Bibliographies
The following bibliography has been compiled from the Australian Family & Society Abstracts database and other resources held in the Institute's library. Where available a link to the document on the Web is provided. Most items can be borrowed from the Institute's library via the inter library loan system. Online publications in PDF format require Adobe Acrobat Reader.
Relationship formation
Becoming an adult: leaving home, relationships and home ownership
among Australian youth.
Hillman, K J; Marks, G N
Camberwell, Vic: Australian Council for Educational Research, 2002, 41p,
tables, figures (Longitudinal Surveys of Australian Youth; research
report no.28), and Online (1233K)
Today, the achievement of
many of the traditional markers of independence is being delayed, or
indeed not reached at all. This report examines changing patterns in the
transition to adulthood amongst young Australians over the last two
decades by analysing data collected from four cohorts of young
Australians in relation to moving out of home, establishing a
relationship, and buying a house. The report documents the incidence of
these events over time and analyses their relationship with social
background, demographic and labour market factors.
Changing conceptions: young people's views of partnering and
parenting.
White, N R
Journal of Sociology v.39 no.2
Jun 2003: 149-164
Birth-rates are declining in Australia, as
well as in many other Western industrialised countries. The decline in
birth-rates is explored in relation to young Australians' family
formation aspirations. Aspirations were found to be linked to experience
in the family of origin, perceptions of work and gender. Underlying young
people's perceptions was an individualism expressed through prioritized
personal career and financial goals, and the need to establish a
consolidated sense of self prior to partnering and parenting. (Journal
abstract)
Changing patterns of partnering.
de Vaus, D; Qu, L;
Weston,R
Family Matters no.64 Autumn 2003: 10-15,
and Online (PDF 237K)
There have been important changes over
the last 25 years in the way in which men and women form partnered
relationships. The authors argue that taking a longer-term perspective
provides a better understanding of these trends. Within the last quarter
century family structures and relationships have changed in significant
ways. One of the most striking changes is in the area of partnering,
perhaps the most obvious being the increasing tendency for people to live
together without marrying (cohabitation) at some stage in their lives and
the fall in first marriage and remarriage rates. This article asks what
these trends suggest for the future of marriage. The authors explain that
those who focus on the last few decades may well draw markedly different
conclusions from those adopt a longer term perspective.
Changing
patterns of relationship formation: implications for
fertility.
Weston, R; Qu, L
Melbourne, Vic:
Australian Institute of Family Studies, Conference Papers and
Presentations - Paper presented at the Australia New Zealand Population
Workshop, Canberra, November 2001, 16p, figures, Online only (678K)
This paper examines the links between relationship formation,
relationship stability and fertility. It focuses on two studies conducted
by the Australian Institute of Family Studies. The first examines
changing patterns of first union formation for women, and the extent to
which these patterns are linked to relationship stability and child
bearing. The study suggests that, while women are increasingly likely to
begin their first union with 'cohabitation' (that is, de facto
relationship), there is also an increasing trend for first unions to
begin at a later age and for cohabitation to end in separation. The
second study, which is based on a 2-wave survey spanning 10 years,
explores the effects of relationship change and stability on fertility
intentions. It suggests that disrupted relationships (along with
continued single status) often result in the reversal of intentions to
have children. Together, these studies suggest that changing patterns of
relationship formation and stability contribute to the fall in fertility
and to a blurring of the distinction between voluntary and involuntary
childlessness. (Author abstract)
Finding love online: the nature and frequency of Australian
adults' Internet relationships.
Hardie, Elizabeth;
Buzwell, Simone
Australian Journal of Emerging Technologies and
Society v.4 no.1 2006: 1-14, tables, Online only (PDF 85K)
The paper presents the results of a telephone survey of 1013 Australian
adults asking questions about Internet use, Internet friendships and
online romantic relationships. Findings were that 78 per cent had used
the Internet, 13 per cent to form online social relationships. Those
forming online relationships tended to be students, young, single,
comfortable with new technology, likely to vote Green and unlikely to
vote Liberal. This group was broken down into those who formed online
friendships (n = 82) or online romantic relationships (n = 22) -
examination of the latter group revealed that those who experienced
online romance spanned all age, gender, political and religious groups.
