Communities of Place? New Evidence for the Role of Distance and Population Size in Community Attachment

Historically, ecological features of a community, such as population size, were considered fundamental aspects of the community experience. Yet methodological advances and the rise of globalization have challenged many classical assumptions rooted in the ecological tradition. Using recent data—the Montana Health Matters Study 2010 (N = 3,508)—we explore whether community attachment links with distance and population size in Montana. Surprisingly, a statistically significant relationship to community attachment appears only when distance from urban centers and community population size are modeled together. Perceived quality of community services partly explains this relationship, but only for the distance measure. Altogether, as globalization is undoubtedly transforming rural life, we argue that “communities of place” may still endure when distance to urban centers and population size are simultaneously accounted for.     

A Less Gendered Access to Land? The Impact of Tanzania's New Wave of Land Reform

Contemporary land reforms in sub‐Saharan Africa tend to be evaluated based on the state‐centric reforms of the past, which disadvantaged women. However, this article argues that the new‐wave of land reforms and their decentralised administration institutions and anti‐discriminatory legal frameworks may be different. Based on field research on the implementation of Tanzania's 1999 Land Acts, it identifies an institutional reconfiguration in which the formal institutions are gradually strengthened and the customary institutions slowly changed. This does not in itself pose a threat to women's access to land and some women, who are otherwise often perceived to be weak, are left better‐off. Nevertheless, access to land becomes socially more uneven.     

Making Sense of Community Action and Voluntary Participation—A Multilevel Test of Multilevel Hypotheses: Do Communities Act?

To what extent does community context influence individuals’ proclivity to participate in community‐oriented activities and projects? In this article we utilize survey data from residents of 99 Iowa communities to conduct a multilevel analysis of voluntary participation and community action, simultaneously addressing voluntary participation at the individual level and “community action” at the community level. Additionally, we test the suggestion that community attachment may constitute a unique form of social capital. The robustness of these data allows us to overcome the obstacles that have led to the conflation of individual‐ and community‐level attributes in many community studies. We show that community attachment and community‐oriented action are determined almost entirely by individuals’ characteristics rather than by the characteristics of communities, and thus do not constitute community‐level phenomena, calling into question the assumptions on which certain theoretical approaches to community are based.     

A Land of Milk and Honey? Breastfeeding and Identity in Lesbian Families

ABSTRACT

This article explores the relationship between breastfeeding and identity in lesbian-identified families based on a pilot study of qualitative interviews and a short survey of six lesbian families in Canada and the United States. Although breastfeeding is assumed to be “natural” and a biological function, we problematize the practice as both gendered and heteronormative. In our research we found that breastfeeding has a complex role to play within the construction of one's identity as a mother, of one's gender, and of one's sexual orientation. These women's experiences offer interesting insights into the nebulous boundaries of biology and the ways in which assumptions about what is “natural” are actually social and cultural constructions.     

A Bionian Approach to the Body and the Feminine in Cammell and Roeg’s Performance

ABSTRACT

This psychoanalytic study of Performance (directed by Donald Cammell and Nicolas Roeg, 1970) explores the importance of the bodily, sensorial, and material aspects of a pivotal moment in the development of the protagonist’s sexual identity and considers how this moment has been conceived as being dependent on a certain containing function that is performed by a female character. Drawing on Bionian and post-Bionian theory, the article proposes that this containing function is fundamentally feminine. The feminine function of Bion’s concept of container is one that has been discussed especially in the theorization of the roles performed by the mother and the analyst. This article aims to investigate the importance of the bodily and the feminine aspects of the container as part of a psychoanalytic conceptualization of psychical growth as they present themselves in this film.     

A Normative Approach to Parent-Young Adult Child Communication in the Context of Substance Use Disorders: Explicating Parents’ Communication Challenges and Strategies

ABSTRACT

Despite a decrease in substance use among teens, alcohol and substance use has remained high among young adults. Young adult use of illicit substances is particularly concerning. Parents can play an important role in substance use intervention and prevention, but their efforts are sometimes unsuccessful. Therefore, it is important to consider how parents respond to and communicate about their young adult children’s substance use disorder. Most research has privileged confrontation and direct communication as effective coping responses, but evidence suggests that effectiveness hinges on the meanings interactants ascribe to behavior. Through qualitative interviews, the current study develops normative theory regarding parents’ communication challenges and strategies in response to their young adult child’s substance use disorder. Parents’ challenges center on the intersection of support with their own substance use history; others’ divergent views on substance use; uncertainty in illness; relational closeness and harmony; and illness features. Results are discussed in terms of implications for helping parents respond to their young adult child’s substance use disorder.     

