Ralph Larossa
Biographic Data
| ID | 134433 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Ralph Larossa |
| GIVEN NAMES | Ralph |
| FAMILY NAME | Larossa |
| SIGNATURE | LAROSSA R |
| AFFILIATIONS | Georgia State University |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-1590-7089 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 50 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 315 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 49 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 1 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1974 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 9 |
Of Love and War: Pacific Brides of World War II
Framing Requests for Help: Language and Gender in Parental Advice-Seeking Letters
Confirming the importance of language to not just relay thoughts but also construct hierarchies, 251 parental advice-seeking letters written at the dawn of the parent education movement in the 1920s and 1930s were coded with the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count computerized text analysis program. An examination of language use patterns shows how parents framed their requests and how they manifested signs of 'doing gender' in the process. The fat…
Lost and Found: Young Fathers in the Age of Unwed Parenthood
Ethical Dilemmas in Qualitative Family Research
This chapter examines and analyzes the major ethical dilemmas in qualita tive family research. W hile the ethical issues of conducting human subject research have previously been discussed and debated in the fields of medi cine, social work, psychology, anthropology, and sociology (e.g., Diener and Crandall, 1978; Reynolds, 1979; Wolfensburger, 1967), and while there has been extensive discussion of the ethics of qualitative research (e.g., Bar…
Superdads: How Fathers Balance Work and Family in the 21st Century
Sampling Richness and Qualitative Integrity: Challenges for Research With Families
Sampling is one of the most difficult and contentious aspects of qualitative research design. There are few guidelines for sampling decisions or for understanding saturation in qualitative family research. The authors frame the problematic of data quality in the selection of units of analysis and observation and consider how to enhance sample richness. They outline considerations for data quantity and sample size as well as case- and variable-bas…
Writing and Reviewing Manuscripts in the Multidimensional World of Qualitative Research
Qualitative manuscripts occupy a multidimensional world and can vary by their “latitude” (where they are with respect to the humanities and sciences), “longitude” (where they are with respect to the length and number of data excerpts), and “altitude” (where they are with respect to the level of theorizing). In this article, I discuss these 3 dimensions as they relate to the field of family studies, delineate the options available to authors as th…
Thinking About the Nature and Scope of Qualitative Research
The Culture of Fatherhood in Japanese Comic Strips: A Historical Analysis
Has the culture of fatherhood in Japan changed since the end of the Second World War? If so, how? Relying on a content analysis of 246 Japanese comic strips published on Father's Day and Mother's Day between 1950 and 2004, we hypothesize about the effects of economic and other social forces on the culture of fatherhood, and illustrate how cultural shifts can proceed in steps. Our findings suggest that the culture of fatherhood in Japan changed in…
Single-Parent Family Discourse in Popular Magazines and Social Science Journals
Family Theories and Methods
Sourcebook of Family Theories and Methods: A Contextual Approach
Symbolic Interactionism and Family Studies
Constructing the Transition to Parenthood
How is the transition to parenthood constructed in a context in which fatherhood and motherhood are therapeutically defined? Relying on ethnographic observations of 66 expectant and new parent couples assigned to 13 different parent educator-led groups, we show how, with the arrival of a baby, a sense of transition is crafted and often amplified. Our analysis suggests that just as the overall life course is constructed through language and meanin…
Grounded Theory Methods and Qualitative Family Research
There is an irony-perhaps a paradox-here: that a methodology that is based on "interpretation" should itself prove so hard to interpret. (Dey, 1999, p. 23) Among the different qualitative approaches that may be relied upon in family theorizing, grounded theory methods (GTM), developed by Barney Glaser and Anselm Strauss, are the most popular. Despite their centrality to family studies and to other fields, however, GTM can be opaque and confusing.…