Most met their cyberpartner face to face on many occasions and
relationships tended to be lasting. Equal proportions of single and
partnered individuals admitted they had experienced online romance,
indicating that many cyberdaters may be cybercheaters. The authors
conclude that it appears that the Internet is replacing traditional
routes to friendship and romance, but further research is needed to
clarify the nature and impact of online relationships.
For better or for worse: an Australian
counsellor's perspective on trends in composition
of families.
Pattenden, Rosalie
Relatewell v.10 no. 3 Oct 2006: 4-6
Australian statistics on marriage and divorce over
the last decade show a reduction in marriage rates,
an increase in divorce rates and an increase in the
numbers of couples choosing to cohabit rather than
marry. This article discusses reasons for the social
trend towards cohabitation, the effects of parental
relationships on children, and the value of relationship
education and counselling in helping couples maintain
a good relationship or separate with the least possible
adverse effects on the partners and any children.
Forming couple relationships: adolescents' aspirations and young adults'
actualities.
Qu, Lixia; Soriano, Grace
Family
Matters no.68 Winter 2004: 43-49, tables, and Online (PDF 201K)
The number of people living without a partner has increased
substantially over the last few decades. Are men and women shirking the
idea of marriage and long-term relationships, or are they having
difficulties in forming a satisfying couple relationship? This paper
uses two sources of data to assess the aspirations of boys and girls
about forming a long-term relationship or getting married: the Australian
Temperament Project; and wave 2 of the Household, Income and Labour
Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) survey.
Inappropriately prolonged courtships.
Kerin,
T
Threshold no.76 Apr 2003: 13-14
The decision to marry
is very significant, the author says, but if a couple waits until the
relationship is perfect, the wedding day may never come. He argues the
benefits of impulsive courtships and explains why some of the reasons
that couples postpone marriage are the very reasons they should not get
married.
Leaving
the family home: household formation and housing
tenure patterns in Australia. (PDF
1.7Mkb)
Flatau, P; James, I; Watson, R; Wood, G; Hendershott, P H
In: HILDA
Conference 2003. Melbourne, Vic: Melbourne Institute
of Applied Economic and Social Research, 2003, 33p,
tables, Online only
Has the age at which Australians leave home significantly risen in the
last two decades? If so does this trend primarily reflect students
staying longer in education and young adults having children later? To
answer these questions the authors undertake a hazard analysis of the
home leaving process across generations of Australians in the Household
Income and Labour Dynamics in Australia (HILDA) sample scope.
Legal recognition
of same-sex relationships.
Anthony, Karina; Drabsch, Talina
Sydney, NSW: NSW Parliamentary Library Research Service, 2006, 62p,
(Briefing Paper no.09/2006), Online (PDF 543K)
The legal
recognition of same-sex relationships in New South Wales and elsewhere in
Australia has increased in the last 20 years to a point where most
jurisdictions generally provide same-sex couples with the same rights and
obligations as heterosexual de facto couples. However, the extent to
which same-sex relationships are or should be recognised continues to
elicit much debate. This paper surveys the legal arrangements and the
debate over further reforms. It outlines the various relationship
recognition models, and legislation in NSW and other Australian states
and territories and other countries. Arguments for and against same-sex
marriage, same-sex parenting and access to assisted reproductive
technologies are highlighted.
Love and money: a theoretical and empirical analysis of household sorting
and inequality.
Fernandez, R; Guner, N; Knowles, J
Syracuse, N Y: Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs,
Syracuse University, 2001, 51p, figures, tables (Luxembourg Income Study
working paper no.283) and Online (PDF 613K)
This study
examines the interactions between household matching, inequality, and per
capita income across 34 countries. The authors explore the notion that an
increased skill premium will mean that marital matches between different
classes will become less likely as marrying down becomes more costly. The
consequences of this will be greater income inequality between skilled
and unskilled workers, larger fertility differentials across household
types, and lower per capita income. They develop a model that explores
the difference between skilled and unskilled individuals as they form
households, have children and make decisions regarding what to consume. A
positive and significant relationship was found between skill premium and
marital sorting.
