Research projects

 Families transformations
  • "Influence of social representations on the agency of adolescents with internalizing problems"

Jan De Mol (UCL) 
My current research focuses on the agency of the child in the family and processes of interpersonal influence in family systems. In particular, my focus is on the agency of children with a psychiatric diagnosis, how their sense of influence is affected by dominant cultural discourses, and research into efficacy of therapeutic interventions in the family to enhance the child’s and family members’ sense of influence.
  • Second phase of a study of 1,5 generation of filippo immigration to France (in the frame of a research project funded by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science; project director: Itaru Nagasaka, Hiroshima University) 
Asuncion Fresnoza-Flot (UCL)
The objective of this case study is to examine the migration trajectories, the process of social and familial adaptation, the school experiences and the identity construction of the “1.5 generation of Filipino migrants”, i.e., migrants who spent at least a part of their youth in the Philippines before joining their immigrant parents in France and who therefore experienced the school systems of these countries.
  • "Family, education and citizenship in a globalised world: children of marriage migrations in Belgium" (in the frame of a mandate of postdoctoral researcher FNRS, 2012-2015; promotor Jacques Marquet, CIRFASE; co-promoter: Laura Merla, CIRFASE 
Asuncion Fresnoza-Flot (UCL)
This study aims to shed light on the situation of children from Belgian-Filipino and Belgian-Thai families in Belgium. It will address the question of how these children experience growing up in an ethnically “mixed” family and society, and to what extent state policies related to immigration, citizenship and education influence their individual and familial lives, notably their social incorporation and identity construction.
  •  Work-life articulation over the life course
Bernard FUSULIER (UCL)
This project studies existing work-family systems as well as issues related to managing working ages and times (retirement, early retirement, working times and schedules, to name a few), and the position of social actors regarding these measures and any other programs or experiments likely to be explored or implemented.
 
  • Sociological analysis of the influence of professional group on the work/family issue and on use of family-friendly policies: Comparison of social workers, nurses and police officers
Bernard FUSULIER  (UCL)
This research project studies the work/family issue in three occupational groups: nurses, social workers and police officers. The purpose is to analyse the role of professional regulations, cultures and ethos on the working life/family life combination.
 
  •  Gender and working life/family life articulation: Towards a new model
Bernard FUSULIER  (UCL)
This research program aims to review studies in the field of work/family relations from a gender equality perspective. The aim is to measure the outreach and limits of current models and to reflect on the construction of an alternative model.
 
 
  • Migration and fatherhood: Changing family patterns in the offspring of North African immigrants in the host country. The case of young fathers of Moroccan origin.
Benali GUENACH (UCL)
This thesis focuses on a particular population: second generation young fathers of Moroccan origin in Belgium. Among other things we will try to address what makes the dynamic and changing roles and identities of fathers within the family. Through interview material we will explain how these young fathers incorporate the norms and values ​​of the surrounding society, how they position themselves in relation to their culture of origin, the traditional models and values ​​of their parents, and how they perceive the legitimacy of their practices.
 
 
  • Migrant journeys and exile in the suburbs
Pascale JAMOULLE (UCL)
Ethnographic research on youngster and  parents of foreign origin.
 
  • Family dynamics and caring for aging parents
Blanche LEIDER (UCL)
The purpose of this research is to study how the responsibilities for caring for an aging parent are assigned within the family, and therefore study family dynamics themselves, defined as « the network of relationships and exchanges of services, affection and reputation involving several people whose relationships influence each other ». 
 
 
  • Evaluative research of the new legal and institutional framework regulating adoption in French-speaking Belgium
Jacques MARQUET (UCL) & Florence VANDENDORPE (UCL)
Evaluation of the legal framework regulating adoption which was set up in French-speaking Belgium following the Reform of 2005. This small research project was created in response to a call launched by the Minister in charge of issues related to youth. It follows both a quantitative and qualitative approach; the data are collected using questionnaires and focus groups. This research is part of a larger evaluative process. Its main objective is to provide the Minister with information related to how (aspiring) parents experience the whole process of adoption. (03/2011 – 09/2011)
 
  • Teenagers in exile. Multidisciplinary research with young migrants in Brussels: their difficulties, their resources, the solutions
Jacinthe MAZZOCCHETTI (UCL)
This research has socio-anthropological and clinical dimensions. The subject is the daily life of teenagers who have migrant origins and live in districts marked by the poverty of the northwest of Brussels. Three issues are dealt with: the places of these teenagers (in Belgium and in their origin countries), their school and, finally, the "violence of the State".
 
 
  • Closure of borders and transnational links – Fieldwork with African migrants in Belgium
Jacinthe MAZZOCCHETTI (UCL)
This research analyzes the link between the immigration policies in Belgium and the different forms of family organization of relationships in the European context of closing borders. These issues are mainly approached through the situation of new migrants from Africa.
 
 
  • Transnational caregiving in the Belgian context: An analysis of the interplay between intrafamilial dynamics and the exchange of care between adult migrants and their parents
Laura MERLA (UCL)
This project analyzes the negotiation of the participation of family members in the provision of financial, practical, emotional and personal care to ageing parents within transnational family networks of solidarity. The methodology is based on semi-structured interviews with migrants from the Dominican Republic living in Belgium, and their relatives based in Belgium, the Dominican Republic and/or a third country.
 
 
  • Same-sex parenthood: Thirdness in the lesbian parental couple
Emilie MOGET (UCL)
Drawing on psychoanalysis, this project focuses on parental roles within lesbian couples who resort to artificial insemination. The project also focuses on children who live in this familial context and the development of their sexual identity.
 
 
 
Conjugal dynamics 
  • The social construction of ‘intimate relationships’ established through computer use
Julie De WILDE (UCL)
The aim of this research is to analyze the early stages of ‘intimate» relationships’ initiated through dating sites on the Internet. Our main theoretical approach to deal with this subject is from the perspective of (relational) scripts and the methodological approach is of a purely qualitative nature (data collected through semi-directive interviews).
 
 
  •  Current modalities of the link’s construction and preservation (Two places of transitionality: link-objects and couples)
Christophe JANSSEN (UCL)
The idea of link-objects originates in research done on the first objects of devotion. Our thesis is that a process of illusion develops in the first phases of life, allowing individuals to link inner and outer worlds. This process would continue to be at stake over the course of a lifetime, notably when individuals construct a couple.
 
  • Adolescent romantic relationships: between violence, distrust and love
Jacinthe MAZZOCCHETTI (UCL) 
This research focuses on issues related to the sexuality and romantic relationships of teenagers. It is based on fieldwork conducted in the city of Charleroi.
 
Sexualities and bodies
 
  • The body in the care relationship
Nathalie HUBERT (HENAM), Jacques MARQUET (UCL), Nicolas MARQUIS (FUSL) and Anne-Marie VUILLEMENOT (UCL)
The purpose of this research is to study how the body is apprehended (comprehended) in the care relationship, especially in hygiene care. This involves measuring the impact of professional socialization in nursing.

 

| 15/01/2013 |