Viewings of Deceased Persons in a Hospital Mortuary: Critical Reflection of Social Work Practice

Abstract

Although social workers have been employed in acute hospitals for many decades and in some city mortuaries since the 1980s, little has been written about the assistance they provide to individuals to view bodies of family members who have died in sudden and unexpected circumstances. Using an approach based on critical reflection, the paper discusses the authors' interest in writing about this specific area of practice as it has developed at the Royal Hobart Hospital during the last 10 years. It presents an overview of relevant theoretical and research literature, including discussion of the mortuary as a location for social work practice. Procedures followed by social workers in assisting with viewings are described and placed in the context of single session work as an appropriate framework for this specialist practice. The paper concludes by emphasising the importance of caring for staff engaged in work that is both personally and professionally confronting and demanding through preparation and through the development of a culture of leadership and support.     

Jewish Identity,Denomination and Denominational Mobility

This paper explores religious and ethnic components of American Jewish identity, in both public and private dimensions. In the first part of the paper, we study how nine aspects of Jewish identity vary among the three main American Jewish denominations;we then explain how much of this variation is related to the background factors of Jewish education and denomination. Finally, we consider the effect of the extensive mobility that is found between denomination raised and current denomination, and discuss its implications for the individual who moves between denominations as well as for the denominations as a whole. We show that movers from more traditional to less traditional denominations retain an influence of their previous denomination; while movers from less traditional to more traditional denominations exhibit a 'rededication' effect which gives them a stronger Jewish identity than those raised and staying in the denomination. As a result, the current patterns of interdenominational mobility result in a strengthening of Jewish identity in each denomination, and therefore among American Jews as a whole. Further, differences between the denominations are mitigated by this mobility. However, the effect may be short-lived, because according to current mobility trends, the numbers of those with stronger Jewish identity are dwindling. The analysis is based on data from the New York Jewish Population Study conducted in 1991.     

Friendship,humour and non-native language: Emotions and experiences of professional migrants to Australia

This article explores a particular consequence of migration, which is the need to make new friends in a new country. Migration scholars tend to ignore the process of making friends, when this can be a key challenge to integrating in a new society. We draw on semi-structured interviews with professional migrants to Australia, from a range of different countries, to explore how using non-native language impacted on new friendships. In particular, using the sociological lens of ‘facework’, we show how humour was used during new friendships with English speakers [Goffman, E. 1969. Where the Action Is: Three Essays. London: Allen Lane]. Non-native language confidence impacted on informal socialising because migrants encountered challenges using humour with new friends. This led to feelings of embarrassment, which had to be emotionally managed. Despite speaking good English, these non-native English language migrants can still face language challenges in informal settings. As the migrant's length of time in Australia increased, language confidence improved, however, there were still barriers when using humour. Whilst analysis is specific to Australia, given the increased numbers of professional migrants globally, further investigation is needed to explore if non-native English migrants to other similar cultures such as England, the USA, or Canada also experience such barriers to integration at local level.     

The discursive construction of dyslexia by students in higher education as a moral and intellectual good

Interest in dyslexia as a topic of discussion in education, and in the media, runs through peaks and troughs. Dyslexic students in higher education must navigate their way through the possible meanings attached to the label, appropriating some and rejecting others, yet needing the label as a means to access support. The aim of this article is to explore the ways in which dyslexic university students constructed dyslexia and being dyslexic as moral issues during two focus group conversations. These conversations were discursively analysed with reference to Gee and Willig. Three key themes emerged following analysis: the interaction between the power of the grade as a marker of worth and the status of the dyslexia label; the tensions between acknowledging difficulties with writing and the construction of high literacy as morally aspirational; and the uncertain, yet persistent, construction of dyslexia as a valuable label and a moral good.     

Conflicts in the habitus: the emotional work of becoming modern

This article argues that Bourdieu's concept of habitus, and, in particular, the way habitus is transmitted intergenerationally, can be enhanced by considering conflictual conscious and unconscious processes that emerge in relationships. We suggest that Christopher Bollas's discussions of the ‘unthought known’ and of ‘transformational objects’ add relational depth to the concept of habitus and thus contribute to developing a more psycho‐social understanding of the relation between agency and change. Drawing on in‐depth interviews with a socially mobile chain of a middle‐class grandmother, mother and daughter in a period of rapid change, we describe how conflicts in the habitus are produced relationally and can either impede or motivate desires for change. Relational and object relational psychoanalytic theories offer a way to move beyond what we consider a problem in Bourdieu's theory of habitus that derives from his assumption of a subject who either consciously opts for change in habitus when faced with new social demands or non‐consciously and unconflictually reproduces habitus.     

Making Shared Print Management Happen: A Project of Five Canadian Academic Libraries

ABSTRACT

Five academic libraries in Ontario (Canada) are collaborating in a shared last print copy repository project. The project, called Keep@Downsview, aims to consolidate and rationalize low-use print materials held by the partner libraries and ensure long-term preservation of these important scholarly materials in Ontario while still providing access via document delivery and ILL. In doing so, each of the partner institutions demonstrates its commitment to the stewardship of print collections for future generations while repurposing valuable space on campus. This article describes the background, rationale, challenges, and lessons learned for this unique Canadian project--which leveraged funding from the province of Ontario and the University of Toronto's high-density preservation facility at Downsview--and the commitment of all partners to preserve the scholarly record in Ontario.