Dissertation Research: Determinants of the Kin Assistance Patterns of Garifuna Men

这项研究的目的是促进我们对男子对抚养自己的子女的贡献水平与对抚养其他相关子女的贡献水平之间差异的原因的理解。 该项目涉及新墨西哥州大学一名文化人类学家的论文研究，研究中美洲洪都拉斯的加里富纳族裔群体。在这个社会中，一些男子完全参与子女的抚养，而另一些男子则很少参与，他们将大部分收入用于娘家，以支持成年姐妹篇抚养子女、侄女和侄子。 关于造成这些模式的社会特征的假设将使用结构化访谈技术进行定量测试。 亲属制度、婚姻制度、当地经济条件、流动劳动力模式和家庭类型的特点都将被视为亲子支持的潜在决定因素。 随着世界范围内关于父亲缺席对广泛的童年结果产生负面影响的证据的积累，对什么激励和什么阻碍了父亲参与的理解越来越感兴趣。这个项目的新知识将有助于进化理论家以及关注父母参与儿童福利的规划者。 此外，该项目将促进对年轻社会科学家的培训，并提高我们对世界这一重要领域的认识。

This research aims to advance our understanding of the causes of variations in the levels of contributions men make towards raising their own children as opposed to their contributions towards raising other related children. The project involves the dissertation research of a cultural anthropologist from the University of New Mexico, studying the Garifuna ethnic group of Honduras, Central America. Among this society some men are fully involved in the upbringing of their children, while others are minimally involved and direct much of their income towards their maternal home to support their adult sisters as they raise children, nieces and nephews of the men. Hypotheses about features of society which cause these patterns will be tested quantitatively using structured interview techniques. Features of the kinship system, marriage system, local economic conditions, migratory labor patterns and household types will all be examined as potential determinants of paternity support. An understanding of what motivates and what discourages the parental involvement of men is of increasing interest as evidence accumulates world-wide on the negative impact of paternal absence on a wide range of childhood outcomes. The new knowledge from this project will be useful to evolutionary theorists as well as planners concerned about parental involvement in children's welfare. In addition the project will advance ther training of a young social scientist and improve our knowledge about this important area of the world.