A Brief Reply to Dutton

ABSTRACT

This article is a brief reply to Dutton's rebuttal (Dutton, this issue) to the author's critique of Dutton's analysis of the role of gender in intimate partner violence.     

Fathers,others: The sacrificial victim in Freud,Girard, and Levinas

Abstract

This paper derives from an interest in murder. This interest began through reading fictional narratives which ceaselessly stage and restage scenes of murder; but it has also become clear that a range of theoretical texts are no less preoccupied with the basic question, ‘Why kill?’ (see Davis, 2000). In particular, the three theorists I shall discuss here, Freud, Girard and Levinas, directly address the question of murder, its causes and consequences. In each case, the theoretical question turns out to depend upon a minimal core narrative in which the stakes of murder are crystallized; rival theoretical accounts are thus also bound up in a competition of stories. As this paper traces a common concern from Freud's Totem and Taboo, through Girard's La Violence et le sacré, to Levinas's Totalité et infini, the question ‘Why kill?’ gets entangled with the dynamics of storytelling and the issue of what it means to do theory.     

Inside out: some notes on carrying out feminist research in cross-cultural interviews with South Asian women immigration applicants

This article considers a number of important issues raised in the growing literature with regard to the place of ethnicity in feminist research methodology and the woman-to-woman interview. Drawing on examples from the author's experiences of conducting interviews with South Asian women immigration applicants, the article firstly illustrates that because of a different ethnicity, a white feminist researcher is likely to be regarded as an outsider by the minority-ethnic interviewees, regardless of the sharing of gender. Secondly, using the ideas of 'personal' and 'structural' power the article discusses how the researcher's outsider status complicates the power relations between the interviewer and the participants.     

A Fair Representation

SUMMARY

Relying on archival documents as well as the author's involvement with Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe (GALZ), this article traces the historical development of the gay liberation movement in that country. The author focuses on the GALZ's relationship to the media and to the state in describing community organizing efforts against homophobia. A case example of organizing is provided in order to emphasize the importance of self-empowerment and to discuss the birth of liberationist sentiments in the gay and lesbian community.     

Toward Rigor and Relevance in US Social Work Education

Abstract

After reviewing the major changes taking place in American higher education, the present paper discusses a select number of challenges confronting US social work education. These challenges are broadly characterized as those of rigor and relevance. The paper presents the author's reflections on the best ways to meet these challenges and stresses the promotion of research and social innovations as important foci for social work education.     

Kinship Care and Public Child Welfare: Challenges and Opportunities for Social Work Education

Abstract

The growing practice of arranging and financing “foster placement” of abused and neglected children with relatives provides an opportunity to redefine relationships between extended families and the child welfare system. The dilemmas and possibilities presented by kinship care as a child welfare service challenge schools of social work to provide intellectual leadership and to prepare social workers for changing child welfare practice. The author's ideas concerning responses to this challenge focus on key mandates of the Council on Social Work Education's Curriculum Policy Statement and on five principal curriculum areas in social work education.     

The meaning of nursing-home: ‘Waiting to go up to St. Peter,OK! Waiting house,sad but true’ — An Australian perspective

BackgroundThis article is derived from a larger Australian research study using multiple qualitative methods to investigate truth-telling in aged-care.AimTo analyse and discuss findings associated with residents', personal care assistants' (personal carer, enrolled nurse) and the registered nurses' perceptions about the nursing-home. The thesis is that the health of the resident in a nursing-home is directly linked to care provision that encourages autonomy.MethodsResearch participants' personal journals, group discussions, follow-up in-depth discussions and the author's field journal across five nursing-homes.ResultsThe nursing-home is described as endowed with suspicious awareness and mutual pretence, overloaded with tasks, short of staff and starved of time with little engagement with the residents.DiscussionResidency that claims to have as its primary focus ‘the resident’ ought to take seriously the residents' health and therefore the residents' autonomy. However, the nursing-home, as described here, fails to adequately understand this link.     

Reflections on Meanings and Applications of Social Justice

SUMMARY

This article conveys the author's personal thoughts, views, reflections, experiences, and observations about social justice. As a value and ideal, it is what social workers and activists work toward. As a goal and result, it is an unfinished product in most organizations, institutions, communities, and societies.     

