Arts and Crafts and Reconstruction

Abstract

This paper examines the role of arts and crafts in reconstructing communities after times of upheaval, their use in creating employment opportunities, and their impact on the nature of South African art history. It looks at craft initiatives during and after the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development in 2002, and draws parallels with early twentieth-century initiatives, particularly those of Florence Phillips, who founded the Johannesburg Art Gallery in 1910, Emily Hobhouse, who established Boer home industries, and the South African National Union, which promoted the manufacture and use of local products.     

Sexual Compulsivity and Sexual Behaviors Among Gay and Bisexual Men and Lesbian and Bisexual Women

Within the existing body of research, the information pertaining to sexual compulsivity (SC) among women, both homo- and heterosexual, remains rather limited in comparison to men. The aim of this study was to assess the prevalence of SC in a community sample of gay and bisexual men and lesbian and bisexual women and to identify differences in sexual practices based on classification as sexually compulsive within gender. Supporting previous research, the findings indicated that gay and bisexual men were significantly higher in SC when compared to lesbian and bisexual women. Similarly, sexually compulsive gay and bisexual men were more likely to report drug use with sex than their non-sexually compulsive peers, suggesting that “party n' play” may play a larger role for men with SC. In addition, the findings demonstrated empirical support for the proposition that lesbian and bisexual women with symptoms of SC were more likely to engage in specialized sexual behaviors in comparison to their non-sexually compulsive peers. These data suggest that SC manifests differently in gay, lesbian, and bisexual men and women.     

Back and Forth and Beyond

The Journal invited Tom Andersen, author of major pioneering work on the reflecting team, and his colleagues, to offer comment on The Reflecting Team Process in Training. We thought such a north-south dialogue was in keeping with the spirit of reflecting teams, and the team members in Melbourne and Tromsø agree — Editor.     

Thinking and Speech and Protocol Analysis

Some form of verbal report—that is, a research participant' s concurrent or retrospective verbal account of thought processes during problem-solving activities—has been used throughout this century as the database from which psychologists have developed theories of human mentation. Newell and Simon (1972) and Ericsson and Simon (1980, 1993) have provided extensive justification for using one such method, protocol analysis, as a tool for investigating cognition from an information-processing (IP) perspective. Their arguments have characterized protocol analysis as a methodology capable of providing evidence of the ways in which people attend to information stored in short-term memory to solve problems, with the evidence providing them with the grounds from which to generate models of human cognitive processes. A different view of protocol analysis is available from the perspective of cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) based on the work of Vygotsky (1987), Leont'ev (1981), and others, and its concern with the mediation of human development by culturally and historically grounded signs and tools. Because of its emphasis on culturally channeled development, a CHAT perspective views speech, including the speech that serves as evidence for cognition in psychological research, as a tool that potentially enables changes in consciousness. In this article I outline a CHAT perspective that accounts for protocol analysis along three key dimensions: (a) the relation between thinking and speech from a representational standpoint, (b) the social role of speech in research methodology, and (c) the influence of speech on thinking during data collection. The purpose of this discussion is not to refute the IP perspective on protocol analysis but to illustrate how this method can be viewed through a CHAT lens and to identify alternative assumptions that must be made to use it from a CHAT perspective.     

History and the here and now

This paper explores the lesser-known histories and present-day realities of small towns and non-metropolitan areas in the internal provinces of South Africa. It is different inasmuch as it focuses on transformations that have taken place at the local level, and where possible, generalises from these, rather than following the normal route taken by social scientists – at least from 1994, which has been to examine them from the top down. One feature of such changes has been the growth of gated communicates across the length and breadth of South Africa, but there are many more. One reason for their anonymity is that their evolution has been gradual and corpuscular, that they have become unconsciously familiar and are left unexamined. Another is our collective preoccupation with the metropolitan areas rather than the smaller localities where such processes are subterranean and confined. This paper presents very briefly some of the results of the researchers of the Local Histories and Present Realities programme over the past five years, in 19 separate centres. It examines the history and present circumstance of chiefdoms of Ga-Mphahlele and reveals the surprise finding that much of recent and contemporary politics revolve around events 200 years old. An analogous situation has arisen in Venda as well as in Mpumalanga and elsewhere, where a combination of new legislation to revive chiefly powers, and land reclamation legislation have lent a new legitimacy to chiefly powers, and inspired hundreds of phantom – and time-consuming – quests. Another massive development which has gone on around us but whose internal dynamics have never been observed is the rise of game hunting and ranching all over the interior of South Africa. This is a monster subject which is likely to have influence on all of our lives into which our group is now in a position to offer insights. A change of equal proportions is the rise of mining all over the interior Bushveld Igneous Complex – Mokopane is a good example of this and the huge social consequences this has brought in its wake. One final theme which embraces all the communities that we have studied is the local histories of transformation – collectively the most important – since 1994. This is almost entirely hidden to a wider world, including the transformed positions of local Indian residents.     

