Family Studies

"Transnationale Familien, in denen Familienmitglieder im Herkunftsland verbleiben, während ein oder mehrere Familienmitglieder ins Ausland migrieren, sind ein Phänomen, das seit Ende der 1990er Jahre verstärkt in den Fokus der Wissenschaft gerückt ist. Jedoch beschäftigen sich bis jetzt nur wenige Studien umfassend mit transnationalen Familienkonstellationen im Kontext von Fluchtmigration. Sowohl die ursprüngliche Migrationsentscheidung als auch die Situation im Zielland hängen dabei nicht alleine von den migrierenden Individuen, sondern auch von ihrem familiären Kontext ab. Ziel des Projektes ist es daher, zu untersuchen, welcher Zusammenhang zwischen unterschiedlichen Familienkonstellationen und den durch die Flucht bedingten Veränderungen und dem Leben der geflüchteten Personen in Deutschland besteht. Das in Kooperation mit dem Forschungszentrum des Bundesamts für Migration und Flüchtlinge durchgeführte Projekt analysiert dabei, welche Formen, Strukturen und regionale Verortung transnationale Familien aufweisen. Darüber hinaus wird nicht nur die Entstehung von transnationalen Familien beleuchtet, sondern auch deren Veränderungen, die durch den Verbleib der Migrantinnen und Migranten im Zielland, Weiterwanderung oder deren Rückkehr ins Herkunftsland oder Familienzusammenführung ausgelöst sind. Durch die mit der Migration verbundene räumliche Trennung einzelner Familienmitglieder verändern sich die Beziehungen innerhalb einer Familie: Es soll daher außerdem untersucht werden, wie die Beziehungen zu den zurückgebliebenen Familienmitgliedern im Herkunftsland gepflegt werden sowie welche familiären Austauschprozesse existieren. Des Weiteren sollen im Rahmen dieser Studie auch die Wechselwirkungen zwischen Familienkonstellationen und sozialen Netzwerken beziehungsweise der sozialen Einbindung in Deutschland herausgearbeitet werden."

Eine Kritik der "care chain" Debatte. "Die empirische Untersuchung basiert auf einem Feldforschungsaufenthalt von zwei Monaten in Ecuador. Die Untersuchung wird sich dabei auf mehrere Orte des ecuadorianischen Andenhochlandes konzentrieren, die von massiver Emigration gekennzeichnet sind. Es sollen 20-30 narrative Interviews mit zurückgelassenen Kindern und Jugendlichen im Alter von 6-18 Jahren und zusätzliche Interviews mit den ""Ersatzmüttern"" geführt werden. Ecuador gehört zu einem der am stärksten von Migration betroffenen Ländern in Lateinamerika. Heute leben bereits 2,5 Millionen Ecuadorianer im Ausland, davon 53% in Spanien, wo sie die dritt stärkste Migrationsgruppe stellen. Über 51% von ihnen sind Migrantinnen, davon hat knapp die Hälfte Kinder in Ecuador zurückgelassen. Im Fokus der Forschung stehen die zurückgelassenen Kinder in Ecuador, ihre Chancen und Risiken transnationaler Kindheit und Jugend: Gelingt bei transnationalen Kindern und Jugendlichen eine (genderspezifische) Reformulierung und Transformation von Kindheit und Jugend, ähnlich der Reformulierung und Transformation von Mutterschaft unter Bedingungen der Migration? Werden die emanzipatorischen Potentiale der weiblichen Migration erst in der zweiten Generation, bei den zurückgelassenen Töchtern wirksam, die über die Identifikation mit ihren Müttern sozialen Aufstieg und empowerment realisieren, während dies den Söhnen nicht gelingt? Gestaltet sich dies anders im Falle der Migration von Vätern? Welche Risiken und Gefahren sind für die Kinder mit der Migration ihrer Mütter, Väter oder Eltern verbunden und unter welchen Bedingungen gelingt es ihnen Coping-Strategien zu entwickeln, die ihnen helfen den Verlust zu verarbeiten, neue Bindungen zu den Ersatzmüttern und -familien aufzubauen, also die migrationsbedingte Krise produktiv zu wenden? Welche Faktoren führen zum Scheitern und spielen dabei geschlechtsspezifische Faktoren eine Rolle"

