Child-Bearing
Child-bearing refers to the process of giving birth and raising children. It encompasses the physical, emotional, and social aspects of reproduction and parenting. In the social sciences, child-bearing is studied in relation to family structures, gender roles, and societal norms, as well as its impact on individuals and communities.
3 Key excerpts on "Child-Bearing"
eBook - ePubChildren and Families in the Social Environment
Modern Applications of Social Work
- James Garbarino(Author)
- 2017(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...6 The Ecology of Childbearing and Child Rearing Garbarino James and L. Benn Joanne There are two lasting bequests we can give our children— one is roots, the other wings. Anonymous The decision to accept the responsibilities of parenthood is a bold confrontation between dreams and doubts, between past and future. This chapter uses the ecological perspective to examine the social and psychological aspects of becoming and sustaining a healthy family. Beginning with childbirth as a critical life event, we explore the importance of active parent participation in decisions affecting child development and family life. Important variations in childbirth practices across cultural and historical contexts form the basis for discussing basic issues in parent-child relationships from childhood through adolescence. All those concerned with optimizing the potential of our youngest generation must appreciate the monumental task of maintaining the delicate balance of supports and challenges that give children both roots and wings. Childbearing: Birth of the Parent-Child Relationship A baby emerges from the protection of the mother’s womb into a new environment. Without the buffering influence provided by the prenatal home, the newborn must adjust to bombardment by the sensations of light, sound, and temperature change. The baby’s parents, too, are encountering profound changes. For the mother, the final stages of labor and delivery mark the culmination of more than 9 months of bodily changes to accommodate the growing fetus. For both parents, the delivery is another important phase in the psychological and social preparation for becoming a parent. Bronfenbrenner (1979) calls these life changes ecological transitions. Defined as alterations in an individual’s position in the environment resulting from a change in role or setting, ecological transitions are numerous during pregnancy and childbirth...
eBook - ePubFamilies, Labour and Love
Family diversity in a changing world
- Maureen Baker(Author)
- 2020(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...In recent decades, however, a number of sociologists have studied how children influence their parents’ behaviour (Ambert 1990, 1992), reasons for and against Child-Bearing (Veevers 1980, Cameron 1990, 1997), children and the state (Jamrozik and Sweeney 1996), and theorised about children born through new reproductive technologies (Eichler 1996). Despite these investigations, sociologists have tended to view ‘the family’ as a unit and have overlooked the fact that children may have divergent needs and views from their parents. PARENTHOOD, REFLECTION AND CHOICE In all three countries, marriage and reproduction within marriage have been associated with maturity, responsibility and the ‘normal’ adult lifestyle. Increasingly, however, whether or not to marry and reproduce are becoming choices for a greater number of people. These choices are allowed by more effective contraceptives, legalised abortion, changing attitudes about alternative lifestyles and more options for women to support themselves through paid work (Renvoize 1985). Despite these options, most people marry at least once and bear children (McDaniel and Tepperman 2000, p. 24). Access to safe and reliable contraception is not the only determinant of Child-Bearing decisions. Political economists remind us that fertility choices may also reflect the declining economic value of children, higher expectations of living standards, pressures on women to contribute to the family income, women’s educational and employment aspirations, and life alternatives. Fertility is also influenced by cultural and personal ideals about family size and the timing of births, perceptions of marital stability, and the costs and benefits of reproduction with a particular person in a specific culture or society (Callan 1982a, p. 387). Research from many countries indicates that most adults who become parents do so as a matter of course, without much reflection...
eBook - ePubAn Introduction to Population Geographies
Lives Across Space
- Holly R. Barcus, Keith Halfacree(Authors)
- 2017(Publication Date)
- Routledge(Publisher)
...It stresses fertility’s always relational connection to the other elements of the demographic equation and the multiple arenas of life course constitution (2.3). Section 4.2 starts by summarizing two key ways fertility has been modeled at the aggregate scale. The empirical correlates of such models in the present day are then introduced in Section 4.3 ’s overview of a global fertility divergence. The children produced then come to the fore in Section 4.4 ’s account of the “value” of a child, before Section 4.5 engages with individual and family practices managing timing and spacing of births. Also central to shaping fertility geographies are various state policies, some explicitly demographic, introduced in Section 4.6. Lastly, before the conclusion, Section 4.7 extends the traditional scope of fertility geographies through a broader perspective on conception, birth and parenthood today. 4.1.2 Measuring production of children Fertility refers to the number of children born to an individual or a defined population, often a country. To begin to articulate a process with such far-reaching implications and dimensions, Demographers have devised a range of statistics-based definitions (Holdsworth et al. 2013: 10, 72–76; Poston and Bouvier 2010: 40–52). Three are particularly useful, but increase in both sophistication and data demands, respectively. Crude Birth Rate (CBR) expresses the total number of births occurring in a specified population over a specific period of time. It is easy to calculate and may have direct practical implications (e.g. numbers of new mouths to feed). For a given year: Note that only live births are used to define CBR and that the rate uses the estimated mid-year area population as denominator. Accurate statistics are clearly required for both measures...