Acceptance and Caregiving of Married and Divorced Custodial Mothers and Fathers

The study examined whether differences in gender and family status affect parental caregiving disposition and acceptance of children among parents of children in mid-childhood. The number of participants were 122 divorced-custodial fathers, 107 married fathers, 85 divorced-custodial mothers, and 82 married mothers (n?=?398). A comparison among four groups of parents revealed the following gender differences: mothers scored higher on anxious caregiving and parental acceptance than fathers, and lower on avoidant caregiving. Regression analysis indicated that the higher the caregiving avoidance or anxiety, the lower the parental acceptance. Family status moderated parental acceptance, as avoidant caregiving was associated with reduced parental acceptance among married parents, but not among divorced custodial parents. The finding that avoidant caregiving was not associated with reduced acceptance among divorced custodial parents implies that their parental acceptance behaviors toward their children are affected by their parental status as sole custodial parent, and the associated responsibilities, rather than by gender.     

Evening and night work schedules and children's social and emotional well-being

ABSTRACT

An emerging body of evidence shows that parents’ non-standard work schedules have a detrimental effect on children's well-being. However, only a limited number of studies have investigated mediating factors that underpin this association. Likewise, only a few studies have examined the impact of fathers’ non-standard work schedules on children's well-being. Based on data from the Families in Germany Study (FiD), this study aimed to address these research gaps. The sample consists of parents and their children at ages 7–8 and 9–10 (n?=?838 child observations in dual-earner families). The data were collected in the years 2010–2013. Non-standard work hours were defined as working in evenings and or at night (every day, several times a week, or changing as shifts). Children's social and emotional well-being was measured with the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). The findings show that both mothers’ and fathers’ evening and night work schedules are linked to an increase in children's externalizing and internalizing behavior and that this association is partially mediated by mothers’ and fathers’ harsh and strict parenting, with a stronger mediation effect for fathers parenting.     

Identifying and Navigating Social and Institutional Challenges of Transgender Children and Families

The purpose of this article is to highlight the voices and lived experiences of four families and their transgender children (male to female). The methodology consists of a qualitative case study approach and ethnographic research methods over the course of 1 year. With a focus on mezzo and macro-level issues, the results of this article illustrate some of the ways that these families navigate their child’s transition, the social challenges that they experience from a society that adheres to the gender binary, and institutional challenges that this community faces in the realms of education, religion, medicine, and mental health. A discussion follows of the ways in which social workers can promote the health, happiness and the well-being of gender-variant children and their families within the community. We conclude with advocating for re-conceptualizing rigid and binary definitions of gender and challenging institutions that perpetuate oppression against trans children and their families.     

Practitioners’ Personal and Professional Attitudes and Behaviors Toward Religion and Spirituality

This article presents findings from a study that examined the attitudes and behaviors toward religion and spirituality held by 328 randomly selected Virginia licensed clinical social workers, psychologists, and professional counselors. Significant differences were found among the three groups, with social workers generally holding a middle position in comparison with psychologists and professional counselors. As a whole, respondents were found to value the religious or spiritual dimension in their own lives, to respect the function it serves for people in general, and to address, to some extent, religious and spiritual issues in practice. Limited professional training in this area was reported, however, with 79% (n = 259) of the respondents stating that religious or spiritual issues were rarely or never addressed during the course of their graduate education and training. Implications for social work education and practice are discussed.     

Divorce Disclosures and Adolescents' Physical and Mental Health and Parental Relationship Quality

Two studies were constructed to examine the associations between custodial parents' negative disclosures about the other parent after a divorce and parent–adolescent relational quality (closeness and satisfaction) and adolescents' physical and mental health. In general, the results suggested that even though negative disclosures about the other parent might be associated with more cohesive relationships between custodial parents and adolescents, it does not mean that adolescents are immune to the physical and psychological effects of such disclosures. In Study 2, negative disclosures about the other parent were associated with adolescents' increased reports of physical and mental health symptoms. The results revealed a similar effect for general divorce information and adolescents' mental health. However, there was no association for catharsis and adolescents' physical and mental health. The results from both studies also revealed that adolescents perceived that their custodial parents disclosed more negative information about the other parent than the parents perceived that they disclosed.     

