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.     

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.     

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.     

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.     

Parental Involvement Laws and Minor and Non-Minor Teen Abortion and Birth Rates

The effects of parental notice and consent laws on abortion and birth rates were analyzed for two groups of teens: those 15 to 17 years old (i.e., minor teens) and those 18 to 19 years old (i.e., non-minor teens). Twelve states report abortion and birth statistics at the county level for these two age groups. The sample consists of 597 counties from these twelve states. Residence county abortion and birth rates were regressed against parental notice laws, parental consent laws, and several control variables (i.e., type of state public funding, population density, education and income levels, unemployment rate, family stability, extent of poverty, church membership, and geographic region).An important finding of this study is that both parental consent and notification laws were related to significantly lower abortion rates and to significantly higher birth rates for both minor and non-minor teens. Three measures (i.e., church membership, family stability, and education level) were related negatively and significantly to minor and non-minor teens' abortion rates and birth rates. One other measure (i.e., restrictive public funding) was related significantly to lower abortion rates and higher birth rates for minor and non-minor teens.     

Fetishes and factishes: Durkheim and Latour

This paper defends the concept of ‘fetishism’ as an explanatory parameter in sociological theorizing on Durkheimian grounds, while at the same time paying due attention to important insights regarding the role of objects in social life, originating from Actor‐Network Theory (ANT). It critically assesses the current critique of the concept of fetishism propagated by ANT protagonist Bruno Latour. Latour and suggests a compromise between these two ‘schools’. First, to place the paper firmly in context, I analyse some examples of modern fetishism and outline the themes of the ensuing discussion. Next, I turn to Durkheim, seeking to develop a distinct interpretation of the concept of the social and of fetishism, and then point to some of Durkheim's shortcomings and attempt to make room for Latourian perspectives. Finally, I critically assess Latour's dismissal of forms of social ‘explanation’ and of the concept of fetishism.     

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.     

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.     

Relationships Between Perceived Family Gambling and Peer Gambling and Adolescent Problem Gambling and Binge-Drinking

The study systematically examined the relative relationships between perceived family and peer gambling and adolescent at-risk/problem gambling and binge-drinking. It also determined the likelihood of at-risk/problem gambling and binge-drinking as a function of the number of different social groups with perceived gambling. A multi-site high-school survey assessed gambling, alcohol use, presence of perceived excessive peer gambling (peer excess—PE), and family gambling prompting concern (family concern—FC) in 2750 high-school students. Adolescents were separately stratified into: (1) low-risk, at-risk, and problem/pathological gambling groups; and, (2) non-binge-drinking, low-frequency-binge-drinking, and high-frequency-binge-drinking groups. Multinomial logistic regression showed that relative to each other, FC and PE were associated with greater likelihoods of at-risk and problem/pathological gambling. However, only FC was associated with binge-drinking. Logistic regression revealed that adolescents who endorsed either FC or PE alone, compared to no endorsement, were more likely to have at-risk and problem/pathological gambling, relative to low-risk gambling. Adolescents who endorsed both FC and PE, compared to PE alone, were more likely to have problem/pathological gambling relative to low-risk and at-risk gambling. Relative to non-binge-drinking adolescents, those who endorsed both FC and PE were more likely to have low- and high-frequency-binge-drinking compared to FC alone or PE alone, respectively. Family and peer gambling individually contribute to adolescent at-risk/problem gambling and binge-drinking. Strategies that target adolescents as well as their closely affiliated family and peer members may be an important step towards prevention of harm-associated levels of gambling and alcohol use in youths.     

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.     

Socioeconomic and ecological perceptions and barriers to urban tree distribution and reforestation programs

Tree planting and reforestation initiatives in urban and peri-urban areas often use tree distribution or “giveaway” programs as a strategy to increase tree cover and subsequent benefits. However, the effectiveness of these programs in terms of increasing overall tree cover and providing benefits to low-income and disadvantaged communities has been little studied. We assess these programs by exploring community participation in, and barriers to, an urban tree distribution program in Fort Lauderdale, United States and the role socioeconomic background and tree functional types have on participation. We use a mixed-methods approach, panel data, choice experiments, and econometrics to quantitatively analyze respondent’s ranking of program options. High income, White respondents had the highest level of awareness and participation while low income, African Americans (AA) had the lowest level. Monetary rebates were perceived as positive and significant as the compensation value increased to US$8.00 - $12.00. Fruit-bearing and native tree functional types were more preferred than flowering or shade trees. Latinos, AA, and high income respondents preferred fruit trees, while White, high income preferred native trees. Overall, low income respondents perceived the greatest barriers towards participation. 20% of Broward County residents who participated in the survey were aware of the tree giveaway programs and 13% had previously participated. Findings indicate an adaptive governance mismatch between program objectives to equitably increase city tree cover via planting shade trees versus individual’s knowledge and preference for other tree types and functions. Results can be used for developing and evaluating reforestation initiatives to equitably increase tree cover and improve the governance of urban ecosystems.     