The Culture of Fatherhood in the Fifties: A Closer Look
Based on a comparative analysis of popular magazine articles, premier childrearing manuals, and prime-time television shows, this article strives to heighten our understanding of the culture of fatherhood in the fifties (1945-1960) while chronicling the textual configurations that were emerging at the time. A close reading of the materials suggests that the culture of fatherhood in the fifties was neither a simple continuation of previous pattern…
Sex, Men, and Babies: Stories of Awareness and Responsibility
1 Setting the Stage 2 Studying Young Single Men 3 Becoming Aware, Being Aware 4 Turning Points in Identity 5 Romantic Involvements 6 Thinking about Fatherhood 7 Looking Forward
The Social Construction of a Family Sociologist
Key Words: Autobiographymarital conflictmarital powertransition to parenthoodfatherhoodmotherhood
Gender Disparities in Mother's Day and Father's Day Comic Strips: A 55 Year History
The Changing Culture of Fatherhood in Comic-Strip Families: A Six-Decade Analysis
A content analysis of 490 Father's Day and Mother's Day comic strips published from 1940 to 1999 indicates that the culture of fatherhood has fluctuated since World War II. "Incompetent" fathers appeared frequently in the late 1940s, early 1950s, and late 1960s but were rarer in the late 1950s, early and late 1970s, early 1980s, and early 1990s. Fathers who were mocked were especially common in the early and late 1960s and early 1980s but were le…
The Modernization of Fatherhood: A Social and Political History
Men in Families: When Do They Get Involved? What Differences Does It Make
The Cultural Contradictions of Motherhood
Hays's intellectually incendiary Cultural Contradictions could add needed nuance to feminist thought-and perhaps ignite change in mothersi overburdened lives.-Phyllis Eckhaus, The Nation lucid, probing examination of our culture's contradictory and troubled relationship to motherhood-and how it affects mothers. . . . A thoughtful analysis of the paradoxes that surround mothering. Hays is sensitive to the emotional issues involved-and equally astu…
The modernization of fatherhood: A Social and Political History
Family Man: Fatherhood, Housework, and Gender Equity
The typical American family has changed dramatically since the days of Ozzie and Harriet and Father Knows Best. Double-income families are now the rule, and fathers are much more involved in raising the children and cleaning house. Reactions to these changes have been diverse, ranging from grave misgivings to a sense of liberation and new possibility. Groups as diverse as Promise Keepers, the Million Man March, and Robert Bly's mythopoetic men's …
Grounded Theory Methods and Qualitative Family Research
There is an irony-perhaps a paradox-here: that a methodology that is based on "interpretation" should itself prove so hard to interpret. (Dey, 1999, p. 23) Among the different qualitative approaches that may be relied upon in family theorizing, grounded theory methods (GTM), developed by Barney Glaser and Anselm Strauss, are the most popular. Despite their centrality to family studies and to other fields, however, GTM can be opaque and confusing.…
Sampling Richness and Qualitative Integrity: Challenges for Research With Families
Sampling is one of the most difficult and contentious aspects of qualitative research design. There are few guidelines for sampling decisions or for understanding saturation in qualitative family research. The authors frame the problematic of data quality in the selection of units of analysis and observation and consider how to enhance sample richness. They outline considerations for data quantity and sample size as well as case- and variable-bas…
On Qualitative Family Research
Using historical and content analysis, we examine the role of qualitative family research andfind that, although it has a long and impressive heritage, it generally is ignored by contemporary social scientists. The argument is made that qualitative as well as quantitative research are indispensible and that the failure of scholars, as of late, to recognize this simple fact seriously undermines the progress of family social science
Stories and Relationships
How do the supposedly true stories we tell about the past influence our relationships in the present? What, in other words, is the rhetorical value of historical texts, written and oral? In this essay, I argue that more attention should be paid to how people socially create stories about `what really happened back then', to suit their own political interests; and how, in the process of doing so, they partition the world into cognitive territories…