In this collaborative project the causes and implications of the provision of domestic services in private households in many ED membership countries are explored. It aims at differentiating between different countries on different levels, including an analysis of how transnational migration is affecting the construction of welfare provision and the law in European societies as well as the most intimate of institutions, the home and family, will be examined and policy recommendations will be made.The proposed individual research is a follow-up to the project Gender, Ethnicity and Identity. The New Maids in the Age of Globalization (2002- 2005, see: www.uni-muenster.de/fqei).It will analyze the aspect of transnational care provision and transnational care chains between the Ukraine, Poland and Germany. While Polish women have become care providers for German children and elderly persons, middle class households in Poland is employing Ukrainian women for care work in large Polish cities. On top of that, Ukrainian women are also found in German households as care-providers. We can thus speak of an East-West care chain linking Ukrainian with Polish and German households.

"Inhalt und Fragestellung Migrationsprozesse lassen sich nur angemessen verstehen, wenn man sie nicht nur als individuelle Handlungen, sondern als Teil komplexer familiärer Gesamtstrategien betrachtet. Infolge von Migrationen einzelner Familienmitglieder entstehen transnationale Beziehungsstrukturen, die für das Verständnis von Nach-, Rück- oder Weiterwanderungen sowie schlussendlich auch für die Integrationspfade der Zugewanderten mitbestimmend sind. Bekannt sind etwa Phänomene wie Fernbeziehungen, getrennte Familien (freiwillig oder aufgrund rechtlicher Barrieren), Migrationswaisen, ferngesteuerte Pflege oder Skype-Eltern. Während darüber in der theoretischen Migrationsforschung Konsens besteht, existieren nur unzureichende quantitative empirische Erhebungen dieser Phänomene. Nicht zuletzt die Diskussion um den Familiennachzug subsidiär Schutzberechtigter hat gezeigt, dass es an gesichertem systematischen Wissen über die genauen Muster der transnationalen Familienbeziehungen sowie über deren tatsächliche Effekte auf Migrations- und Integrationsprozesse fehlt. Ziel des Projektes ist daher der Aufbau einer langfristigen Beobachtung der transnationalen Familienbeziehungen von Zugewanderten in Deutschland sowie deren Effekte auf Migration und teils auch Integration. Ziel ist es, ein Monitoringsystem zu etablieren, das Auskunft über die Entwicklung der mit den Familienstrukturen verbundenen Zuwanderungs- und Abwanderungspotentiale gibt. Methodik Zunächst werden eine Literaturrecherche durchgeführt sowie bestehende Datensätze auf ihre Relevanz für dieses Projekt geprüft. In einer zweiten Phase werden die Grundzüge eines Monitoring entwickelt. Arbeitsschritte In einer ersten Phase des Projekts sollen die grundsätzliche Machbarkeit geprüft und entsprechende Instrumente und Designs entwickelt werden. Dazu wird zunächst der theoretische und empirische Erkenntnisstand systematisch erhoben und aufbereitet. Dies dient u.a. auch der Identifikation von geeigneten Indikatoren, die für ein Monitoring relevant sind. Parallel dazu werden vorhandene nationale und internationale Standarddatensätze, aber auch kleinere Erhebungen systematisch daraufhin überprüft, inwieweit sie die benötigten Informationen enthalten. Am Ende des Projektes stehen eine Empfehlung, ob und wie eine entsprechende Langzeitbeobachtung aufgebaut werden kann, und ein Projektantrag für die konkrete Umsetzung."

