviewees and allowed for it to be discussed amongst ourselves other giving rise for deeper meanings of the themes. The family providing the spring board for you to achieve more in life. This came through as the interviewees mentioned that family is what has made them, what has grounded them and what has allowed them to reach their full potential. Gender has positioned the family in a way that the females take the role of caring and nurturing tasks in the household even though we are for some in a western shaped society. We find also that ethnicity in the interviewees comes through strongly as we have culture which plays a strong background to what is displayed in the household. We have learnt and seen that women rise to this role of care-giver with out question, and the men with in the family accept in some instances that this is just the case. We have only in one interview where the interviewee clearly states that in the household we find that men openly look after the children and take care of the household at times. The passing of information about culture and tradition is left to those who are older in the family with the understanding that the children will keep these traditions going and pass them to their children.

We learn that this is not just the case for the interviewee in the from the rural community but for all. No body wishes to lose there identity within the family network and we find that in the different cultures that your value is weighed up by the monetary contribution made.

Taking from the experience as a group we are able to say that we have: not know before the themes we have come across would be across the racial groupings as well as across two continents. It allowed for growth in our own understanding of families and has removed the blinked approach to this subject.

Bibliography

Dallos R,& Sapsford,R. (1995). Understanding the Family – Chapter 4

David,C (1999)-Sociology of Family Life-

Chambers, D (2001) – Representing the family

Harding, L (1996) – Family, State and Social Policy

Baker, M (2001) – Families, Labour and Love

Sliva, Elizabeth (1999) —Transforming Housewifery: Dispositions, Practices, and Technologies

Irwin, Sarah (1999)—Resourcing the Family: Gendered Claims and Obligations and Issues of Explanation

Appendix A:

Letter of Consent:

Emails of Course Instructors

nroman@uwc.ac.za

vbozaleck@uwc.ac.za

jraulette@gmail.com

CONSENT FORM

I, ---------------, agree to participate in the study and give the people mentioned above, who have been involved with the planning and implementation of this project, permission to use the material.

I understand that those involved in planning and implementing this teaching and learning project are intending to share the work generated in the module in the form of publications and conference presentations.

I also understand that:

Whether or not to give this permission is a personal decision, and it is entirely voluntary.

There will be no rewards for giving this permission, as there will of course be no penalty for refusing it.

I have the right to withdraw my permission at a later stage – so long as it is prior to any publication – and the researcher/s then refrain from including my story in their research.

The researchers would use my stories/drawings for the purpose of this study only and not for any other purpose.

The identity of myself or any other person included in my story will be protected.

My name above and my signature below indicate my permission to use the material I have generated on the SA Families and Households e-learning course:

Signed at ___________(Place) on ______ ________(Date)

______________________ (Name)

Appendix B

Questions to Interviewees

Nelisa Pase

1. Dwelling and Organization of Family Life

a) Q: What type of household does your family live in? How does the family organize the living space? Does everyone have their own room? Who all stays in the house?

b) Q: How do you define family? Are there families that did not meet traditional definitions? How are they treated?

c) Q: Name the challenges that the family faces and how are they handles?

d) Q: If any family member is sick (e.g. T.B, disabilities), are there any special arrangements for the person?

e) Q: When children are married or parents are old, do you all live in the same household? Do you have any other people living in the same household e.g. boarders, domestic workers?

2. Patterns of work: Unpaid Labour

a) Q: Who is involved in daily preparations of food, chores? Is domestic labour on a paid or unpaid basis?

b) Q: Who looks and cares for the children, the elderly or disabled?

c) Q: Elaborate on the types of illness, disability? What effect does this have on the family?

d) Q: How does the family deals with TB, HIV/AIDS? If any member of the family has these diseases, are they accepted or rejected? How are they handled?

e) Q: Have family members changed at all in their conceptions of what women’s or men’s roles in caring for others or domestic labour?

f) Q: Do you allow children to help care for the sick or the elderly?

g) Q: Are there different chores or work for parents and children? Why/ why not?

h) Q: Is work, chores different according to gender? Give examples

3. Patterns of work: Paid Labour

a) Q: Do sons and daughters leave or stay at home when they work? If they leave, when and why is this?

b) Q: What is the family’s attitude towards women seeking for paid employment?

c) Q: Who is involved in waged (paid) labour? How is the income distributed in the household?