Writing and Reviewing Manuscripts in the Multidimensional World of Qualitative Research
Qualitative manuscripts occupy a multidimensional world and can vary by their “latitude” (where they are with respect to the humanities and sciences), “longitude” (where they are with respect to the length and number of data excerpts), and “altitude” (where they are with respect to the level of theorizing). In this article, I discuss these 3 dimensions as they relate to the field of family studies, delineate the options available to authors as th…
Continuity and Change in Middle Class Fatherhood, 1925-1939: The Culture-Conduct Connection
Etude de la paternite aux Etats-Unis et de son evolution durant les annees 1925-1939. L'attitude des meres vis-a-vis des peres et des facteurs economiques et ideologiques ont participe a l'institution sociale de la paternite aux Etats-Unis a cette epoque
Constructing the Transition to Parenthood
How is the transition to parenthood constructed in a context in which fatherhood and motherhood are therapeutically defined? Relying on ethnographic observations of 66 expectant and new parent couples assigned to 13 different parent educator-led groups, we show how, with the arrival of a baby, a sense of transition is crafted and often amplified. Our analysis suggests that just as the overall life course is constructed through language and meanin…
The Fluctuating Image of the 20th Century American Father
Ralph LaRossa, Betty Anne Gordon, Ronald Jay Wilson, Annette Bairan, Charles Jaret, The Fluctuating Image of the 20th Century American Father, Journal of Marriage and Family, Vol. 53, No. 4 (Nov., 1991), pp. 987-997
The Changing Culture of Fatherhood in Comic-Strip Families: A Six-Decade Analysis
A content analysis of 490 Father's Day and Mother's Day comic strips published from 1940 to 1999 indicates that the culture of fatherhood has fluctuated since World War II. "Incompetent" fathers appeared frequently in the late 1940s, early 1950s, and late 1960s but were rarer in the late 1950s, early and late 1970s, early 1980s, and early 1990s. Fathers who were mocked were especially common in the early and late 1960s and early 1980s but were le…
The Transition to Parenthood and the Social Reality of Time
Ever since LeMasters (1957) defined the arrival of the first child as a crisis, transition to parenthood researchers have been preoccupied with testing his hypothesis (for example, see Dyer, 1963; Hobbs, 1965, 1968; Hobbs and Cole, 1976; Hobbs and Wimbish, 1977; Russell, 1974; Steffensmeier, 1982; Wylie, 1979). In fact, researchers have been so engrossed in the crisis orientation to the transition to parenthood-an orientation that is principally …
Renewing Our Faith in Qualitative Family Research
The Culture of Fatherhood in the Fifties: A Closer Look
Based on a comparative analysis of popular magazine articles, premier childrearing manuals, and prime-time television shows, this article strives to heighten our understanding of the culture of fatherhood in the fifties (1945-1960) while chronicling the textual configurations that were emerging at the time. A close reading of the materials suggests that the culture of fatherhood in the fifties was neither a simple continuation of previous pattern…
Parents' Cultural Belief Systems: Their Origins, Expressions, and Consequences
1. Introduction, Harkness and Super I. Theoretical Perspectives 2. Parents' Free Descriptions of Child Characteristics: A Cross-Cultural Search for the Developmental Antecendents of the Big Five, Kohnstamm, Halverson, Havill, and Mervielde 3. Processes of Generalization in Parental Reasoning, Valsiner and Litvinovic 4. The Answer Depends on the Question: A Conceptual and Methodological Analysis of a Parent Belief Behavior Interview Regarding Chil…
Gendered Perceptions of Father Involvement in Early 20th Century America
As the 20th century comes to a close, increased attention is being directed to measuring continuity and change in men's involvement with children since the early 1900s. And, for lack of data, self-report surveys from the 1920s and 1930s, heydays in family social science, are being used to provide evidence of what fathers were doing, or not doing, 60 to 70 years ago. While there is no disputing the fact that these older surveys have contributed im…
Thinking About the Nature and Scope of Qualitative Research