Making marriage, domestic relationships
and family work. Part XXI.
Burnard, Don
Relatewell v.10 no.2 Jul 2006:
8-11
A firm commitment between partners requires an intimate mental, emotional and physical connection. This article discusses the issue of mate selection. It looks at the effects of poor mate selection, the way society emphasises the wrong priorities in mate selection, and communication and intimacy between partners.
Negotiating
the life course: changes in individual and family
transitions.
McDonald, P;
Evans, A
Canberra, ACT: Research School of Social Sciences,
Australian National University, 2003, 32p (Negotiating
the Life Course discussion paper DP-013), Online only
(PDF 594K)
The period of young
adulthood, from age 18 to 30 years, has been characterised
by Rindfuss (1991) as 'demographically dense' because
it is in these years that young people move away from
their families of origin and move towards forming families
of their own. The increased tendency for young people
to delay these life course transitions means that the
demographically dense age-range is being extended beyond
age 30. This paper addresses the issues of change and
dispersion in the pattern and timing of individual
life course transitions. The authors focus on five
key life course events, leaving home, cohabitation,
marriage, fertility, and relationship breakdown and
compare the experience of four birth cohorts, those
born in the 1940s, 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. They hypothesise
that increased delay and dispersion of the timing of
life course events is associated with the perception
that young people must invest in human capital formation
to a much greater degree than was the case in the past.
(Author abstract)
Partnership formation and stability.
Weston, Ruth; Qu,
Lixia; de Vaus, David
In: Families Matter: 9th Australian Institute
of Family Studies Conference, Melbourne, February 2005 - proceedings.
Melbourne, Vic: Australian Institute of Family Studies, 2005, 17p,
figures, Online only
On face value, it might be expected that
a period of cohabitation would give couples unique insight into their
compatibility, thereby helping them to make informed decisions about
whether or not to marry. However, most of the research into this issue in
Australia and other western countries suggest quite the opposite trend:
indirect marriages tend to have a shorter life than direct marriages.
Various explanations have been proposed for this phenomenon. It is the
purpose of this paper to suggest a framework that should help identify
important mechanisms that link marriage entry pathway with marital
stability and help organise the research literature. (Author
abstract)
Partnership: the basis of a healthy
relationship.
Leyden, Stephen
Threshold no.88
Dec 2006: 21
Marital roles based on gender and patriarchy
have been replaced by the concept of partnership. However, although
partnership is now the dominant idea underpinning marriage and
relationships, research shows that most people do not understand how to
put the concept into practice.
Preference for SMS versus telephone calls
in initiating romantic relationships.
Byrne,
Ruth; Findlay, Bruce
Australian Journal of Emerging Technologies and
Society v.2 no.1 2004, 14p, Online only
This
study examined sex differences in the likelihood
of initiating first moves (toward relationship
establishment) or first dates via short message
service (SMS) text messaging and telephone calls.
The sample comprised 159 females and 107 males,
mean age 28 years, who completed an on-line self-report
questionnaire that assessed relationship initiating
behaviours. Whereas females were more likely
to initiate first moves using SMS than telephone
calls, males had no preference for communication
channel. In initiating first dates, males were
more likely to telephone than SMS, whereas females
were reluctant to initiate regardless of the
communication channel. Although males were more
likely than females to initiate first moves and
first dates via telephone calls, there were no
sex differences when initiating via SMS. It was
concluded that while SMS appears to have somewhat
influenced the manner in which romantic first
moves are initiated, traditional gender role
expectations and preference for telephone communication
are still strong when initiating first dates.
(Journal abstract)
Relationships, marriage and parenthood: views of young people and their
parents.
