The Intergenerational Family Relationships of Grandparents and GLBQ Grandchildren.

In this dissertation I examined how the discovery of a Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual or Queer (GLBQ) grandchild’s sexual identity shapes the relationship between grandparents and grandchildren. I draw from dyadic qualitative data from 60 in-depth interviews with 28 GLBQ grandchildren and their 32 grandparents from 25 different families. I present findings about grandchildren’s experiences coming out, grandparents’ responses to this discovery, and subsequent grandparent-GLBQ grandchild relationships in three distinct empirical chapters. In the first empirical chapter (Chapter Two) I utilize data from 28 grandchildren to examine their disclosure experiences to contextualize motivations of disclosure and disclosure strategies of GLBQ grandchildren. I find that grandchildren’s disclosures of their sexual orientation to grandparents rely closely on other family relationships, and further, that broader social structural factors shape family systems, perhaps particularly during crisis or disruptive moments. In the second empirical chapter (Chapter Three), I draw from data from 32 grandparents to analyze how they respond to this discovery. Utilizing intergenerational ambivalence perspective, I find that grandparents’ understandings of GLBQ sexualities are shaped by their social and historical experiences with homosexuality. These generationally-specific understandings of sexuality as private and personal enable surprisingly supportive interpersonal responses toward grandchildren. However, they do not necessarily extend to more public or political contexts. In the third empirical chapter (Chapter Four), I conduct dyadic analyses using data from all 60 grandparents and grandchildren to examine how these relationships were shaped by a grandchild coming out. I find that their relationships are shaped by their relationship histories as well as their subsequent interactions, and these have implications for their intergenerational stake in one another. I then turn to how this research informs social work practice (Chapter Five), particularly direct practice strategies with GLBQ individuals and their families. I conclude (Chapter Six) by summarizing and synthesizing the main findings of this research, outlining its limitations, and providing recommendations for future scholarship in the areas of sexualities, gerontology, and families.Ph.D.Social Work and SociologyUniversity of Michigan, Horace H. Rackham School of Graduate Studieshttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/86300/1/scherrek_1.pd

The "Persuadable Middle" on Same-Sex Marriage: Formative Research to Build Support among Heterosexual College Students

Same-sex marriage is a controversial policy issue that affects the welfare of gay and lesbian couples throughout the USA. Considerable research examines opinions about same-sex marriage; however, studies have not investigated the covariates of the “persuadable middle”— those individuals who are neutral or unsure about their views. This group of people is often the target of same-sex marriage campaigns, yet they have received no empirical attention.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/89607/1/Woodford et al 2011 Persuadable Middle.pd

Getting Bi in the Family: Bisexual People\u27s Disclosure Experiences

There are many similarities in gay, lesbian, and bisexual individuals’ coming out experiences, but bisexual people face unique challenges. Despite this, an explicit focus on bisexual people is missing from family research. Using family systems and cultural sociological perspectives, the authors analyzed how social and cultural factors shape disclosure processes for bisexuals as they come out to multiple family members. After analyzing qualitative data from a diverse group of 45 individuals, they found that bisexual people navigate monosexist and heterosexist expectations in their family relationships. Cultural constructions of bisexuality shape the ways that bisexual people disclose their identities, including how they use language to influence family members’ responses in desirable ways. Relationship status also influences bisexual people’s disclosure strategies, as a romantic partner’s gender is meaningful to family members’ understandings of their sexual orientation. The findings highlight the importance of addressing cultural and social contexts in understanding sexual minority people’s coming out processes

Law and Family Formation Among LGBQ-Parent Families

This article addresses how the law affects family formation among families with lesbian, gay, bisexual, and queer (LGBQ) parents in the United States. Our discussion draws on a socio-legal approach to law that focuses not only on the law on the books (what we refer to as “legal barriers”) but also on issues like how the law is practiced, how people experience the law in everyday life, and how the law serves as an interpretive framework through which people understand themselves and their families (what we refer to as “social barriers”). In our review, we highlight how attorneys can play a role in valuing and advancing rights for LGBQ-parent families and LGBTQ prospective parents

Advice When Children Come Out: The Cultural “Tool Kits” of Parents

The family is one of the main areas of social life where the normalization of gay and lesbian identity is incomplete. Most research analyzes the individual and psychological aspects of how families respond to children’s disclosure of a gay or lesbian identity and ignores the social, cultural, and historical contexts. An examination of the cultural discourses, tools, and strategies that are available to parents is necessary for a full understanding of how families respond to gay and lesbian children. The authors conduct an interpretive content analysis of 29 advice books to assess this cultural field and its institutional resources. They find three broad strategies offered to parents: relying on professionals for overcoming the grief of having a gay or lesbian child, normalizing gay and lesbian identity, and using “good” parenting skills. This article discusses how these strategies demonstrate the unsettled and often contradictory cultural field of gay and lesbian identity in the family and its implications for sexual identities beyond the closet

Tree recruitment in Central Europe: observed and simulated data

The research data provided includes both observed data (in the 'observations' folder) and simulated data (in the 'simulation_results' folder) on tree recruitment across 200 sites in Central Europe. This data is linked to the publication titled "Tree regeneration in models of forest dynamics: a key priority for further research" by Díaz-Yáñez et al. in Ecosphere