The Culture of Fatherhood in Japanese Comic Strips: A Historical Analysis
Has the culture of fatherhood in Japan changed since the end of the Second World War? If so, how? Relying on a content analysis of 246 Japanese comic strips published on Father's Day and Mother's Day between 1950 and 2004, we hypothesize about the effects of economic and other social forces on the culture of fatherhood, and illustrate how cultural shifts can proceed in steps. Our findings suggest that the culture of fatherhood in Japan changed in…
Single-Parent Family Discourse in Popular Magazines and Social Science Journals
Gender Disparities in Mother's Day and Father's Day Comic Strips: A 55 Year History
The Cultural Contradictions of Motherhood
Hays's intellectually incendiary Cultural Contradictions could add needed nuance to feminist thought-and perhaps ignite change in mothersi overburdened lives.-Phyllis Eckhaus, The Nation lucid, probing examination of our culture's contradictory and troubled relationship to motherhood-and how it affects mothers. . . . A thoughtful analysis of the paradoxes that surround mothering. Hays is sensitive to the emotional issues involved-and equally astu…
Family Man: Fatherhood, Housework, and Gender Equity
The typical American family has changed dramatically since the days of Ozzie and Harriet and Father Knows Best. Double-income families are now the rule, and fathers are much more involved in raising the children and cleaning house. Reactions to these changes have been diverse, ranging from grave misgivings to a sense of liberation and new possibility. Groups as diverse as Promise Keepers, the Million Man March, and Robert Bly's mythopoetic men's …
Teaching Family Sociology through Case Studies
A family sociology course is both easier and more difficult to teach than other sociology courses. It is easier because, unlike statistics, methods, and even introduction to sociology, family sociology deals with topics that students currently find interesting (e.g., dating and divorce). It is more difficult because students often do not expect or want a sociology of the family (i.e., a course that describes how social scientists look at family g…
Sex during pregnancy: A symbolic interactionist analysis
Based on conjoint interviews with 16 couples expecting their first child, this paper examines the reasons used by husbands and wives to explain changes in sexual behavior during pregnancy. A qualitative analysis of the interview transcripts resulted in the identification of four types of explanations: biographical/sociocultural excuses (40% of the reasons given by husbands and wives), appeals to priorities (28%), physiological/anatomical excuses …
Interpreting Hierarchical Message Structure
Journal Article Interpreting Hierarchical Message Structure Get access Ralph LaRossa Ralph LaRossa 1Ralph LaRossa, who holds a master's degree from the New School for Social Research, is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of New Hampshire's Department of Sociology Search for other works by this author on: Oxford Academic Google Scholar Journal of Communication, Volume 24, Issue 2, June 1974, Pages 61–69, https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1460-2466.1974.…
Conflict and Power in Marriage: Expecting the First Child
Conflict and Power in Marriage: Expecting the First Child
Sex during pregnancy: A symbolic interactionist analysis
Based on conjoint interviews with 16 couples expecting their first child, this paper examines the reasons used by husbands and wives to explain changes in sexual behavior during pregnancy. A qualitative analysis of the interview transcripts resulted in the identification of four types of explanations: biographical/sociocultural excuses (40% of the reasons given by husbands and wives), appeals to priorities (28%), physiological/anatomical excuses …
Transition to parenthood: How Infants Change Families
Ethical Dilemmas in Qualitative Family Research
Maternal Deprivation Reassessed
Twenty years have passed since Maternal Deprivation was first greeted with a storm of controversy. Some early views have been modified, but the basic proposition - that lack, loss or distortion of child care have a very important effect on psychological development - has received substantial support. In this book the author reviews the qualities of motherhood needed for the normal development and considers both short-term and long-term effects of…
Transition to Parenthood
The Transition to Parenthood and the Social Reality of Time
