Development,Implementation, and Evaluation of a Comprehensive Course on Suicide in a Master’s of Social Work Program

ABSTRACT

Most master of social work (MSW) programs provide minimal education or training on suicide prevention, intervention, and postvention despite that the majority of social workers encounter suicidal clients during their professional careers. This study describes the development, implementation, and evaluation of a course on suicide in an MSW program. Changes in student suicide-related knowledge, confidence, and preparedness were evaluated using a pre/post design. We found statistically significant increases in knowledge (t [df = 21] = 4.79; p < .001), confidence (t [df = 17] = 8.55; p < .001), and preparedness (t [df = 20] = 7.28; p < .001) from pretest to posttest. Knowledge, confidence, and preparedness were significantly positively correlated, indicating that confidence and preparedness did not increase without a corresponding increase in knowledge. Given the prevalence of suicide and the frequency with which social workers serve populations affected by suicide, it is critical that MSW programs provide effective training on understanding suicide.     

‘All have to live in me …’: a study of the use of English alongside other African languages in a Kenyan school

The purpose of this paper, which builds on an earlier paper published in this Journal (Vol. 20, No. 6), is to develop the discussion around how English has been taught, used and perceived in Kenya, using data gathered from a small second‐level English‐medium school in Kenya. The complex relationships between language and identity are at work in the everyday routines of both staff and pupils within such a context. The paper seeks to set out a clear methodology for gathering data which could help describe these relationships with more clarity while also subjecting the data to analysis informed by the growing body of research and theory that focuses on language policy in post‐colonial and neo‐colonial settings. Finally, these pieces of data are used as the basis of a further exploration of the implications for classroom practice in teaching English in this environment.     

“Behind every woman in prison is a man”: Incarcerated Women’s Perceptions of How We Can Better Help Them in the Context of Interpersonal Victimization

ABSTRACT

Although women’s rates of incarceration have increased dramatically, the criminal justice system does not meet women’s unique needs. This article used qualitative methods to describe the responses of 113 incarcerated women to the following question: How can we better help women like you? Analyses focused on women’s experiences of victimization and highlighted how to address trauma in prison reform and abolition efforts. Women suggested how victimization fueled their criminal offending behavior, detailed re-victimization in the prison milieu, and identified program gaps during custody and after release. Opportunities for immediate action include policy advocacy, mitigation, and shifting to a trauma-informed correctional approach.     

‘There’s a lot of places I’d like to go and things I’d like to do’: the daily living experiences of adults with mild to moderate intellectual disabilities during a time of personalised social care reform in the United Kingdom

Adult social care services in the United Kingdom have undergone a period of transformation over recent years, characterised by a drive towards personalised care. Concurrently, social care budgets have been significantly reduced. This study aimed to explore the daily living experiences of adults with mild/moderate intellectual disabilities, who are at risk of no longer meeting eligibility criteria for statutory support. Focus group discussions, which included both people with intellectual disabilities and support workers, were analysed thematically. Two broad themes are presented: independence and agency; and social capital and well-being. While some participants echoed ideas central to the personalisation narrative, a number of contextual barriers to achieving greater independence and agency were discussed. Moreover, greater independence was not a desired goal for all participants. The findings highlight the potential mismatch between personalised social care, as delivered within significant budget constraints, and the needs of adults with intellectual disabilities.     

“I’m trying to create,not destroy”: Gendered Moralities and the Fate of IVF Embryos in Evangelical Women’s Narratives

Qualitative Sociology - Although conservative evangelical Protestants advocate for protecting the embryo in their opposition to abortion and embryonic stem-cell research, they generally support the...     

“We don’t have to talk about how I feel”: emotionality as a tool of resistance in political discourse among Israeli students – a gendered socio-linguistic perspective

This article demonstrates how the gendered patriarchal mechanisms that exclude women from the political sphere are being produced, re-produced, and challenged in interpersonal political conversations by concentrating on the discursive mechanisms that construct the way young Israeli women and men talk about politics. The research is based on a yearlong intra-group dialog process. The group met for weekly sessions during two semesters, in which the group members discussed and expressed their thoughts and feelings regarding the Israeli–Palestinian conflict. Critical discourse analysis (CDA) demonstrated how the political space is being marked, defined and delimited through gendered discursive practices. We present the different roles participants take in the group, and in particular the different strategies women use in face of disciplinary discursive mechanisms. The process revealed that the development in the group discussion was strongly intertwined with the change in the positioning strategies of the female participants. In particular, we found that women deployed emotionality as a tool of resistance that challenges gender binaries and masculine dominance. Our conclusion highlights the importance of the daily interactions in creating, sustaining and changing the political discourse of a society in conflict.     

‘It's just a natural human thing to do,to go and visit your family… but it's not easy for us’: Gender and generation in Bangladeshis’ transnational visits between London and Sylhet

In the title to this paper, Maya, a British-Bangladeshi woman, expresses her frustration at the refusal of the Home Office to grant her father in Sylhet a visa to come and fulfil his role as family head at the wedding of his son, Maya's brother, in London. The case illustrates well the intersection of gender and generation that fundamentally shapes the pattern of visits, in both directions, across this long-distance transnational social and family space. Bangladesh is a patriarchal society, with marked gender divisions layered across generations, which are largely reproduced among the migrant community in London and are manifested, in various ways, in the phenomenon of transnational visiting. Based on 61 in-depth interviews in London and Sylhet, supplemented by participant observation, we delineate the gendered and generational structures framing the visits, both of migrants to the homeland and of non-migrants to their relatives in London.     

BIMBY’s first steps: a pilot study on the contribution of residential front-yards in Phoenix and Maastricht to biodiversity,ecosystem services and urban sustainability

Large parts of urban space around the world exist of small-scale plots such as domestic gardens. These small-scale urban spaces carry potential for enhancing biodiversity, sustainability and ecosystem services in and beyond cities. However, domestic gardening and residential garden designs are often guided by aesthetics and ease more than by the aim to create habitat and biological diversity. Yard-management decisions impact socio-ecological systems in various ways, for example through irrigation patterns, fertilization or the use of pesticides or through the choice for exotic species that may become invasive over time. Yard-management decisions can also positively influence the presence of pollinators, improve soil quality or even foster small scale ‘Wildlife Habitats’ that can function as ecological stepping stones to the wider environment. In this paper a pilot assessment is presented of the contribution of residential front-yards in Phoenix (Arizona) and Maastricht (The Netherlands) to biodiversity, ecosystem services and sustainability by applying the BIMBY (Biodiversity in My (Back) Yard) framework.