Mothers and daughters: Linking women's life histories in Grand Bank, Newfoundland, Canada

Grand Bank is a small fishing town on the southwest coast of Newfoundland, Canada. The oral history project, on which this paper is based, focussed on the “life stories” of women in three, four and sometimes five, different generations of families. My aim was twofold. First, I wanted to build a picture of the way to the economy, and the sexual division of labour has changed in the period 1890–present. Second, I wanted to see how, by focussing several accounts of the same family experience, I could break apart the ideological construction of the past. I could also use contrasting accounts of mothers and daughters to re-examine the role of “work” in the family and the construction of a sexual division of labour.This paper explores how women situate and construct both their past and present experience, and what the different accounts given by mothers and daughters and grandaughters tell us both about female family relationships and about the interaction of gender with economic, social and technological change. The paper also suggests why this particular oral history approach, using different generations of women in the same family, is especially relevant to feminist concerns.     

The elderly's access to health care services: The crude and subtle impacts of Medicare changes

Medicare, the federal government's health insurance program for the aged and disabled, has been subjected to a number of legislative and regulatory changes since 1981 aimed at reducing the costs of the program. About a third of the cutbacks have been in activities that directly increase patient cost sharing. Other changes, while aimed at improving efficiency, may also shift costs onto program beneficiaries. This paper estimates the differential impacts of such program changes by age and income of elderly Medicare enrollees and discusses the likely resulting impact on their access to care. Surprisingly, such equity concerns have been largely overlooked in the policy debate concerning cost containment under Medicare.     

Education and identity: Thoughts on the social origins of anorexia

Anorexia nervosa is often said to be a condition which afflicts mainly middle-class girls. This paper suggests that it is not social class but a high level of educational attainment which is associated with the onset of anorexia.The effect of education is analysed in terms of it's influence on the identity -formation of the young woman. Anorexia can be seen as an attempt to rescue a spoilt identity.     

When Loving Means Hurting: An Exploration of Attachment and Intimate Abuse In a Community Sample

Intimate relationship abuse can be understood by considering two critical tenets of attachment. First, attachment fulfills a basic need for survival. Thus, the tenacity of the attachment bond is independent of relationship quality. Second, individuals whose attachment needs have been frustrated may strike out violently to regain proximity to the perceived loss of an intimate partner. We examined how individual differences in attachment were associated with women's and men's relationship abuse. A telephone survey assessed levels of psychological and physical abuse in 1249 Vancouver residents. Of these, 128 completed an attachment interview exploring their interpersonal relationships. Hierarchical regressions revealed that attachment variables contributed significant variance to prediction of both receipt and perpetration of psychological and physical abuse, with preoccupied attachment acting as an independent predictor. There was no evidence that gender moderated these associations. The findings suggest that attachment preoccupation in either partner may increase likelihood of abuse in couples.