Migration is often part of an economically beneficial livelihood strategy for transnational families. For many of the sending countries in Southeast Asia, a growing proportion of transnational migrants, particularly in Indonesia and the Philippines, are women. Many of these female migrants are married and an unknown number leave their children behind. To date, no official data exists on the number of children under 12 years of age with one or both parents absent due to migration but anecdotal evidence suggests that growing numbers of transnational migrants from the region leave children behind. Although most migrants send remittances to left-behind kin, visits home tend to be infrequent with migrants going away for two or more years at a time. With demand from wealthy countries for domestic workers, nurses and other carers increasing as their populations age, solving care problems in rich countries may be creating a considerable ‘crisis of care’ in less developed countries. However, little is known about the multi-dimensional impacts of migration on left-behind families, particularly children. It is not known whether left-behind children themselves are more vulnerable to poor physical and mental health outcomes, or in what way, when and under what circumstances do they benefit and/or suffer from the absence of parent(s), especially when the migrant is the child’s mother. CHAMPSEA Wave 1 is the first mixed-method study aimed at filling this significant gap in existing knowledge by examining both the reconfiguration of familial support systems after parental migration and the impact on child health/well-being in Southeast Asia. CHAMPSEA Wave 2 continues to investigate the long-term impacts of parental migration on the health and well-being of children who took part in CHAMPSEA Wave 1. The follow-up study surveyed and interviewed members of the same CHAMPSEA households in Indonesia (East and West Java) and the Philippines (Bulacan and Laguna) including children in middle childhood (then 3, 4 and 5 years and are now 11, 12 and 13) and young adults (then 9, 10 and 11 and are now 17, 18 and 19). Using the same mixed-methods research design utilised in CHAMPSEA Wave 1 that capitalizes on the complementary strengths of quantitative and qualitative methods, CHAMPSEA Wave 2 collects primary data using carefully designed survey instruments in order to create a unique longitudinal data set that will allow the investigation of multiple dimensions of children’s health and well-being. Through the longitudinal examination of transnational migration/householding, familial care politics and left-behind children, CHAMPSEA Wave 2 aims to: enhance knowledge on the health and well-being of children left behind in Southeast Asia when one/both parents migrate overseas for work; examine comparative impacts of paternal/maternal migration on child health over time; and contribute to academic, community, and policy debates in the region and beyond on larger questions relating to the feminisation of ‘care migration’ and the politics of care in sending communities, the organisation of reproductive labour within transnational households, and the migration-and-development nexus.

"Theoretical background and objectives Research on youth migration in Germany has given little attention to transnational family relations so far. The project explores both the extent and the long-term individual consequences of migration-related family separation during childhood. The first part of the study focuses on guest-workers' immigration strategies in order to explain the development and consequences of transnational family relations in the context of the recruitment of ""gastarbeiter"" in Germany. The study differentiates between guest workers from Southern Europe (Greece, Italy, Spain, Yugosla­via and Portugal) and from Islamic Mediterranean countries (Turkey, Morocco, Tunisia). Survey data are used to construct and describe ""migration chains"" in order to test hypotheses on transnational family relations and the extent of resulting parent-child separation. The analysis of qualitative data gathered from interviews with young migrants living in Germany permits the investigation of the familial decision-making processes concerning migration and the cones­quences of separation from parents experienced during childhood. At the second stage, the project also analyses the attachment behaviour of migrants who, in the context of immigration to Germany, temporarily lived in transnational families during their childhood. The idea that a separation from parents experienced during childhood will influence the general attachment behaviour forms the core thesis of attachment theory (Bowlby 1969, Ainsworth 1985a). But instead of concentrating on immediate social consequences of migration-related parental loss on the child-parent-relationship, the study analyses the marital status of adults depending on whether they experienced separation from their parent(s) due to migration during their childhood. Research design, data and methodology Data are analysed descriptively and by means of logistic regression models, using the German Mikrozensus 2005. Additionally, a series of interviews has been conducted with young Moroccan migrants who had been temporarily separated from their parents. Findings The extent of separation experiences differs according to ethnic background. Children with an Islamic Mediterranean background have a significantly higher hazard of experiencing a migration-related separation from one of their parents (mostly, from their father) than those from Southern European countries. A temporary loss of both parents was observed more frequently among young migrants with a European origin. The interviews reveal that it is much more difficult for the children to deal with the absence of both parents. Regression results show that the experience of a separation from parents during childhood significantly reduces the chances of marriage among adult migrants, and that the age at separation plays an important role, while the duration does not show any effects."