From Movement Demands to Legislation

SUMMARY

In August 1999, the First Meeting of Lesbians and Lesbian Feminists was held in Mexico City. From this meeting evolved an organized effort for expanded lesbian and gay rights in Mexico City. This article, which, of necessity, is seen through the author's dual role as participant/observer, or insider/outsider, attempts to trace the initial blossoming of two movement ideas-a lesbian kiss-in and legal recognition of same-sex relationships-and their eventual transformation into a major news media event and a proposed piece of city legislation.     

Researching paramilitary violence in Northern Ireland

This paper examines methodological challenges in researching paramilitary violence, with particular reference to the author's examination of paramilitary 'punishment' activity in Northern Ireland. The author notes the dearth of published work on methodological issues in social science research of violence generally. The range of major qualitative studies on paramilitary violence is presented and discussed. The paper explains the context of conducting such research in Northern Ireland in terms of the broader political conflict. It then examines several key challenges in researching paramilitary violence based primarily on the author's research. These included maintenance of political sensitivity, good faith and cautious security protocols. Potential legal and ethical difficulties were addressed through design of interview schedules that minimized risk of disclosure of the names or identities of those subject to 'punishment' or the perpetrators of offences. Those subject to paramilitary 'punishment' proved 'hard-to-reach', requiring greater time and effort in meeting the initial target sample, and a consequent need to research across a wide range of voluntary and community-based organizations. While risks of physical injury were minimal, successful research in the field was achieved through transparency about the impartiality and funding independence of the researchers, and a strategic sensitivity towards community and political backgrounds.     

Time and mobility in the writing of Charles W. Chesnutt

Abstract

This article considers the elusiveness and ambivalence that characterize Chesnutt's writing in terms of the author's imaginative efforts to probe beyond the historical circumstances that condition and frame his authorship. Noting the focus on figures of absence and illegibility in recent criticism of Chesnutt, I examine the notion of a self in the process of uprooting itself that appears to preoccupy much of his fiction. In a close reading of Chesnutt's journals and his essay on 'Superstitions and Folklore of the South', I elaborate Chesnutt's conception of a literary voice as emerging from a context of commodification and contestation and oriented on a moment of posterior reception. I then discuss how this concept of a detachable voice informs Chesnutt's exploration of a transplantable self and an understanding of freedom in terms of a re-imagined social bond. This discussion focuses on the ways Chesnutt, in some of his short stories and in The House Behind the Cedars, evokes a passage from a condition of bondage to a capacity for multiple and variable attachments.     

The Use of Questionnaires in Child Custody Evaluations

ABSTRACT

Results from the author's recent survey, and a review of major texts and principal journals in the field, show that examiner-designed questionnaires are used extensively in child custody evaluations. It is clear, however, that experts face significant challenges regarding the admissibility of the evidence gathered from questionnaires in terms of meeting current legal standards. This article describes methods for improving the relevance, reliability, helpfulness, and validity of questionnaires within the context of a multi-method, multi-source assessment strategy.     

Lesbian,Gay Male,Bisexual and Transgendered Elders: Elder Abuse and Neglect Issues

ABSTRACT

Unfortunately, due In large measure to our society's still-pervasive social prejudice against and ignorance about sexual orientation and gender minorities, there have been few studies of this population of elders, and virtually no one has examined how this population's culture affects its experience with elder abuse. Based on the author's knowledge of this community and discussions with social workers and domestic violence specialists who serve it, these clients are likely to be more resistant than other clients to accepting services. Greater awareness of the existence and circumstances of lesbian, gay male, and transgendered elders should help protective services staff in building rapport with these clients and in getting them the services and assistance that they need.     

Legal Parenthood and Continued Parent-Child Relationships—The Moral and Experiential Aspects of Parenting

ABSTRACT

This paper presents a construct of parenting which provides criteria for differential solutions in cases of child protection, i.e., confidential adoption, adoption with contact and out-of-home placements. It is proposed that the moral aspect of parenting be central in judicial proceedings regarding the protection of the child. In addition a distinction between the moral and the experiential aspect of parenting should be made. The presentation of this construct is based on the author's assessments of parents when acting as an expert witness to the court (in Israel), in three cases in which compulsory adoption was petitioned by the state. The assessment of the moral aspect of parenting is based on the parent's own evaluation of his/her own parenthood, and the assessment of the experiential aspect is based on the parent-child relationships with a particular emphasis -on the child's responses to the parent. This construct may allow experts to tread the fine line between assessing parents and accusing them and provides a base for negotiation between parents' conceptions of their parenthood and the court's.     