Ethnic Minority Families and Minority Gays and Lesbians

Attitudes toward sexuality differ within the diverse ethnic and racial communities that exist in the U.S., and the cultural values and beliefs surrounding sexuality play a major role in determining how individuals behave within their sociological context. The family unit is the domain where such values and beliefs are nurtured and developed. An individual's value system is shaped and reinforced within the family context which usually reflects the broader community norms. Disclosure of a gay or lesbian sexual preference and lifestyle by a family member presents challenges to ethnic minority families who tend not to discuss sexuality issues and presume a heterosexual orientation. For ethnic minority gays and lesbians the "coming out" process presents challenges in their identity formation processes and in their loyalties to one community over another. Ethnic gay men and lesbians need to live within three rigidly defined and strongly independent communities: the gay and lesbian community, the ethnic minority community, and the society at large. While each community provides fundamental needs, serious consequences emerge if such communities were to be visibly integrated and merged. It requires a constant effort to maintain oneself in three different worlds, each of which fails to support significant aspects of a person's life. The complications that arise may inhibit one's ability to adapt and to maximize personal potentials. The purpose of this paper is to examine the interaction and processes between ethnic minority communities and their gay and lesbian family members. A framework for understanding the process of change, that occurs for the gay or lesbian person as they attempt to resolve conflicts of dual minority membership, is presented. Implications for the practitioner is also discussed.     

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.     

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.     

Attitudes and Beliefs of Marriage and Family Therapists Regarding Psychotropic Drugs and Therapy

Clinical members of AAMFT were solicited by means of a randomized multi-staged clustering technique to identify their attitudes and beliefs regarding psychotropic drugs. All participants were blind to the overall purpose of the study (n = 322) and were directed to read a clinical vignette and then identify what course of action they would take with the client. They were then asked to complete a small questionnaire regarding their attitudes and beliefs regarding psychotropic drugs. Results of the study showed that 35.7% of the clinicians identified medication and a medication referral as a viable treatment option they might pursue with a client meeting criteria for major depressive episode. Clinicians who reported having a dedicated university class (17.2%) in psychopharmacology were more likely to identify medication referral as a treatment option. However, 80% of the AAMFT clinicians we surveyed reported that they were not adequately trained about psychotropic medications in their graduate programs. Further implications regarding diagnostic practices are also discussed, as 26% of clinicians failed to explicitly diagnose the client in the case vignette with depression.     

Technology supported learning Tensions between innovation,and control and organisational and professional cultures

Abstract

The use of technology to support learning in institutions of Further and Higher Education has become almost ubiquitous. Institutions normally start with strategies aimed at introducing these innovations, but there is much about the organisational and cultural nature of educational institutions that acts as a barrier to innovation. Staffordshire University started this process in 1997, and by 2002 reached a point where innovation had slowed and the embedding of what had been achieved was at best partial. An embedding process based around the review and implementation of policy ensued which, by 2005, had proved highly successful in terms of embedding, but due to cultural and organisational factors, this had been at the expense of sustaining innovation and had created tensions within the organisation. This was compounded by changes in technology and the advent of new web-based services, which stimulated innovative practitioners. New initiatives to address the tensions between the need of the organisation to control its processes and the needs of practitioners to experiment and innovate have begun. These have highlighted the requirement for tools to enable strategy and policy to be considered against the processes making up the learning experience in terms of ownership and control.     

Interpersonal and economic resources and marital quality

This article examines the impact of interpersonal and economic resources in the context of marital interaction. The Foa and Foa (1973) typology of resources is used to conceptualize how interpersonal and economic resources are interrelated. It is proposed in this article that marital quality is, in part, dependent upon both spouses having access to a variety of types of resources. Implications are drawn for how the changing context of economic issues influences marital quality as we approach the end of the century.The author would like to express appreciation to Anna L. Cole, M.S., who is a Marriage and Family Therapist in Private Practice, for making comments and suggestions on this paper, and to the Department of Human Development and the Family and Consumer Sciences Research Institute for support. Family and Consumer Sciences Institute Journal Paper Number 554.Dr. Cole received his Ph.D. in sociology from Iowa State University. His current research interests include marital quality, family wellness, and marital and family enrichment.     

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.     

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.     

Alcohol and other drug abuse counselors' attitudes and resources for integrating research and practice

The state of Wisconsin recently launched a Research-to-Practice Initiative. One aspect of the Wisconsin initiative was to survey Wisconsin-Certified Alcohol and other Drug Abuse Counselors (CADCs) to assess their attitudes, reported practices, and resources in regard to the integration of research and practice. The sample for the present study included 366 CADCs. Of the 366 respondents, 62 percent (n = 226) were female and 38 percent (n = 140) were male. The respondents were primarily Caucasian (90 percent) with the remaining respondents identifying as African American (4 percent), Native American (2 percent), Hispanic (1 percent), and Asian American (0.5 percent). The results from the survey indicated that the majority of respondents have access to computers, e-mail, and the Internet at their workplace; report being "satisfied" or "very satisfied" with their education and training; and tend to approve of the efforts to integrate research and practice. Incentives, barriers and strategies to integrate research and practice are discussed.