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Item Japanese attitudes to women, marriage and family since the Tokugawa period and their effect on families separated by sankin kotai, dekasegi and tanshin funin : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Japanese at Massey University(Massey University, 1987) Petersen, Desley GailSome of the ideals about women, marriage and family which exist in Japan today can be traced back to the ideals of feudal society which crystallised in the 'bushi' class of the Tokugawa Period. These ideals were largely part of the Confucianism and Buddhism that were imported from China many centuries earlier and which the Tokugawa government used as the moral base by which they controlled society. The feudal view that the primary function of a woman was to produce heirs for her husband's family lowered women's status. The idea that the sole purpose of the marriage was to perpetuate the family related to the vital aspect of its economic survival. So in 'bushi' families, the relationship of the married couple was denied in favour of the hierarchical relationships through which the source of income was transmitted. The family centered on the flow of generations, at the expense of the happiness both of the current title-holder and his family, as individuals and as groups. These ideals were spread throughout society in time. Changes were made to the law after the Meiji Restoration, when the old feudal institutions were abolished. Some of these changes were the result of influences from the West, but because the new rulers came from the 'bushi' class they carried their ideals forward, especially in relation to the family, as a trusted means of social control. The greatest Western influence was felt in the Constitution of 1947 which awarded recognition to the individual and therefore to women and to married couples. These changes are only now becoming part of the consciousness of the people. As a result, the definition of "family" is in question, making it difficult to apply a precept which has been fundamental in Japan for centuries: "for the sake of the family". Under this precept people were expected to put the wellbeing of the family ahead of their own happiness. Urbanisation and industrialisation have simultaneously contributed to the pressure for change both in ideals and realities for women in particular. We can trace changes to the ideals by looking at the families caught up in 'sankin kotai', 'dekasegi' and 'tanshin funin'. The latter can be called a social problem in that these families are at the cutting edge of change. Their difficulties are forcing society at large to rethink the traditional balance of the interests of the individual and society.Item A revolution in gender and familial life : an analysis of socio-political and cultural factors on the contemporary Chinese family : a thesis presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Philosophy in Sociology at Massey University(Massey University, 2001) Haughton, AnneThe aim of this study is to investigate gender relations and the family in contemporary China. More specifically it seeks to contextualise the contemporary Chinese family within a socio-historical, political and cultural analysis of China from the formation of the People's Republic of China in 1949. It uses a historical sociological methodology, on the basis of existing studies. It attempts to ascertain what has changed and what has stayed the same over the last fifty years, as well as to evaluate what Chinese families have gained and lost as a result of government reforms. With a different focus in each chapter, the study examines some of the ways the accelerated quest for modernity has impacted on the Chinese family and society. It explores family structure and the rapid changes currently taking place in dating, romance, and marriage, reproduction, child socialisation practices, and gender and family relationships. Far more than in most countries, the Chinese family plays a central role in economic relations and political ideology, which makes these changes especially consequential. One obvious impact of the government reforms on the Chinese family lifestyle was the preservation of traditional beliefs and practices, such as wedding and funeral ceremonies, ancestral worship and preferences for sons over daughters. Another impact discussed by this study has been the attempt to remake the Chinese family into an economic and social unit, depriving it of its traditional ideological, spiritual, and ritual significance. But the real challenge imposed by the current government, that may ultimately weaken or even fundamentally change the Chinese family, has been the birth control campaign. Socially and economically, this study shows that the well-being of many young couples especially rural couples, with only one daughter may be endangered when they could no longer carry out manual labour on their farm. The main conclusion from this analysis is that the family and its continuity still occupy the focal point in the lives of Chinese people.Item The impact of dysfunctional relationship beliefs on marital satisfaction : comparison of clinical and non-clinical samples : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Psychology at Massey University(Massey University, 1996) Dickson, JanCognitive components of marital distress have been examined in the past decade, but few studies to date have focused on relationship beliefs. The present study is a partial replication of Eidelson and Epstein's (1982) evaluation of the Relationship Belief Inventory, a questionnaire developed by them to assess dysfunctional relationship beliefs. Participants comprised ninety men and ninety-two women (including 90 couples) drawn from both clinical and non-clinical settings. They completed questionnaires which included demographic data, the Relationship Belief Inventory (Eidelson & Epstein, 1982) and the Dyadic Adjustment Scale (Spanier, 1976), a commonly used measure of marital satisfaction. Comparisons were made between responses from clinical and non-clinical groups, between men and women, and between partners. A multiple regression analysis was performed to determine whether specific beliefs represented by the Relationship Belief Inventory were predictive of low levels of marital satisfaction. The results indicated that a belief that disagreement is destructive to a relationship was consistently related to low levels of marital satisfaction. Participants in the clinical group had significantly higher scores on this belief than the non-clinical group, and in the multiple regression equation, this belief was a unique predictor of reduced marital satisfaction. Men were found to hold the belief that sexual perfectionism is important with greater intensity than women. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for marital therapy.Item Jane Austen : lessons in "ladyhood" for both ladies and gentlemen of nineteenth-century England and beyond : a thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in English at Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand(Massey University, 2010) Lagorio, Loretta AnneAusten took up the literary challenge and wrote within the tight parameters set by the prevailing male society. She was able to portray her heroines as ideals of “ladyhood”, she rejected skewed masculine values unfavourable to women prevalent during her time. Her heroines discover feminine self-awareness, they have travelled the path of fundamental growth and maturation. Admired in her own century as having “nothing doctrinaire” in her work and ‘no trace of a woman’s mission’ (Parrish, p.370) in the hindsight of one hundred and fifty years; it is important to recognise both her teaching intent and her concern with female development, indeed, it is impossible not to recognise her “pondered intent” in relation to social and political issues generally that was eclipsed by earlier hegemonies.