Life Course Analysis—The Courage to Search for Something More

Abstract

In this paper we discuss middle-to-late life issues of the transgender and intersex communities. We demonstrate that these mid-to-late life issues are richly complex, full of courage, coping, risk, and resilience, and are grounded in a socio-ecological landscape of systemic actual and perceived violence and abuse. We examine how this socio-ecological environment affects the “normative” mid-life cycle processes. Practical examples are drawn from the author's field interviews and survey research over the past decade. We close by examining the effects of such a landscape on the middle-age life stage and examine its potential ramifications for old age as well.     

Fatherhood on My Mind

SUMMARY

This essay uses an academic letter format to address the topic of fatherhood through the personal perspective of a single, middle-aged, multi-ethnic, gay man. After providing auto-ethnographic reflections of childhood and family life, a survey of influential popular cultural texts and academic literature on fatherhood and parenting is provided. Finally, the letter ends with an in depth examination of the international film Bear Cub/Cachorro, along with concluding auto-ethnographic reflections and thoughts on the author's readiness and desire to become a father.     

Towards Equality Through Legal Reform

SUMMARY

The focus of this article is the author's experience as one of the organizers of a recent campaign for tongzhi rights in Hong Kong. Tongzhi in general refers to lesbians, gays, bisexuals and trangendered people, and in some cases, their supporters as well. After ten years of public education and political advocacy, the tolerance level of the general public towards homosexuality has increased. However, despite this improved atmosphere, the situation remains far from ideal. Citing the recent legal advocacy campaign as an example, this paper illustrates how the proactive approach of tongzhi activists has resulted in significant progress in the battle for equality. These efforts began with Hong Kong's first tongzhi-led campaign supporting pro-tongzhi candidates to win seats in the Legislative Council, which subsequently contributed to the formation of a Subcommittee within the new Legislative Council with a specific mandate to review the situation of discrimination against sexual minorities.     

Truth,lies, and racial consequences in Ernest Hemingway's True at First Light: A Fictional Memoir

Abstract

This article examines Ernest Hemingway's posthumously published novel True at First Light: A Fictional Memoir, by relating the author's vision of the role of Africa in the literary imagination to issues the novel raises for postcolonial cultural and historical criticism. Analyzing the novel's narrative, which draws upon Hemingway's second safari to Kenya in 1953–4, offers insight into Hemingway's 'African American' consciousness, and the new awareness that he was able substantively to arrive at for the first time in this novel, less than 10 years before his death. This awareness inaugurated what might be called a fictional reverse migration, whereby Hemingway reconnects with the black native perspective on Africa that he encountered on his first safari in 1933–4, in order to acquire material insight into what blacks were experiencing in America at the time of his second safari. Identifying this awareness also leads to the possibility of (re)reading Hemingway's racial perspective in his earlier works with African settings.     

Beginning Practice with Preoperative Male-to-Female Transgender Clients

Abstract

Preoperative male-to-female transgender clients often present with specific and unique psychological and social issues distinct from gay male and lesbian clients. Therapists must be ready to assess and help diagnose these in preparation for work with gender queer clients. Therapists must also be prepared to face and resolve the various counter-transference dynamics inherent in therapeutic relationships with transgendered individuals. This Practice Note focuses on the author's beginning clinical and social case management experience working with two preoperative male-to-female transgender individuals.     

Personal Computer Based Clinical Systems

Abstract

This paper presents the author's research on designing, developing, ana testing a computerized case management system aimed at enhancing the employability of physically disabled adults engaged in vocational rehabilitation. The theoretical framework of this system is found in the goal oriented theory for clinical practice and includes a comprehensive assessment, case planning, goal attainment scaling, ana monitoring modules. It is written in dBASE 111 +, and compiled in Clipper. Its feasibility was tested in a clinical setting and the results indicate that clinicians are finding (he system facultative and easy to follow.