Protracted humanitarian crisis particularly affects the most vulnerable groups, such as the elderly. Due to insufficient social protection/public welfare services and based on negotiated rules of intergenerational solidarity, seniors rely on their families (especially women) for support and care. Crisis-induced “survival migration” creates transnational families and raises questions of care for parents remaining in the countries of origin. The fact that little is known about transnational caregiving strategies in the specific context of crisis-induced migration-or the gender dimensions involved in coordinating and performing such care-justifies the need for additional in-depth research to better understand this important subject. The project aims to investigate the perceptions and strategies of transnational care for elderly parents remaining in (crisis-affected) countries of origin, particularly focusing on gender, filial duty and reciprocity and how they structure care dynamics. By combining an intersectional approach with critical agency, subjectivities and individual strategies are conceptualized as interrelated within a broader context of structural inequality and power relations. The project focuses on two cases of protracted humanitarian crisis migration: Syrian migrants in Switzerland and Venezuelan migrants in Chile and Peru. These crisis-induced migratory flows can be read as “South-North” and “South-South” migration and constitute an ideal ground of comparison in the examination of transnational care dynamics. The proposed methodological approach systematically analyzes the perspectives/practices of transnational households and networks by including both sides of the transnational caregiving relationships, consisting of: 40 narrative, problem-centered interviews with Syrian men and women in Switzerland and 100 with Venezuelan men and women in Peru (60) and Chile (40); 20 semi-structured interviews with parents in Syria and 60 with parents in Venezuela; and analysis of legal documents and migration policies. The project will address knowledge gaps in transnational care, gender and migration studies in the context of protracted humanitarian crisis, offering new insight into intergenerational and gendered questions of caregiving, reciprocity and moral duties of filial piety, as well as caregiving negotiations within wider transnational kinship networks. The proposed research will produce original findings that will inform the future design and implementation of undergraduate, master or doctoral-level courses and academic programs at partner universities, as well as in the field of continuing education for professionals and other actors related to issues of migration in protracted humanitarian crises, care and gender. Results are expected to impact public policies and support systems (e.g., social work) addressing migration, caregiving and family dynamics, both within and across relevant countries (Chile, Peru, Switzerland). The project builds on and deepens existing South-South/South-North academic networks by proposing further cooperation between HES-SO University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Western Switzerland School of Social Work Fribourg (Switzerland), OST-Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences (Switzerland), the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (PUCP, Peru), the University of Tarapacá (Chile) and the Catholic University Silva Henríquez (Chile).