Experience Rating and Work-Related Health and Safety

In the area of Workers Compensation Insurance schemes, experience rating (ER) is a common incentive tool, in many countries. Premiums paid by firms are experience rated, which should encourage them to improve working conditions and reduce work-related injuries and disabilities. Using sectorial data for industry and construction sectors in 2005, this article provides empirical insights into the influence of ER on work-related health and safety in the context of the French jurisdiction. We examine the relationship between firm premium rate variations and adverse working conditions indicators, controlling for observables, assuming the hypothesis of an asymmetric firm response to premium increases and decreases. The results are consistent with the hypothesis that ER is a lever to improve working conditions and reduce work-related injury rates. Further investigation is needed to understand the influence of ER on firm behavior.     

Marital Power,Roles, and Solidarity and Husbands' and Wives' Appraisals of Self and Other*

The purpose of this study was to investigate conditions underlying the social self process within marital relationships. Two hypotheses were tested in a mail questionnaire survey of 165 couples: 1) Mead and Cooley's hypothesis that self-appraisal is positively associated with other's view of self, and 2) an extension of this hypothesis suggesting that the association between self-appraisal and spouse's appraisal is greater, and the appraisals are more favorable, when marital power is shared, household role responsibilities are shared, and marital solidarity is high. The first hypothesis was supported: self-appraisal was significantly correlated with other's view of self. The second hypothesis was strongly supported for solidarity: the greater the couple's solidarity, the more favorable and the more similar were self-appraisal and other's appraisal of self. Only partial support was found for a positive association of shared marital power and roles with appraisals of self and other.     

Fairyland and its Fairy Kings and Queens

'Fairyland and its Fairy Kings and Queens' is a review article of a collection of essays examining the responses to the death of Princess Diana, entitled 'After Diana: Irreverent Elegies'. The purpose of this article is to trace the origins of the Diana phenomenon, and particularly that variant which possessed the English political imagination in late summer 1997; and in so doing to investigate further the cultural context of a constitution that is presently the subject of considerable debate regarding its potential reform. The first part will take a closer look at 'Diolatry'. The second part will then concentrate upon the ultimate Diana figure in English constitutional history, Gloriana herself, Elizabeth I. The third part of the article discusses the residual authority of monarchical iconography in the English constitutional culture. The conclusion will then suggest why, rather than testifying to a supposed mood of fundamental constitutional change abroad in the country, reactions to Diana's death evidence the innate strength of a constitutional imagination that still craves the reassurance of its Fairy Kings and Queens.     

Of Ships and Seals and Postage Stamps

This article describes a method—Collaborative Civics Conference Protocol (3CP)—that teachers can use with any civics education program to engage students in meaningful collaborative assessment of each others’ thinking and writing and to make connections between civics activities and essential social studies content. Borrowing from the Writer's Workshop model and Seidel et al.'s (1997) peer conference protocol, 3CP provides teachers with a procedure to guide their students through substantive conversations about the process of civic engagement, as well as how their projects connect to the big ideas in history, geography, economics, and civics content. Similar to writer's workshop, 3CP compels students to take responsibility for their own learning and for contributing to the learning of their classmates. An essential component of the model, peer conferencing engages students as critical friends who share their thinking, planning, and writing who then give, receive, and react to feedback from their classmates.     

Design and the global and human wellbeing

This paper approaches the challenge of considering the principles of sustainable development in the conception of products, services or systems in a specific territory, though inserted in a globalized world. The reflection takes place by crosschecking the information gathered through bibliographical research on the following themes: wellbeing, design, and the local versus global relation. Thus, the strategy of analysis adopted comprehends the triangulation of information for further comparison of the survey and discussion of the data obtained. This paper results in a set of reflections on the interactions between human beings and their territories, towards new conceptions oriented to a more sustainable future.     