What is the Place for Megachurches? A Comparison of 22 American Cities Based on the Causes of Effects Approach1

The success of megachurches in America is often traced back to their strategic ability of mobilizing new members in a competitive, religious marketplace. This paper shifts the attention to the push factors of megachurch success. It develops a causes of effects approach, in which local place-based conditions in 22 metropolitan statistical areas (MSAs) are compared and related to megachurches. First, correspondence analysis (CA) is used to take into account a large set of explanatory conditions such as religious and ethnic group affiliations, social structural conditions as well as value orientations. CA reveals that megachurches are typically successful in MSAs characterized by an evangelical hegemony. Second, qualitative comparative analysis shows that population growth and suburbanization are necessary conditions for a high share of megachurches. An analysis of sufficient conditions leads to three propositions: Megachurches grow in cities (1) where a large closed evangelical community exists; (2) where a large upward oriented Christian immigrant community exists; (3) and in tolerant (and educated) areas—in conjuncture with the presence of a larger community of Protestants.     

Thinking ‘Outside the Box’: A New Approach to Integration of Learning for Practice

The integration of learning is a central goal for all professions. The question of how to bridge the gap between theory and practice, and between the classroom and the field, is one which has preoccupied social work education since its very beginnings in universities in the United Kingdom and the United States in the early twentieth century. Between 2003 and 2005, the Scottish Institute for Excellence in Social Work Education funded a project which piloted a new approach to the integration of learning for practice. This paper reports on the findings of that project, and suggests ways of taking its findings forward in the future.     

A ‘Wild West’ of trade? African women and men and the gendering of globalisation from below in Guangzhou

Based on fieldwork in Guangzhou, this paper documents the activities of a group of African women traders, highlighting their role in constituting globalisation from below or a counterhegemonic globalisation that emanates from China. It further builds on previous studies on women and development to show how neoliberal economic changes in Africa since the 1980s have forced African men into the traditionally feminine role of (informal) traders between Africa and China. Struggles for economic power between African women and men traders and representations of gender in such struggles as well as the construction of a hyper-masculine discourse in the Guangzhou context are analysed in discussing how women and men are engaged in a continual process of ‘making gender make sense’ outside of Africa.     

More than just the Adoption of Western Capitalism? Time Use Changes in East Germany Following Reunification

Using data from the German Socio-Economic Panel, this paper examines changes in East German time use following the German Reunification of 1990, which led to large and unexpected economic and institutional changes, including the switch from a socialist to a capitalist system. By estimating Differences-in-Differences models, the study finds that East Germans reduced the time they spend on market work (96 min per weekday) and nonmarket work (51 min), while increasing the time allocated toward leisure and job search activities. The observed declines in market work time were largest for low-educated East Germans, those who were in the lowest income group, as well as for individuals between the ages 46 and 64. When comparing trends in time use for East and West Germany between 1990 and 2000, I provide evidence for a convergence in East German time use to its West German counterpart following the adoption of Western Capitalism and several other institutional and economic changes in East Germany. One possible explanation for this might be the adoption of West German time preferences following the reunion of the two regions.     

Violence in the name of god? A framing processes approach to the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria

Since summer 2014, the insurgent group ‘Islamic State in Iraq and Syria’ (ISIS) has become a major concern for international politics and global security due to its rapid territorial gains, violent operations and the propagation of Salafi-jihadist ideology. This study aims to enhance the academic understanding of ISIS by demystifying the ideological reasoning behind its use of violence. It therefore investigates the link between structural factors that served ISIS’s evolution, its ideological outlook and the significance of this ideology to legitimize violent action. As its theoretical basis, the study employs framing processes within the study of social movements. Methodologically, discursive frame analysis serves to explore the relation of ISIS’s ideology to structural events and experiences to better understand how the group justifies violence. Therefore, the study draws on audio speeches and issues of the magazines Dabiq and Dar al-Islam published by ISIS, which are examined on the rhetoric of othering, collective identity and justifying violence. It is argued that ISIS constructs a collective action frame which creates a social reality that bestows the group with a rationale for action. ISIS’s ideology, based on Islamic symbolism, presents an interpretative lens which assigns meaning to the structural environment of ISIS’s emergence. In this context, violence is justified as a necessity to defend Islam and as an obligation for the true Muslim believer. The discussion concludes that ISIS’s ideology legitimizes the very existence of the group and conceals its mundane struggle for power, territory and wealth through reference to divine authority.     

Gambling and Alcohol Use: Trends in the State of New Mexico from 1996–1998

Alcohol consumption and its relationship to gambling was examined in a statewide New Mexico survey in 1996 and 1998. Data regarding both drinking habits and gambling behavior were obtained from a stratified random sample of the adult population (N = 2674) across the entire State of New Mexico via phone survey. These surveys were carried out shortly after a period when New Mexico experienced an initial surge in the legalized gaming industry. Fifty-seven percent of survey respondents reported drinking in the past month, while 43.1% reported no drinking in the past 30 days. Results show that while the number of days in the past 30 that a person drinks is significantly correlated with some types of gambling behavior (e.g., in 1998, drinking more days was associated with more card gambling and sports gambling), it is the amount of alcohol consumed per occasion that is associated with more gambling behavior. For example, in both 1996 and 1998, drinking more per occasion was associated with more sports betting, dice gambling, number/lottery gambling, gambling using machines, and paper game gambling (e.g., pull tabs, punchboard). These results suggest that problem gambling behavior is not affected as much by the number of occasions on which one consumes alcohol, as by the amount of alcohol consumed per occasion.     