Protracted humanitarian crisis particularly affects the most vulnerable groups, such as the elderly. Due to insufficient social protection/public welfare services and based on negotiated rules of intergenerational solidarity, seniors rely on their families (especially women) for support and care. Crisis-induced “survival migration” creates transnational families and raises questions of care for parents remaining in the countries of origin. The fact that little is known about transnational caregiving strategies in the specific context of crisis-induced migration-or the gender dimensions involved in coordinating and performing such care-justifies the need for additional in-depth research to better understand this important subject. The project aims to investigate the perceptions and strategies of transnational care for elderly parents remaining in (crisis-affected) countries of origin, particularly focusing on gender, filial duty and reciprocity and how they structure care dynamics. By combining an intersectional approach with critical agency, subjectivities and individual strategies are conceptualized as interrelated within a broader context of structural inequality and power relations. The project focuses on two cases of protracted humanitarian crisis migration: Syrian migrants in Switzerland and Venezuelan migrants in Chile and Peru. These crisis-induced migratory flows can be read as “South-North” and “South-South” migration and constitute an ideal ground of comparison in the examination of transnational care dynamics. The proposed methodological approach systematically analyzes the perspectives/practices of transnational households and networks by including both sides of the transnational caregiving relationships, consisting of: 40 narrative, problem-centered interviews with Syrian men and women in Switzerland and 100 with Venezuelan men and women in Peru (60) and Chile (40); 20 semi-structured interviews with parents in Syria and 60 with parents in Venezuela; and analysis of legal documents and migration policies. The project will address knowledge gaps in transnational care, gender and migration studies in the context of protracted humanitarian crisis, offering new insight into intergenerational and gendered questions of caregiving, reciprocity and moral duties of filial piety, as well as caregiving negotiations within wider transnational kinship networks. The proposed research will produce original findings that will inform the future design and implementation of undergraduate, master or doctoral-level courses and academic programs at partner universities, as well as in the field of continuing education for professionals and other actors related to issues of migration in protracted humanitarian crises, care and gender. Results are expected to impact public policies and support systems (e.g., social work) addressing migration, caregiving and family dynamics, both within and across relevant countries (Chile, Peru, Switzerland). The project builds on and deepens existing South-South/South-North academic networks by proposing further cooperation between HES-SO University of Applied Sciences and Arts of Western Switzerland School of Social Work Fribourg (Switzerland), OST-Eastern Switzerland University of Applied Sciences (Switzerland), the Pontifical Catholic University of Peru (PUCP, Peru), the University of Tarapacá (Chile) and the Catholic University Silva Henríquez (Chile).

‘Displacing Deviance…’ is a state-of-the-art research project into transnational family practices. It examines ‘disciplinary return’ - young second-generation migrants sent ‘home’ to their countries of heritage by their parents as a disciplinary measure – a widespread practice which has not yet been the focus of direct research. Second-generation ties to the homeland are critical to issues of integration, yet understanding of second-generation transnationalism is thin. Examining ‘disiplinary return’ within the Nigerian diaspora will establish new, in-depth understanding of how migrants navigate transnational structures of opportunity and constraint through their family practice. This will shed light on the relationship between socio-economic challenges faced in ‘host’ countries, and how migrants build loyalties and identities in a transnational context. It will produce findings of relevance to policy concerns about societal challenges around multicultural integration and minority youth in the education and criminal justice sectors. The research approach is innovative, answering calls for youth-centric, multi-sited, and intergenerational research into transnational families, thus far mostly studied via first-generation migrant parents in single locations. Qualitative research with migrant parents and youth, and participatory research with migrant youth, will be undertaken in the USA, Nigeria and the UK. Supervision by a world expert, Dr Coe at Rutgers, in the outgoing phase will provide a unique training opportunity for the researcher and excellent means to build networks. Expertise gained will be transferred back into Europe in the incoming phase by working with Dr Dwyer, co-director of the Migration Research Unit (Geography Department) at UCL, a hub for migration research with Europe-wide networks. This will maximise output which advance theoretical debates around migration and transnationalism, speak to policy debates, and capture public audiences.

Rapporten setter søkelys på kvinners hverdagsliv i norsk-pakistanske familier. Forskeren har søkt å løse opp dikotomiseringen mellom «moderne» og «tradisjonelle» muslimske kvinner som ofte blir forstått i relasjon til «vestlige selvstendige kvinner» og «muslimske passive og undertrykte kvinner». Hun viser et mangfold av tilpasninger og meninger som kvinner har. Endringer og variasjoner preger livet, der familierelasjoner er i endring og tradisjonelle autoritetsstrukturer utfordres. Kvinner deltar på ulike arenaer i samfunnet, men fortsetter å ha tilhørighet i tette norsk-pakistanske familier og nettverk. Familiesamhold veier tungt også transnasjonalt.