Smart, D
Family Matters no.63 Spring -
Summer 2002: 28-35, figures and Online (PDF 261K)
Australia's
birth rate is now below population replacement rate, and continues to
decrease. The author asks whether this trend is paralleled by diminished
aspirations for marriage and parenthood. Data from the Australian
Temperament Project (a longitudinal study of the psychosocial development
of a large, representative of Australian children born in Victoria
between September 1982 and January 1983) are used to explore the views,
hopes, wishes and plans of teenagers and their parents for future
relationships, marriage and family formation. The paper seeks to shed
light on transgenerational influences by also obtaining the views of
parents, as well as adolescents, on these issues. Three questions are
addressed: What expectations do teenagers and their parents have
concerning the young person's future relationships, marriage and
parenthood? Are there differences in the aspirations between boys and
girls? Are these aspirations related to family circumstances,
interpersonal relationships, and personal characteristics?
The adult children of divorce: pure relationships
and family values?
Hughes, Kate
Journal
of Sociology v.41 no.1 Mar 2005: 69-86
Giddens
and Beck-Gernsheim argue that there has been a
shift from stable family formations to relationships
that are inherently fragile and temporary. Both
propose that intimate relationships in late modernity
have been marked by reflexivity and contingency.
Although these are not new propositions, little
empirical work has been done on the contours of
such relationships and the meanings that they have
for individuals. This article explores Giddens'
and Beck-Gernsheim's contentions through looking
at the perceptions of relationships, and the family
values, of members of Generation X whose parents
divorced and who subsequently grew up in a single-parent,
step-, or blended family. In particular it discusses
the suggestion that we are moving into an era in
which 'the normalisation of fragility' will become
central to people's intimate relationships. (Journal
abstract)
The changing meaning of 'de facto' relationships.
Millbank, Jenni
Current Family Law v.12 no.2 Apr 2006: 82-93
The meaning of 'de facto relationship' has changed dramatically
in Australian law in recent years. The most obvious changes are the raft
of legislative reforms including same sex couples as de facto couples in
a wide array of state laws through 1999 - 2004. Additionally, an
examination of recent case law reveals notable changes to the definition
of 'de facto relationship' through judicial interpretation, with a
distinct trend towards a broader, more flexible interpretation of the de
facto category, a less formalistic approach to the indicia of
cohabitation, and a lesser focus on the traditional hallmarks that are
thought to be 'marriage like', such as public reputation, mingled
finances and putative monogamy. These cases are important signposts, as
the Family Court will soon be grappling with questions around de facto
relationships, including how to determine the existence and duration of a
relationship. (Journal abstract)
The keys to living happily ever after:
a letter to engaged couples.
Pattenden, Rosalie
Threshold
no.88 Dec 2006: 26
Ten essential ingredients for successful
coupledom are presented. They include making an effort to make your
partner feel special, pay attention to the goals and friendships of each
individual and the couple, be informed about your partner's life,
negotiate your own relationship rules, show love, listen and communicate
about problems, be calm when discussing issues, sort out or manage
disagreements, do not criticise, neglect or be aggressive to your
partner, and keep romance alive.
The recognition
of same sex relationships in the ACT: discussion
paper.
Australian
Capital Territory. Department of Justice and Community
Safety
Canberra, ACT: Department of Justice and Community
Safety, 2005, 18p, Online (PDF 155K)
The
ACT government is seeking public submissions on the
question of whether legislation should provide to same
sex couples all of the legal rights which a married,
opposite sex couple would have. This paper examines
three possible legislative options that will enable
people of the same sex to enter into a legally recognised
union. The three models explored are registration,
civil union and marriage. The paper also summarises
law reform in this area to date, reports on public
consultation about law reform, and discusses human
rights and constitutional considerations.
There are no good men left.
Walters, Kathleen
M
Threshold no.81 Jul 2004: 8-11
Modern single women
often find it difficult to find the right man at the right time of their
lives, this article says. It considers two social changes that have
affected the way people partner: an emphasis on early career development
for women, and changes in the mating system. It discusses relationship
fatigue, cohabitation, casual dating, different levels of commitment, and
argues that the new mating system is adapted to men's self interests.
