The socio-cultural and biological meaning of parenthood
Article
Purewal, S. and van den Akker, O. 2007. The socio-cultural and biological meaning of parenthood. Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics and Gynecology. 28 (2), pp. 79-86.
Type | Article |
---|---|
Title | The socio-cultural and biological meaning of parenthood |
Authors | Purewal, S. and van den Akker, O. |
Abstract | Parenting a child is one of the most universal, common and fundamental assumptions the majority of men and women make from an early age about their future. This common and historic assumption was challenged in modernized Western societies in the 1960s with the opportunities for ‘mass control’ of reproduction and then again supported in the 1980s with the advance of ‘mass enhancement’ of reproduction. This study qualitatively assessed the meaning of parenthood of post modern British individuals of different ages, gender, cultural backgrounds and parity. The results of the Interpretative Phenomenological Analyses revealed a number of common ideologies about parenthood, and a number of specific age, gender, parity and cultural differences in how individuals interpret and experience parenthood. These individual differences play a significant part in the quality of life of people gaining or losing the opportunity to parent, as has been discussed ‘around the globe’ by Frank van Balen and his team, and must be considered in counselling people faced with decisions which challenge their personal and universal assumptions to parent a genetically related child. |
Research Group | Applied Health Psychology group |
Publisher | Informa |
Journal | Journal of Psychosomatic Obstetrics and Gynecology |
ISSN | 0167-482X |
Publication dates | |
01 Jan 2007 | |
Publication process dates | |
Deposited | 19 Nov 2009 |
Output status | Published |
Web address (URL) | http://informahealthcare.com/doi/abs/10.1080/01674820701409918 |
Language | English |
https://repository.mdx.ac.uk/item/81y2y
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