Grandfathers and Fathers in Ukraine and Across Cultures

Abstract

This article begins with a review of international research on how cultures and contexts influence the roles of grandfathers and fathers (for book-length reviews, see Shwalb & Hossain, 2018; Shwalb, Shwalb, & Lamb, 2013). Subsequently, this article describes the historical and contemporary background of Ukrainian society, provides a review of the extremely limited existing literature on families in Ukraine, and describes the results of exploratory open-ended interviews with 20 fathers and 20 grandfathers in Lviv City and three nearby villages in western Ukraine. The main finding of the interviews was a confirmation of several contextual influences on grandfathers and fathers, each of which has often been previously cited in the international literature. There were also notable differences between the interview responses of fathers and grandfathers, as well as between subjects in urban vs. rural locations. The interview data serve as a compelling, albeit exploratory, case example of contextual influences on intergenerational relations, and the relationship between psychology and culture.