Comparative Perspectives on Work-Life Balance and Gender Equality : Fathers on Leave Alone
This book portrays men’s experiences of home alone leave and how it affects their lives and family gender roles in different policy contexts and explores how this unique parental leave design is implemented in these contrasting policy regimes. The book brings together three major theoretical strands: social policy, in particular the literature on comparative leave policy developments; family and gender studies, in particular the analysis of gendered divisions of work and care and recent shifts in parenting and work-family balance; critical studies of men and masculinities, with a specific focus on fathers and fathering in contemporary western societies and life-courses. Drawing on empirical data from in-depth interviews with fathers across eleven countries, the book shows that the experiences and social processes associated with fathers’ home alone leave involve a diversity of trends, revealing both innovations and absence of change, including pluralization as well as the constraining influence of policy, gender, and social context.
Authoritative communities : The scientific case for nurturing the whole child
Authoritative Communities: The Scientific Case for Nurturing the Whole Child introduces innovative solutions based firmly in the children’s mental health and resilience literature and in the hypothesis that humans are "hardwired to connect." These "authoritative communities" consist of such individuals and institutions as parents, teachers, coaches, elders, and a variety of organizations that are committed to each other’s well-being over the long-term and who instill children with prosocial values such as empathy and compassion. Living within these communities enables children and youth to develop a consistent sense of purpose and meaning, so that they, in turn, are able to grow up to be responsible, productive, and nurturing adults.