Ever since LeMasters (1957) defined the arrival of the first child as a crisis, transition to parenthood researchers have been preoccupied with testing his hypothesis (for example, see Dyer, 1963; Hobbs, 1965, 1968; Hobbs and Cole, 1976; Hobbs and Wimbish, 1977; Russell, 1974; Steffensmeier, 1982; Wylie, 1979). In fact, researchers have been so engrossed in the crisis orientation to the transition to parenthood-an orientation that is principally …
Mothers and Fathers: Studies of Negotiation of Parental Behavior
Teaching Family Sociology through Case Studies
A family sociology course is both easier and more difficult to teach than other sociology courses. It is easier because, unlike statistics, methods, and even introduction to sociology, family sociology deals with topics that students currently find interesting (e.g., dating and divorce). It is more difficult because students often do not expect or want a sociology of the family (i.e., a course that describes how social scientists look at family g…
Family Case Studies: A Sociological Perspective
On Qualitative Family Research
Using historical and content analysis, we examine the role of qualitative family research andfind that, although it has a long and impressive heritage, it generally is ignored by contemporary social scientists. The argument is made that qualitative as well as quantitative research are indispensible and that the failure of scholars, as of late, to recognize this simple fact seriously undermines the progress of family social science
Fatherhood and Social Change
Reactions to Motherhood: The Role of Postnatal Care
The book describes the reaction to motherhood of a group of 279 women from the last month of pregnancy until six weeks after the birth of the baby. The mothers' reactions are considered within the context of other research into postnatal depression and the role of support systems. Topics covered include birth and change, factors involved in the coping process, emotional reactions to motherhood, maternal-child relations and postnatal care, underta…
Renewing Our Faith in Qualitative Family Research
Homogenization in Family Studies
Men's Transitions to Parenthood: Longitudinal Studies of Early Family Experience
The Fluctuating Image of the 20th Century American Father
Ralph LaRossa, Betty Anne Gordon, Ronald Jay Wilson, Annette Bairan, Charles Jaret, The Fluctuating Image of the 20th Century American Father, Journal of Marriage and Family, Vol. 53, No. 4 (Nov., 1991), pp. 987-997
Men's Friendships
Continuity and Change in Middle Class Fatherhood, 1925-1939: The Culture-Conduct Connection
Etude de la paternite aux Etats-Unis et de son evolution durant les annees 1925-1939. L'attitude des meres vis-a-vis des peres et des facteurs economiques et ideologiques ont participe a l'institution sociale de la paternite aux Etats-Unis a cette epoque
Fatherhood in America: A History
An historical analysis of men's lives as parents, this book traces a fundamental shift - the transformation from the 19th-century patriarch, a man whose position as breadwinner was more or less unquestioned, to the late-20th-century Dad, a man who now shares the breadwinning with his wife. Using intimate revelations from diaries and letters, prescriptive exhortations in popular magazines, impersonal social scientific surveys, and the transcripts …
Stories and Relationships
How do the supposedly true stories we tell about the past influence our relationships in the present? What, in other words, is the rhetorical value of historical texts, written and oral? In this essay, I argue that more attention should be paid to how people socially create stories about `what really happened back then', to suit their own political interests; and how, in the process of doing so, they partition the world into cognitive territories…
Gendered Perceptions of Father Involvement in Early 20th Century America
As the 20th century comes to a close, increased attention is being directed to measuring continuity and change in men's involvement with children since the early 1900s. And, for lack of data, self-report surveys from the 1920s and 1930s, heydays in family social science, are being used to provide evidence of what fathers were doing, or not doing, 60 to 70 years ago. While there is no disputing the fact that these older surveys have contributed im…
The modernization of fatherhood: A Social and Political History
Sociology (41 works) · Psychology (35 works) · Developmental psychology (15 works) · Political science (15 works) · Social science (15 works) · Social Psychology (13 works) · Family Dynamics and Relationships (11 works) · Computer Science (10 works) · Gender Studies (10 works) · Epistemology (9 works)