4. Effects of Racism

a) Q: How have family members been affected by each of the types of racism?

b) Q: How have family members coped and supported each other in dealing with the types of racism?

5. Family Relationships/Status of Family Members

a) Q: What status is given to older people within the family culture?

b) Q: How are women viewed within your family? What is their status in relation to other family members?

c) Q: How are babies treated in your family?

d) Q: How does your family handle spouse, child and elderly abuse? Who has a say in the abuse? Are elders in the community and external family included in the discussions

e) Q: How does the rearing of children change the status of the women in the family and the family as a whole? How are children treated? Are the different attitudes towards boys/girls children? Who disciplines the children and how is it done?

f) Q: Who passes on the norms and values in the family? How is it done? Name 3 values and norms which are seen as important.

g) Q: Describe patterns of communication in the family.

h) Q: How are family problems solved? How is conflict dealt with?

i) Q: how does your family cope with crises e.g. death, divorce, imprisonment?

j) Q: Describe what happens during family meals? Is everyone together and who sits where?

6. Decision Making

a) Q: How are key decisions made e.g. having children, approval of marriage, care of children, sick and elderly, religion?

b) Q: How are decisions on daily family business made?

7. Family Rituals and Ceremonies

a). Q: “Describe the types of rituals and ceremonies held in the family. How are weddings, baptisms, deaths, important life cycles e.g. initiation and other ceremonies held? Who attends? Where are they held? What happens at these events? What is the value of the ritual to the family and its culture?

b) Q: What is the daily schedule of the family? Are family members involved in community organizations e.g. sport, welfare work?

8. Family and Property

a) Q: Who owns property in the family and how did they acquire it?

b) Q: Do the women receive dowries e.g. lobola? What effects did this have on the family relationships?

c) Q: Who inherits what? Are will drawn up?

9. Migration and the Family

a) Q: Did the family migrate? If so, what were there reasons?

b) Q: What effect did this have on the family?

c). Q: What contact continued with the previous place where family lived?

10. Community Resources and Influences

a) Q: What community resources are not available to assist the family?

b) Q: What effect does the lack or availability of resources have on the family life?

c) Q: Are there any other resources to which the family can turn to in cases of crises?

d) Q: Is the family aware of community resources and how do they use them to their benefit?

Melissa Brown conducted her interview by asking the following Questions :

The names of the people had been changed to hide their identity

1. Who are the different individuals in your family?

2. How do the members of your family spend their time?( The interviewee also provided at time schedule breakdown of each family member)

3. Describe and depict physical and resources in your community.

Type of accommodation

Work and living space

How do resources in the community relate to the household?

Which places and people are important to the family in the community?

What services are there in the community?

What concerns do you have about the community?

4. What are the most important challenges the family faces right now and how are they handled?

Are there economic challenges?

Changes in circumstances

Process of decision making

5. How does the family provide for itself?

Who is responsible for earning money?

Who is responsible for unpaid labor (housework and care work)?

Who looks after family members who were sick, disabled or elderly?

How does the family deals with infectious diseases like HIV and AIDS and TB

What work are children involved in?

6. Gender differences

Why is the work divided as it is between women and men in the family?

Are women (or men) excluded from some some family resources?

7. How has racial stratification/racism affected the family?

How does the family identify its race ethnicity?

8. What role does age play in the family

Special tasks for older person

Status given to children

What roles children play?

9. Family values

10. Making decisions

11. Special occasions

Rituals and ceremonies in the family

12. Please give me your life story thus far with focus on your education or whatever you think is important.

Nia Bridges conducted her interview by asking the following Questions:

4.1 Dwelling and Organization of Family Life

(a) What type of dwelling does the family live in? How does the family organize the living space? Who sleeps in what room? How is the work and living space divided? How crowded is the household?

(b) How is family defined? Are there families that did not meet traditional definitions? How are they perceived and treated?

(d) Are there any special arrangements for sick family members (e.g. disabilities, contagious like diseases, TB, HIV and AIDS?

(d) Who constitutes the household? Do married sons and daughters continue to live in their parents’ household? Do ageing parents live in their children’s household, in their dwellings, in residential communities or old age homes? Are there other members of the household who were not living with the family e.g. boarders, domestic workers?

(d) How are orphans and other vulnerable children accommodated?

(e) What effect does the dwelling have on the way the family members relate to each other and the community?

