Biomaterial Database

Dissecting life with a Jewish scalpel: a qualitative analysis of Jewish-centered family life. 2000

M P Semans, and L S Fish

Department of Child and Family Development, University of Georgia, Athens 30602-3622, USA. msemans@fcs.uga.edu

This article highlights findings from a qualitative analysis of the ways in which Jewish families identify how Judaism influences their lives. A theoretical sample of two religious and two cultural families were chosen from a larger sample of 48 Jewish families in Central New York. The qualitative part of this study, which was part of a larger multimethod investigation, was done in order to gather inductively any data that would allow the researchers to build a theory about a particular type of ethnic identity--Jewish identity--and how it affects family dynamics. Eleven categories emerged from this study, which suggest that this particular type of ethnic identity influences many family dynamics, for example, styles of communicating, parenting, values, and family rituals. The participants seem to dissect the world with a "Jewish scalpel." This "scalpel" informs their daily interactions, their parenting styles, and their childrens' self-perceptions.

UI	MeSH Term	Description	Entries
D007407	Interviews as Topic	Works about conversations with an individual or individuals held in order to obtain information about their background and other personal biographical data, their attitudes and opinions, etc. It includes works about school admission or job interviews.	Group Interviews,Interviewers,Interviews, Telephone,Oral History as Topic,Group Interview,Interview, Group,Interview, Telephone,Interviewer,Interviews, Group,Telephone Interview,Telephone Interviews
D007585	Jews	An ethnic group with historical ties to the land of ISRAEL and the religion of JUDAISM.	Jew
D009518	New York	State bounded on the north by Lake Ontario and Canada, on the east by Vermont, Massachusetts, and Connecticut, on the south by the Atlantic Ocean, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania, and on the west by Pennsylvania, Lake Erie, and Canada.
D002648	Child	A person 6 to 12 years of age. An individual 2 to 5 years old is CHILD, PRESCHOOL.	Children
D003466	Cultural Characteristics	Those aspects or characteristics which identify a culture.	Ethnic Boundary Maintenance,Boundary Maintenance, Ethnic,Boundary Maintenances, Ethnic,Characteristic, Cultural,Characteristics, Cultural,Cultural Characteristic,Ethnic Boundary Maintenances,Maintenance, Ethnic Boundary,Maintenances, Ethnic Boundary
D005195	Family Relations	Behavioral, psychological, and social relations among various members of the nuclear family and the extended family.	Family Relationship,Family Dynamics,Family Relationships,Dynamic, Family,Dynamics, Family,Family Dynamic,Family Relation,Relation, Family,Relations, Family,Relationship, Family,Relationships, Family
D005260	Female		Females
D006801	Humans	Members of the species Homo sapiens.	Homo sapiens,Man (Taxonomy),Human,Man, Modern,Modern Man
D000293	Adolescent	A person 13 to 18 years of age.	Adolescence,Youth,Adolescents,Adolescents, Female,Adolescents, Male,Teenagers,Teens,Adolescent, Female,Adolescent, Male,Female Adolescent,Female Adolescents,Male Adolescent,Male Adolescents,Teen,Teenager,Youths
D016901	Intergenerational Relations	The interactions between individuals of different generations. These interactions include communication, caring, accountability, loyalty, and even conflict between related or non-related individuals.	Generation Gap,Nest Leaving,Relations, Intergenerational,Gap, Generation,Gaps, Generation,Generation Gaps,Intergenerational Relation,Relation, Intergenerational