Are vascular epiphytes in urban green areas subject to the homogenization of biodiversity? A case study in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest

Urbanization is a disturbance process that can select species and result in biodiversity homogenization. Despite this, urban green areas shelter nature and are also important to human welfare. Epiphytes are an important functional group present in such areas, that are rarely studied. We evaluated the vascular epiphytic component in 26 urban green areas in the Brazilian Atlantic Forest and tested hypotheses related to the anthropogenic disturbances: 1) the community of epiphytes in urban green areas presents low richness and diversity of species; 2) there is low beta diversity due to flora homogenization represented by a reduced set of more tolerant species to disturbance. A total of 2288 trees (1563 representing phorophytes) and 110 epiphytic species were sampled. Six species were dominant, resulting in low diversity values, but some green areas had relatively high richness. The similarity found between the majority of the sampled areas suggests that epiphytic flora is subject to homogenization due to environmental filters. We found a high richness of species without adaptations to the epiphytic lifeform (accidental epiphytes) (42% of total sampled). Some results suggest that more comprehensive ecological and/or floristic studies about the epiphytes in the urban environment are necessary, such as Orchidaceae as the second richest family (since it is often poor in urban areas). More information about the species distribution patterns are necessary, both regarding the anthropized environments and the relationships with exotic or native phorophytes, as well as to enhance the knowledge of the ecological functions played by the epiphytes in these places.

     

Is it Possible to Develop and Sustain Non-Traditional Placements? An Evaluation of the Development of Practice Learning Opportunities in Partnership with the Police and Probation Services in the West Midlands

This paper will look at new practice learning opportunities developed between the University of Birmingham and the West Midlands Police and Probation Services. The project was designed to expand placements in the West Midlands, to address in particular the short fall of final year placements and to offer students interested in the area of criminal justice and protection of vulnerable people the chance to have a different type of practice experience.

This paper aims to share the learning gained through an evaluation of the first year of this partnership (2009–2010). The paper will provide an overview of the scheme, outline the process of evaluation and will consider the learning gained from the police and probation schemes separately. The paper will draw on feedback gained through discussions in focus groups and questionnaires completed by work base supervisors, specialist social work practice assessors, practice tutors and students in each setting. The strengths and weaknesses of both schemes will be considered as will lessons for improving and building on the project for future years. The paper will also address questions about the relevance of working with non-traditional agencies particularly in light of the new statutory definition relating to final year social work placements.     

Activism and Willingness to Help in Union Organizing: Who Are the Activists?

Research on union renewal often cites a critical role for lay activism. This study examines determinants of activism and activism intentions among a broadly representative sample of U.S. union members. Hypotheses are developed from theory and previous research on union commitment and participation. Results for current activism are generally consistent with prior work. Extending the model to future intentions to help with organizing, an interesting contrast is that pro-union attitude influences appear much more important than do union instrumentality perceptions. This suggests that “covenant” rather than “exchange” concerns are more salient for this form of activism. Findings for ideological orientation support this interpretation.     

Are the voices of parents heard? A scoping review of satisfaction in parenting programs

Parenting programs are an effective approach to promote positive parenting. In evidence-based practice, client’s values and preferences contribute to promoting quality, and are a crucial component of service evaluation. The current scoping review summarizes quantitative research that examines parental satisfaction with parent training for families with child conduct problems. We aimed to know how much research had been undertaken; what measures have been used; and what were the findings related to parental satisfaction. A scoping review was conducted to retrieve peer-reviewed original articles.Out of 420 papers 5.5 % obtained data on parental satisfaction. Seven different measures were used, mainly Therapy Attitude Inventory and Client Satisfaction Questionnaire. Out of 23 papers, ten studies reported Cronbach's alpha coefficients on the assessment that was used to evaluate parental satisfaction. All of the 23 included studies found that parents are very satisfied with the parenting program they have received.The findings indicate that only a few studies included parents’ values and preferences in quantitative evaluation studies on parental programs. In addition, there is a limited arsenal of assessment tools to measure what matters to parents. There is a need to develop measures with high psychometric quality, which will promote more quality in service evaluation.     

Turning to the Courts: A Quantitative Analysis of the Gay and Lesbian Movement’s Use of Legal Mobilization

We quantitatively examine the factors influencing the lesbian and gay movement’s involvement in state-level appellate cases through an analysis of Lambda Legal’s judicial agenda from 1981 through 2000. We combine a list of state appellate cases involving gay and lesbian rights during this period with data from Lambda’s “Docket Update” to create a data set that identifies which cases Lambda was involved in. We theorize that Lambda’s involvement will be shaped by the potential policy implications of the case, the organization’s ability to influence the outcome, and organizational membership concerns. Using logistic regression, we examine the effect of case characteristics, the political and cultural climate in the state, and variations in the state’s lesbian and gay community on the likelihood of Lambda participating in a particular state-level case. We add to the understanding of movement tactical decisions and the factors influencing the likelihood of legal mobilization.