4.2.1 Patterns of work: Unpaid Labour

(a) Who is involved in the daily preparation of food, cleaning the home? Is domestic labour in the house performed on a paid or unpaid basis?

(b) Who cares for and rears the children? Who looks after the family members who are sick, disabled or elderly?

(d) How did the family deal with infectious diseases like HIV and AIDS and TB?

(e) How are these family members handled? Are they accepted or rejected?

(f) Have family members changed at all in their conceptions of what women’s and men’s roles in caring for others and domestic chores are?

(g) Are children involved in caring for other family members? Are the children involved in different work from that of their parents? Why/ why Not?

(h) Do you think that childcare and housework should be private, unpaid tasks done only by women? Why/why not? Do you think it should be performed by children? Why/why not?

4.2.2. Pattern of work Paid Labour

(a) Do sons and daughters leave/remain at home when they start work? If they left, when and why was this?

(b) What is the family’s attitude towards women seeking paid employment?

(c) Who is involved in waged (i.e. paid) labour? How is the income distributed in the household? What sort of work are wage earners involved in and for how many hours a week? Ask the member to complete the Hourly Activity Schedule

4.3 Effects of Racism

4.3.1 Cultural racism - which endorses the supremacy of beliefs and values of white culture.

4.3.2 Institutional racism - by this is meant the public power and authority which ration power and resources by excluding Blacks eg. access to empowerment, education, housing health and welfare resources, land etc.

4.3.3 Personal racism - attitudes and behaviours which result in a negative prejudgement of racial groups.

In examining the three types of racism identified above explain in detail

a) How have family members been affected by each one?

b) How have family members coped and supported each other in dealing with them?

4.4.1 Family Relationships/Status of Family Members

(a). What status is given to older people within the family’s culture?

(b) How are women viewed within the family? What is their status in relation to other family members?

(d) How does the family handle spouse, child and elderly abuse? Which age groups are involved in/excluded from this? Are elders of the community/members of the external family involved?

(e) How does the rearing of children change the status of the women in the family and the family as a whole? How were children treated? Are there different attitudes towards boys/girls children? Are children regarded as a means and source of security in old age? Who disciplines the children and how is it done?

(f) By whom and how are the values and norms in the family transmitted? Name three values that are regarded as most important

(g) Describe patterns of communication in the family.

(h) How are family problems resolved

(h) How is conflict dealt with?

(i) How does the family cope with crises such as imprisonment, death, divorce etc.?

(j) Describe what happens during family meals. Are certain family members given

privileges over others? Where do family members have their meals/ Is everyone

together? Who sits where?

4.4.2 Decision making

(a) How are key decisions made (e.g. having children, approval of marriage, care of children, sick, elderly, religion etc.)

(b) How are decisions on daily family business made?

4.5.1 Family Rituals and Ceremonies

(a) What is the daily schedule of family members?

(b ) Describe the type of rituals and ceremonies held in the family. How are weddings, baptisms, deaths, important life cycle stages e.g. adolescence, initiation and other ceremonies held? Who attends? Where are they held? What happens at these events? What is the value of the ritual to the family and its culture?

(d) Religious involvement.

(e) Who visits whom, how frequently and over what period of time? In African families people simply visited each other irrespective of their status. Has this changed?

4.5.2 Family and Property

(a) Who owns property in the family and how did they acquire it?

(b) Do the women receive dowries e.g. lobola? What effects did this have on family relationships?

4.5.3 Migration and the Family

(a) Did the family migrate, and if so what were the reasons? (influx control, forced removals, Group Areas Act, economic reasons, transport problems etc.)

(b) What effect did this have on the family?

4.5.4 Community Resources and Influence

(a) What community resources are not available to assist the family? (clinics, chid-care facilities, schools, , welfare organisations and libraries).

(b) What effect does the lack or availability or resources have on family life?

(b) What other resources are available which the family could turn in cases of crises and problems? E.g chief, elders and friends

(c) Is the family aware of the community resources and how to utilize them to the benefit of the family? How are services advertised?

(d) Are community resources seen as a first or last resort in solving a family problem? Explain.

(e) If there is a lack of resources what does the family ascribe this to and what action have family members taken to obtain these resources?

(f) Evaluate the community’s influence on the family (drugs, gangs, friendships, how education is valued in the community, civic affairs intercommunity conflicts)

Appendix C

Transcripts of Interviews (not included on this site. available on google.docs)