Transfer of attachment from parents to romantic partners:
effects of individual and relationship variables.
Feeney,
Judith A
Journal of Family Studies v.10 no.2 Oct 2004: 220-238,
tables, figure
Attachment theory emphasises the importance of
close relationships across the lifespan. Research has documented the
gradual transfer of attachment from parents to romantic partners, and the
effects of relationship length and secure attachment. The present study
was designed to confirm the effects of romantic involvement (dating,
cohabiting, married) on attachment transfer, and to explore the role of
individual and relationship variables in the transfer process. Young
adults (N = 107) completed questionnaires assessing age, relationship
length, involvement, relationship closeness, conflict, attachment
dimensions (anxiety and avoidance), and attachment figures. Greater
romantic involvement was associated with stronger attachment to partners
and weaker attachment to mothers and friends. Attachment to partner was
related positively to age, relationship length and closeness, and
negatively to avoidance; the combination of high avoidance and low
anxiety predicted particularly weak attachment. Further, anxious
individuals reported higher levels of desired than actual attachment. The
results are discussed in terms of attachment principles, relational
dynamics, and implications for individual and couple adjustment. (Journal
abstract)
Understanding the 'multi-generation squeeze': the impact of delayed
transitions to independence of young adults.
Mitchell,
D; Evans, A
In: Social security in a long life society: 4th
International Research Conference on Social Security, Antwerp, 5-7 May
2003. Geneva, Switzerland: International Social Security Association,
2003, 14p, figures, tables. Online only (PDF 293K)
The
delayed transition to full financial independence of young adults in
Australia is identified by the authors as a newly emerging element in the
multi generation problem. They suggest that this delayed transition stems
from a number of sources: extended periods of education, especially in
tertiary training; uncertain labour markets and difficulties in entering
stable full time employment; and accessing affordable accommodation
outside the parental home. The authors describe the impacts of delayed
transition among young adults, with particular attention to delays in
partnering and fertility decisions, and the extent to which this may
contribute further to the ageing of the population. They discuss long
term implications of delayed transition and possible avenues for policy
redesign.
What is commitment? How married and cohabiting
parents talk about their relationships.
Pryor,
Jan; Roberts, Josie
Family Matters no.71 Winter 2005: 24-31, tables
In
this article the authors discuss the findings of
a small qualitative New Zealand study that examined
the accounts of married and cohabiting parents
about their views of relationship commitment. The
authors asked couples to describe the concept of
commitment, their experiences of commitment as
partners and parents, why they had chosen to marry
or not marry, and barriers to leaving their relationships.
What is it with men and commitment, anyway?
Stanley, Scott M
Threshold no.83 Mar 2005: 4-11
In this
discussion of the role of commitment in marriage, and differences between
men's and women's attitudes towards commitment, the following aspects are
considered: what is commitment?; why commitment develops; where we find
few differences between men and women in commitment; differences between
the sexes in views of marriage and commitment; the desire for marriage;
why men won't commit; what happens when men cross the line deliberately;
walking over the line versus being dragged across it; commitment versus
attachment based motivation.
What makes a relationship work? Findings
from a 'vox pop' survey at a recent Australian
wedding.
Dakis, Cheryl
Threshold no.88 Dec 2006: 16-19, figure
Guests at a Melbourne wedding were asked to nominate their top five hints
on what makes a relationship work. Four major themes arose from the
results: inject and maintain fun and spontaneity; the importance of
communication; conflict resolution tips; and develop a sense of
togetherness. This article discusses the results and includes some of
the guests' comments.
What women want next.
Maushart,
Susan
Melbourne, Vic: Text Publishing, 2005, 259p
What
women really want is the freedom to decide for themselves
how to live, this book says. Feminism's first and second
waves provided women with opportunities, but how can
they manage those opportunities to produce a satisfying
and meaningful life? The book considers what women
want from love and sex, marriage and motherhood, friends
and family, and career. It concludes that what women
want next is the courage to choose fearlessly and the
wisdom to choose well.