Calcium and vitamin D--for whom and when

The basis of 'nutritional' interventions for the prevention of postmenopausal osteoporosis and osteoporotic fracture is a large topic with much genetic and biochemical evidence, as well as the results of randomized controlled trials, to guide the investigator and clinician. The efficacy of treatment with calcium and vitamin D was once controversial, but with the advent of controlled clinical trials using bone mineral density as an endpoint it has become clear that calcium with or without vitamin D therapy can lead to reductions in the rate of bone loss in postmenopausal women of all ages. Furthermore, with certain caveats, calcium with vitamin D therapy in the older postmenopausal woman can lead to useful reductions in fracture rates and falls, especially in populations with reduced exposure to sunlight, which is potentially the majority of postmenopausal women in both developed and developing countries. However, estrogen, selective estrogen receptor modulators (SERMs) and bisphosphonates (especially when given in combination with calcium and vitamin D) are more efficacious in preventing fracture, particularly in postmenopausal patients with impaired bone structure.     

Maternal and Paternal Parenting Style Patterns and Adolescent Emotional and Behavioral Outcomes

The purpose of this study was to extend current research to examine the relationship between parenting style combinations and adolescent emotional/behavioral outcomes to further understand affective functioning in adolescents. Previous research solely analyzed mothers, without including fathers and/or both parents. The roles of temperament and adolescent and parent gender were also examined. Participants were 12- to 18-year-old students (n = 195) in 7th to 11th grade in a rural school district in southeast Michigan. Temperament characteristics (i.e., mood, flexibility-rigidity, and eating rhythmicity) explained nearly half of the variance in adolescent outcomes. Parenting styles contributed a smaller but significant role. When both parents were authoritative, it was associated with more optimal outcomes in adolescents' personal adjustment than any other parenting style combination. Having one authoritative parent, which was expected to be a protective factor, was related to high personal adjustment for girls but higher levels of school maladjustment for boys. Mixed associations were found for parenting style combinations and adolescent outcomes. Overall, when both parents were permissive and neglectful, these parenting styles were associated with poorer adolescent outcomes. Study findings confirm that parenting style patterns are important; however, adolescent temperament plays a much larger role, overall, in adolescent affective functioning.     

Images and Strategic Corporate and Marketing Planning

This article reviews the concept of images in marketing. The marketing literature identifies two levels of images: brand images and corporate images. At the brand level, corporations address the extent to which each marketing instrument contributes to the brand image and the extent to which that image enhances desired economic behavior of markets. Corporate images include brand images, but they also consist of factors such as the quality of management, corporate leadership, and employee orientation. Corporations must harmonize their brand and corporate images. They also must bring their perceived self-images into harmony with those of all relevant publics. To harmonize these images, the planning of marketing and public relations should be integrated at the level of strategic management. Corporate leadership can detect the overlapping requirements of the market and society only by combining marketing and public relations under the common roof of strategic corporate planning and by making them equal instruments of management.     

Mandated benefits and entry-level employees and employment

Entry-level employees, particularly those with little education and skill, are often not provided fringe benefits that are included in the compensation packages of their more skilled and experienced counterparts. Under the rubric of improving the well-being of entry-level employees, Congress is considering proposals requiring employers provide speccific benefits to employees. Unfortunately, by substituting political directives for market decision making, mandated benefits impose economic inefficiencies, and most of the resulting costs are borne by the entry-level employees purportedly most helped by mandated benefits. The author thanks Ronald Warren for helpful comments. The customary caveat applies.     

Family Processes and Children's and Adolescents' Well-Being

The primary purpose of this review was to examine theory and research published during the past decade that focused on family processes and children's and adolescents' well-being. Scholarship focused on family processes and child and adolescent well-being made significant and exciting advances during this decade based on several key advancements. In addition to a brief introduction and a conclusion, this decade in review is organized into four sections. In the first section, advances made in the literature because of increased attention to complexity and specificity are illustrated. The second section describes advances that were made because of increased attention to family processes in diverse families. Diversity in the samples of families studied, extensions in family process models, and the revisioning of grand theories using a diversity lens that were used to conceptualize family processes are detailed. In the third section, the importance of time in the study of family processes and child and adolescent well-being is described. The emphasis on families' daily lives is noted. In addition, prospective considerations and studies of change over time are highlighted. Strengths in family functioning are detailed in the fourth section of this article: positivity, regulatory processes, and family organization. These three areas were selected to elaborate the idea that one of the major advancements in the family process literature during the past decade was an emphasis on family strengths. This review concludes with a commentary regarding how conceptual and methodological advancements during the past decade can guide future scholarship.