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This paper describes the University of Tennessee's High School Equivalency Program (HEP), one of 21 programs throughout the United States aimed at assisting seasonal and migrant farm workers in improving their level of employment and education. For the first 4 years, the University of Tennessee's HEP was a campus-based residency program, but in 1986 it was changed to a work-site-based operation to better meet the needs of students and their families. The Office of Migrant Education also developed a sister program, the College Assistance Migrant Program (CAMP) to support HEP graduates in continuing their education. Each participant in HEP is provided with a minimum of 30 hours per week of instruction in mathematics, science, social studies, writing, and reading with the goal of attaining a GED certificate. A behavioral component of the program focuses on stress management, career selection, money management, avocational interests, and time management. Throughout its existence, the University of Tennessee's HEP has established strong linkages with local programs and agencies in accessing services for migrant and seasonal farm workers. The program has presently served 90 percent of its 167-student goal. Students enrolled in the program are passing the GED test at a 73 percent rate. Sixty-six percent of students who have completed the program have been placed in competitive nonfarm employment and 16 percent have entered postsecondary education. The site-based program has encouraged older members of the extended family to take advantage of HEP. Appendices include maps of HEP and CAMP sites. (LP)

Empirical findings have supported an inverse relationship between closeness to extended family and friends versus spouse. The three foregoing interpersonal relationships in terms of affective quality, direction and dominance were investigated, using an objective test as well as the TAT. Bellak (1986) considered that the strength of the TAT lies in its ability to elicit the content and dynamics of interpersonal relationships. Previous interpretive systems, however, were expansive, lacked a fixed framework or were tailored to different populations. It was assumed that interpersonal affect attributed to TAT stimuli reflect the quality of affect directed toward persons in the respondent's life. Dominance of "spouse" over "parents" and "nonspouse" orientation was significantly associated with marital adjustment. The paper demonstrates the use of interplay between three sets of scores in three interpersonal categories to identify conjugal interactional patterns. Contains 21 references. (Author)

This study examined medical services and support services available to and utilized by minority families where a child and/or parent was identified as having Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) or Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). Sixteen caregivers of children (ages 2-4) diagnosed as HIV positive or children who had been exposed to the HIV/AIDS virus participated in the study. Caregivers were administered the Pediatric AIDS Interview which covered demographic information, child's medical history, medical services, medical management, family and friend support, use of external support services, and coping strategies. Among the results were the following: (1) over 80% of respondents indicated that they were pleased with the quality of their child's medical care; (2) 62% of the participants had informed their immediate family; (3) 70% reported that there were no support groups in the area for families of HIV positive children; (4) coping strategies included praying, going to support meetings, learning about the new developments in AIDS research, focusing on positives, and not thinking about the child's illness; and (5) extended families were called upon to demonstrate an array of caregiving roles. (Contains 11 references.) (JDD)

This study uses a multinomial logic model to examine the impact of price, quality, family income, and family characteristics on the choice of child care. Price is measured in terms of predicted expenditures on care. Quality is measured by the ratio of children to staff. The following modes of care are examined: (1) day care center or nursery school; (2) care by sitter; (3) care by relative; and (4) care by husband/partner. Statistical data on employed women (i.e., women who were either working, in training, or in school) were drawn from the 1985 wave of the National Longitudinal Survey of Youth for analysis. The following summary findings are reported: (1) price is the most important factor affecting the choice of care; (2) quality of care is a significant factor in the choice of center care; (3) family income affects how much is spent for center care, but does not affect which mode of care is chosen; and (4) the mother's earnings do not affect how much is spent on care, but do affect the mode of care chosen. The following policy implications are outlined: (1) policies that raise family income allow families who use center care to pay more for it, but are not likely to affect the mode of care chosen; (2) policies that increase the mother's income will not affect how much is spent on care, but should encourage the choice of center care over other modes; (3) policies that reduce the price of care should encourage the choice of centers and sitters; and (4) policies that raise the quality of center care are likely to encourage the choice of centers. Statistical data are included on seven tables. A list of 33 references is appended. (FMW)

The transition from an industrial to a postindustrial society presents problems of unemployment, inflation, business failures, and high debt and interest rates. Additionally, this transition exerts a severe impact on individuals and the family unit. The family is shaped by political, economic, and social forces and in turn shapes these dynamics. Attempts have been made to rejuvenate personal and familial capacities and community enterprise. One organization devoted to such rejuvenation is the Vanier Institute of the Family, a group that monitors social changes in family and community life and promotes the well-being of Canadian families. Changes in family life that affect society are reflected in the labor force, business interactions, household attitudes, and community activities. The result of these changes is that the current cash economy is misperceived as the whole economy. Learning more about informal economy and establishing policies to encourage development may resolve the crisis of the welfare state. In general, people are becoming more self-reliant and developing interpersonal support systems based on cooperative relationships and new technologies. (BJD)

