What does being an adult mean? Comparing young people’s and adults’ representations of adulthood

This article aims at exploring the representations young people and adults attribute to the concept of adulthood in order to analyse the effects these ideas have on their reciprocal perception and recognition. In so doing, it draws upon data collected through a grounded theory study, which has been conducted in Italy involving young people and adults in semi-structured qualitative interviews. Data show that an outdated traditional model is still used by both the samples to determine who is an adult and when the adult status is acquired without discussing its validity in front of a changed social scenario. An evaluative function is added to traditional transitional markers of adulthood, which are used by both young people and adults to accuse each other of being ‘not mature enough’. A discrepancy between the shared ideal representations of adulthood and the actual possibility the two generations have to meet those social expectations in their lives emerge. The implications of these results for youth transitions to adulthood are discussed in the light of the high level of intergenerational inequality characterising the Italian context.     

What does it mean to be cosmopolitan? An examination of the varying meaningfulness and commensurability of everyday ‘cosmopolitan’ practices

The literature on cosmopolitanism has mushroomed in the past decade or more as attempts are made to theorise new patterns of mobility, interactions between previously distant social groups and the emergence of institutions to manage these processes. In this paper, I build on the arguments of those who have emphasised the strategic aspects and temporal dimensions of cosmopolitan expressions and practices, by focusing on the resources and constraints that different actors operate with, or under, and, as a result, the varying commitments they have to different ‘others’. Using this type of grounded approach, a number of Illustrative examples from a study of social identities in England are then analysed and used to theorise cosmopolitanism, as a perspective that is periodically articulated, in relation to specific needs, contexts or prompts, rather than being an inherent property of particular individuals, groups or situations.     

Exploring the intention-behavior relationship in the prediction of sexual risk behaviors: can it be strengthened?

Many theoretical models examining health risk behaviors, such as sexual risk taking, assume intentions directly predict behavior, and intentions are sometimes measured as a proxy for behavior. Given that there is often a discrepancy between intentions and behaviors (e.g., Sheeran, 2002 ), this study addressed factors that predict intention-behavior congruence. Specifically, utilizing a prospective design, the goal of the study was to determine if characteristics of university students' last sexual encounter predicted whether those students who intended to use condoms, contraception, or dual methods did so in their last sexual encounter with both relationship and casual partners. The seven tested variables were condom planning and preparatory behaviors, mood, sexual arousal, substance use, perceived partner attractiveness, intention certainty, and intention stability. Data were collected from 520 American undergraduate students at a medium-sized university. The six discriminant function analyses examining the intention-behavior relationship were able to correctly classify between 74% and 92% of the participants concerning whether intenders engaged in safe sex behaviors. The variables that best discriminated between behavior engagement over the six analyses were intention stability, intention certainty, and engagement in condom preparatory behaviors. The implications of these results for sexual risk prevention and intervention research are discussed.     

‘What would it be reasonable for the kid to be called?’ – negotiating the racialised essentialism of names

In this article I assert that the importance of names within the process of racialisation has been under-explored in the UK context. I consider data from seven qualitative interviews, which suggest that names are racialised in the UK and that this racialisation can affect the naming choices of multiracial/ethnic parents. My participants indicated that, when choosing children’s forenames and surnames, there are juxtaposing concerns: a fear of potential discrimination faced by children on the basis of them bearing a ‘foreign’ name, and a desire to reflect the children’s multiracial and/or ethnic heritage. I describe and discuss two consequential strategies that my participants suggested: to give the child a white British name in an attempt to help them pass as white British, or to oppose the fears of racism/discrimination and give them a name that displays their Otherness. I discuss these ideas in relation to racial passing and whiteness literature.     

The Social Model of Disability: What does it mean for practice in services for people with learning difficulties?

Does the social model of disability currently inform the delivery of services for people labelled as having profound and complex learning difficulties? What distinguishes practice which draws on the social model from that which is influenced by an individual model or a medical model of disability? This paper draws on the findings of a small scale interpretive research study and some of the current debates within disability studies to illuminate these questions. It concludes that the social model can and does positively impact on some practice and that it should be taught to all providers of services for this group. It further concludes that to include discussion about individual experience of impairment in such training may have negative consequences.     

Self-advocacy among people with disabilities in the transition from good will to civil rights: Is it sufficient?

The burdens associated with eliminating discrimination on the basis of disability have been bestowed upon those individuals in our society with the least experience in defending themselves from social and interpersonal bias. Offering people with disabilities training in civil rights, barrier identification, interpersonal communication, and problem solving skills to enhance and empower self-advocacy have been the primary means of government sponsored human service institutions to generate the desired social change. There is evidence that these actions are less than effective. Overt public commitment and outreach efforts are needed to effectively elicit change from those individuals who are directly responsible for discriminatory actions.     

What’s in a name? Exploring use of the word queer as a term of identification within the college-aged LGBT community

ABSTRACT

The language one uses for self-identification can be instrumental in the development and integration of one’s sense of self. This is particularly true regarding gender, gender identity, and sexual orientation. This seems to be particularly marked with use of the term “queer.” This research project explored terms that college-aged people use for self and other reference, especially use of the word queer. The results from this study provide empirical evidence that college-aged people have reclaimed the word queer as acceptable for gender or sexual orientation identification, although it is not the most frequent term used for their own self-identification.     

Superstition effects versus cohort effects: is it bad luck to be born in the year of the fire horse in Japan?

