Raising rural women’s voices: From self-silencing to self-expression

Within the context of a community-academic partnership, we undertook a mixed-methods study to identify and explore health status, priorities, and management strategies among aging Wisconsin rural women. A questionnaire measuring diverse wellness needs was administered to women participating in personal development programming offered by a rural nonprofit organization. A subgroup participated in qualitative interviews to deepen the understanding of identified health priorities and methods of coping and healing. Findings provide insight into the prevalence of self-silencing among rural women and highlight mechanisms that help to facilitate the dismantling of self-silencing.     

A longitudinal study of children’s outcomes in a residential special school

ABSTRACT

This study presents findings from a longitudinal study of the Mulberry Bush School (MBS), a therapeutic residential special school in England which provides an integrated approach to education and care for children aged between 5 and 13 years. Four cohorts were followed (23 = boys; 13 = girls), each for a consecutive 3-year period, approximating children’s time at the MBS. Children showed significant improvements in their socio-emotional, behavioural and academic development. The picture is more mixed for children’s attachment representations, which might be expected of the vulnerable and severely traumatised children who make up the MBS population. The importance of these improvements stem from the fact that they were achieved in the face of the exceptional disadvantages and challenges that characterise the lives of all children who attend the MBS. This is testimony to their achievement, and to the potential of the residential special school as a therapeutic learning environment.