A comprehensive look is taken at the rural-urban variation in extended familism among a segment of the population for which extended familism purportedly is especially salient: lower and working class black Americans. The study is guided by the general hypothesis that rurality/urbanism affects extended familism when nonecological variables are held constant. Differences by two dimensions of rurality/urbanism are analyzed--current place of residence and rural-urban experience. Three general dimensions of extended familism are examined: patterns of coresidence, amount of interaction among kin not living in the same households, and relative functionality of interaction with kin to nonkin. Because extant evidence and theoretical bases for predictions of relationships between rurality/urbanism and extended familism appear contradictory, no attempt is made to hypothesize and test the direction of rural-urban differences. The hypothesis that no rural-urban differences exist is supported with some caution since the statistic used for significance is sensitive to sample size, and because the sampling procedures for this study are not random. Another finding is that both the non-ecological and ecological variable effects are insufficient to explain as much as one-half or more of the variation in extended familism among the blacks. This indicates that all of the important ecological and/or nonecological factors affecting extended familism are not tapped by this study. (Author/AM)

The paper describes the Family, Infant and Toddler (FIT) Project, designed to provide educational and supportive services to rural middle Tennessee families with young mentally retarded children. Noted are the project background (including sporadic outreach efforts) and conceptual orientation, and an ecological perspective which stresses the role of both the nuclear and extended family. Project goals include development of a demonstration service program, developing a replicable inservice training program for local professionals, and expanding educational services to young retarded children in rural areas. Program implementation has involved providing screening and evaluation services and a weekly 3 hour educational clinic for 21 children (mean age 17 months) and their parents in three locations. Clinic activities include group parent-child training, individualized parent-child training, home planning, and a parent-family training and discussion group. Additional clinics are offered periodically to involve members of the child's extended family. The inservice training programs for 23 local allied professionals in the three communities involve a 9 month program in 4 week cycles consisting of two half day seminars in the local community, a day of centralized training activities, and a half day practicum locally. The FIT project staff are also using the media to make the public more aware of the needs and resources available for young retarded children and providing technical assistance to local agencies. Continuation of the program through state, local, and private support is seen as evidence for its effectiveness. (DB)

Development and learning are synonymous in traditional African education and are embedded in the cultural and educational values of African people. The community, extended family, and a strong family life with children as top priority, play important roles in traditional education. Family education based on the people's culture and traditions, with the mothers as the teachers and primary carriers of culture, is common among African nations. Story telling is used for building character and to transmit knowledge and cultural values. These stories, folklore, and songs are regarded as the unwritten syllabus of traditional education. In rural areas, nature provides children with learning experiences and helps prepare them for adult life. An appeal to continue embracing the values of traditional education and story telling, and to blend them with technological advancements, is made to Nigerian women. (SM)

Several small Black Appalachian communities in northwest North Carolina form a network of individuals and families connected by Black Mennonite churches and by blood and marital ties. This paper examines family relationships and attitudes toward family and kinship in one such community--the Junaluska neighborhood in the town of Boone (Watauga County). Information was gathered by in-depth interviews with 27 community members and meetings with 3 key informants--interested college students--and from three family histories compiled by community members. Most residents belonged to one of four large, primary family groups, and almost everyone else in the community had some connection to one of these groups. Kinship networks were very extensive and convoluted. In most cases they included children and spouses, families of orientation, grandchildren, nephews, nieces, aunts, uncles, cousins, spouses' kin, some other in-laws, and even fictive kin--friends and neighbors who were not blood related but were treated as such. These extended families provided members with emotional support, advice, help in time of crisis, child care, and material and monetary aid. Family gatherings were usually held on Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter, and the Fourth of July. Several families held annual reunions, with distant relatives traveling hundreds of miles to attend. Family histories contained the underlying themes of family unity and preservation of the family's heritage, and helped the families to define their histories as Blacks with roots in Appalachia. (SV)

The genogram can be used in an initial interview, as an organizing conceptual approach to the study of a family system. As a family tree, the genogram is a portrait of a family system over time and space. It's a structural diagram of a family's three-generational relationship system--an overview of emotional problems within the context of the family system. Multigenerational family survey highlights the important issues and relationship patterns as they emerge and repeat over the generations, and defines the problem within the larger context of the emotional system. Major concepts of Bowen's family systems theory and psychotherapy serve to clarify how the genogram can contribute to the organization of facts and characteristics of a family, while dissecting the emotional process in a way that focuses on the problem areas in a family and, thus, can define from the onset where to place the treatment strategies. (Author/PK)

Using data from the 1976 Annual Housing Survey, this paper presents information on housing for 1,865,000 households headed by persons under 65 that include one or more dependents aged 65 or over. It also provides data that will aid in the critical evaluation of the merits of federal programs designed to provide financial incentives for families that have a senior dependent living in the home. It is based on the fact that little information exists on the structural quality and characteristics of such multi-generational households. Its purpose is to help structure federal programs which would address these needs by recognizing the special expenses of supporting an elderly person at home, and encouraging multi-generational families to remain together as units. The structural components and quality of this extended family housing are described, along with those of households with a head aged 65 or over. Findings indicate that when compared on several significant housing characteristics, dwelling units that contain older persons as family members are consistently of higher quality than those which do not. (Author)

