Racial Differences in Abused Older African American Males, Caucasian Males, and their Abusers

This study examined racial differences between mistreated and abused older African American and Caucasian men. The racial and gender differences of their perpetrators were also examined. Data from a single elder abuse provider agency in the State of Illinois were analyzed. Differences with respect to physical abuse, emotional abuse, physical neglect, deprivation, confinement, and financial exploitation were examined, as were demographic characteristics and limitations of victims and abusers.     

‘I'm a good mother really!’ gendered parenting roles and responses to the disclosure of incest

The disclosure of incestuous abuse of a child constitutes such a departure from normative expectations of mothering that it necessitates a complete reappraisal and reconstruction of the mother's identity. This article draws on interview material with women in this situation in order to demonstrate how very traditional gendered parenting models were employed in repairing damaged identities. The ways in which such reliance on the protective and selfless aspects of mothering could contribute to the failure to recognise the abuse of their child are also discussed. In conclusion, motherhood as a source of power for women within the family is critically examined. Copyright © 2002 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Dependency—Bond as Construct

This article is a discussion of reality construction of dependency-bonds by oppressed groups with an oppressor. In this model of dependency-bond processes, it is suggested that oppressed people, when possible, attempt to translate the power-dependency equation from one of coercion and objectification into a less onerous, more agreeable bond; that is, subordinate people strive to establish and to reinforce dependency relationships as a strategy of control whereby the power of superiors is deflected from coercive measures against them into lines of obligation toward them. It is further proposed that the secondary effects of this process include the social construction of subordinate identity as dependent and of subordinate place as dependent place.     

Silphids in urban forests: Diversity and function

Many ecologists have examined the process of how urbanization reduces biological diversity but rarely have its ecological consequences been assessed. We studied forest-dwelling burying beetles (Coleoptera: Silphidae)—a guild of insects that requires carrion to complete their life cycles—along an urban-rural gradient of land use in Maryland. Our objective was to determine how forest fragmentation associated with urbanization affects (1) beetle community diversity and structure and (2) the ecological function provided by these insects, that is, decomposition of vertebrate carcasses. Forest fragmentation strongly reduced burying beetle diversity and abundance, and did so far more pervasively than urbanization of the surrounding landscape. The likelihood that beetles interred experimental baits was a direct, positive function of burying beetle diversity. We conclude that loss of burying beetle diversity resulting from forest fragmentation could have important ecological consequences in urban forests.     

Transnational Migration: Bringing Gender In

This article aims to bring gender into an even tighter transnational migration focus by broadening and deepening our original framework of “gendered geographies of power,” linking it more directly to existing and emerging scholarship. We examine and highlight previously neglected areas such as the role of the state and the social imaginary in gendering transnational processes and experiences. We identify topics that remain under‐appreciated, under‐researched, and/or under‐theorized. Finally, we initiate a discussion of how a gendered analysis of transnational migration can help bridge this particular research to other gendered transnational processes under study that do not privilege migration.     

Preparing Parents for Adoption: An Agency Experience

To prepare for the complexities of family formation, 78 prospective adoptive parents participated in Pre-Adopt, a psychosocial educational orientation program offered by one private nonprofit agency. The five-session curriculum included an overview of adoption policies and procedures, discussion of the child placement process, exploration of couples' adoption concerns and expectations about child characteristics, information about adoption laws and birth-parent/child searches, and examination of anticipatory fantasies about birth parents. Program evaluation yielded statistically significant and clinically meaningful findings about changes in emotional readiness to adopt, parenting knowledge, and satisfaction with group participation, adoption policies and agency practices. Practice implications are considered.