The year of the fire horse (called “Hinoeuma” in Japanese) is one of the sixty Chinese zodiac symbols used to count years. According to superstition, fire horse women are said to have troubled marriages, to mistreat men, and to cause early deaths for their husbands and fathers. No such stigma applies to men born in these years. This paper attempts to investigate the impact of women’s birth in the most recent fire horse year (1966) on the outcome of their lives by using individual-level microdata. We find that there is no evidence of disadvantages to fire horse women in human capital investment, performance in the marriage market, or intra-household allocation of resources after marriage. We provide two plausible explanations for this lack of impact from the stigma: a cohort size effect and a dynamic transition in the share of arranged and love marriages. The latter affected parents’ decisions in 1966 as well as the performance of fire horse women in the marriage market and in intra-household resource allocation after marriage. This finding suggests the importance of careful attention to the dynamic effects of society and the economy that may occur before the emergence of a cohort size effect.     

What makes it so hard to look and to listen? Exploring the use of the Cognitive and Affective Supervisory Approach with children’s social work managers

ABSTRACT

This paper reports on the findings of an ESRC-funded Knowledge Exchange project designed to explore the contribution of an innovative approach to supervision to social work practitioners’ assessment and decision-making practices. The Cognitive and Affective Supervisory Approach (CASA) is informed by cognitive interviewing techniques originally designed to elicit best evidence from witnesses and victims of crime. Adapted here for use in childcare social work supervision contexts, this model is designed to enhance the quantity and quality of information available for decision-making. Facilitating the reporting of both ‘event information’ and ‘emotion information’, it allows a more detailed picture to emerge of events, as recalled by the individual involved, and the meaning they give to them. Practice supervisors from Children’s Services in two local authorities undertook to introduce the CASA into supervision sessions and were supported in this through the provision of regular reflective group discussions. The project findings highlight the challenges for practitioners of ‘detailed looking’ and for supervisors of ‘active listening’. The paper concludes by acknowledging that the CASA’s successful contribution to decision-making is contingent on both the motivation and confidence of supervisors to develop their skills and an organisational commitment to, and resourcing of, reflective supervisory practices and spaces.     

Employment commitment among the long-term unemployed in norway: Is a culture of dependency about to develop?

This paper explores the association between employment commitment and employment status, with a focus on the long-term unemployed. It has been claimed in some quarters that there has been a decline in the work ethic and a parallel development of a culture of dependency. Our data indicate that employment commitment seems to be influenced by previous and present work experiences, but factors such as sex and household circumstances are also of importance. There appears to be no association between unemployment duration or receipt of unemployment benefits and employment commitment. Even persons with a marginal attachment to the labour market are highly committed to employment. There is little evidence indicating that a decline in employment commitment is likely to take place. Overall, unemployment commitment among young people was as high as that found among older age groups. There are no signs of the development of a culture of dependency and a reduced work ethic. Our data further suggest that it may be possible to reverse low employment commitment among marginal categories by offering them meaningful paid work.     

'A cook book to be read. What about it?': Alice Toklas,Gertrude Stein and the Language of the Kitchen

Abstract

This essay analyses the way that the writings of Gertrude Stein and Alice Toklas use food as part of a poetics of intimacy and argues that the continuity between art and the everyday in Stein's Tender Buttons (1914) and in The Alice B Toklas Cookbook (1954) can be read as a trace of the way that both women acted as the constant and moving background to each other's lives and texts. The paper proposes that Toklas's highly involved, expensive and often impractical recipes provide a meditation on wider and more complex desires than just bodily hunger, particularly at the time of Toklas and Stein's stay in occupied France and after Stein's death in 1946 when Toklas wrote the Cookbook to avoid having to sell Stein's collection of early twentieth century masterpieces. The paper finds antecedents for both the quality of 'obstinate and homely shrewdness' in Stein and Toklas's texts in the brusque and authoritative women's voices captured in nineteenth century cookbooks and suggests that through the fetish status of the nouns in both recipes and in poetry Gertrude and Alice use the reciprocal making and writing of food to articulate, represent and direct desire.     

Experiences of adolescent participation in a four-week community-based workshop designed to improve psychosocial skills: what are the key benefits?

The present study sought to explore the experiences of young adolescents who participated in a community-based workshop designed to improve psychosocial competence. The workshop involved 14 adolescent children aged between 10 and 14 years, who lived in socially disadvantaged areas of Liverpool, UK. Focus groups were employed to assess whether participation in ‘Skills for the Street’ workshops improved adolescents’ psychosocial functioning and personal development. A number of themes were identified in the analyses, including increased confidence, increased self-awareness, admiration and team building. These themes are discussed, and we argue that the findings attest to the benefit of community-based approaches for young people living in socially disadvantaged neighbourhoods in the UK.     

“What Would a Loving Mom Do Today?”: Exploring the Meaning of Motherhood in Stories of Prenatal and Postpartum Depression

Prenatal depression (PD) and postpartum depression (PPD), experienced by up to one-quarter of pregnant women and new mothers, are associated with maternal impairment and disruptions to children’s behavior, development, and health. Women experiencing PD/PPD must cope with negative feelings and detrimental outcomes that stand in contrast with cultural conceptions of how (ideal) mothers feel and act (i.e., the discourse of intensive mothering), thus furthering stigma and negativity surrounding the PD/PPD experience. The present study, couched in relational dialectics theory, aims to explore how women, through naturally occurring online narratives, make sense of motherhood in light of both PD/PPD experiences and cultural expectations/understandings of mothers. Throughout the narrative corpus, the culturally dominant Discourse of (Self-)Sacrificing Blissful Moms (DSBM)—which expands on the discourse of intensive mothering—is de-centered, albeit never fully delegitimated, by the Discourse of Mothers as Whole People (DMWP). Rather than closing down the DSBM, the DMWP works to expand meanings of what “good” mothers can feel and do. This finding holds both cultural/theoretical and practical implications, as discussed by the authors.