Research on nuclear families has reported support for an hypothesized inverse relationship between power and role-taking accuracy. Family members who are in subordinate (dependent) power positions are better able to predict attitudes and behavior of other family members than are those in relatively more powerful and independent positions. This hypothesis was tested within the context of the extended family and was seen as a significant shift in focus, given the alleged role reversal between adult children and their parents during the latter part of the family life cycle. Six persons representing three generations in each of 47 extended family units responded to a mailed questionnaire. Findings provided only equivocal support for the hypothesis. Support was found when the independent variable was operationalized in terms of perceived power or perceived physical dependency and in family dyads where the role-taker was a female sibling, a father, a mother, or a grandmother. For dyads where the role-taker was a male sibling or a grandfather, the relationship between power and role-taking accuracy was opposite that hypothesized. (Although data on which this study is based was obtained in 1972, the topic is of high current interest). (Author/HLM)

A family-oriented geography field course about the southwestern United States was conducted in 1978 by a community college in Michigan (Delta College). Course activities took place in Colorado. The major purpose of the field experience was to offer learning experiences to family groups rather than to individual students. For purposes of the field course, the family was interpreted to include nuclear families, single parent families with children, couples, and single person families. Teaching methods were based on the multiple age structure and multiple learning levels of the family unit. The course centered on five topics: (1) topography, flora, and fauna of the Colorado Plateau along the Colorado River; (2) cultural aspects related to settlement patterns of the area; (3) institutional aspects such as visitor centers, museums, mines, and businesses; (4) group dynamics involved in interactions between students of various ages, instructors, and resource persons; and (5) social aspects of potlucks, campfires, and recreation. Activities involved participants in traveling from Michigan to the Southwest, camping, rock identification, writing and art exercises, group discussion, and compiling and viewing slide shows. Feedback indicated that participants enjoyed the program and learned a lot about geography. The success of the program implies that field experiences are particularly beneficial to family groups and that field experiences may increase interest in geography. (DB)

Looking at holiday observances and patterns of contact and interaction among kinsmen, this paper examines the values middle class people hold about both close and distant kinsmen and investigates how consistent their actual behavioral patterns are to these expressed values. A questionaire was constructed and administered to a class of predominantly undergraduate students. Thirty-nine students responded to the questionaire; 26 of the respondents were male, 13 were female. The ages ranged from 19 and 28, with the mean age being 22.4 years. Within this sample, the nuclear family continues to retain primacy. Also, extended family ties are maintained by a significant minority of the sample. Extended ties are not important in the context of daily activities, but are for holidays and special ceremonial occasions. A more restricted range of extended kin is also included in practices of gift exchange, telephone contact, and correspondence. Kin ties are maintained with approximately equal members of maternal and paternal kin. The sample was small and from a select population; what is needed now is to test these findings with a larger random sample drawn from the general population. (Author/JK)

Over the past few decades, the complex nature of transitions into stepfamilies has been the focus of considerable attention. Previous scholars have established developmental tasks for remarriage, stepfamilies, and stepsibling relations. A parallel, but unique, set of developmental stages and tasks for the adjustment to stepgrandparenting occur. These adjustments to stepgrandparenting include: (1) accepting the losses; (2) accepting the adult child's single status; (3) accepting the adult child's entrance into a new relationship; and (4) establishing new relationships within the stepfamily context. These tasks and stages of adjustment to stepgrandparenting imply that the transition to stepgrandparenting is a process rather than an event. This process begins with a loss, continues through adaptation to the adult child's single parent family, and the adjustment to stepgrandparenthood. Results also imply that the transition to stepgrandparenthood is rarely a choice by grandparents. Grandparents can be involved in enhancing adjustment. The most important implication is that the unique developmental stages and qualities of stepfamilies need to be understood by extended family members as well as the stepfamily and the family life professional. (Author/ABL)

Māori are the indigenous people of New Zealand, and kaupapa Māori research (KMR) methodology refers to a Māori way of doing research. We illustrate how this approach can enhance indigenous research. KMR methodology grew out of a history of Māori being 'researched' by non-Māori, largely for the self-interest of the researcher. An important approach of KMR is it encourages Māori researchers to engage indigenous communities/stakeholders to ground and embed the research being undertaken. Consequently, a study's research question might be driven by stakeholders, while still handing the research task to the researcher. Another focus of KMR is embracing Te Ao Māori (the Māori worldview). Using this KMR methodology, ten Maori stakeholders were engaged as they sought insights into Māori employee careers. Thematic analysis drew two Te Ao Māori factors potentially influencing career satisfaction: (1) whānau support, which referred to support from family and extended family, and (2) kaiārahi, which is when someone serves as a role model. This was then explored quantitatively on a sample of 414 Māori employees, across a broad range of occupations in New Zealand organisations. Findings showed whānau support and role model were significantly related to work-life balance, cultural wellbeing and career satisfaction. A two mediator model was supported (with bootstrapping), with whanau support influence being fully mediated by work-life balance, and role model partially mediated by cultural wellbeing. Both mediators predicted career satisfaction. The model accounts for a solid amount of variance (38%). The findings support the new additions towards understanding Māori career satisfaction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]