Alcohol and Aborigines In Cross-Cultural Situations

During a two-year association with Sydney Aboriginal households, opportunities arose for observation and discussion concerning alcohol use, and certain impressions emerged: (a) personal factors related to problem drinking stressed by investigators such as the McCords could operate among the Aboriginal people; (b) drinking customs fulfil certain social needs; the public drinking house serves several functions within urban Aboriginal life, including communication and social integration as well as relaxation. Social control of alcohol abuse demands provision of functional equivalents of these aspects of drinking patterns; and (c) whilst the role of racial tension in the genesis of problem drinking is not clear, racial factors may contribute to personal stress and communal malaise among the Aborigines. The complexity of the genesis of the present situation is stressed and its understanding is considered to be a continuing challenge.     

Healing the Incest Wound: Adult Survivors in Therapy (2nd ed.) by Courtois,C.

During the past decade, alcoholism treatment services in the United States have experienced unprecedented growth. The federal and local governments and the general public have become increasingly aware of the devastating impact of alcohol abuse and alcoholism on people's health and welfare and on the overall economy. As a result of this growing awareness, diversified alcoholism services are now available in communities throughout the country. Despite this preponderance of treatment, there is at least one segment of the alcoholic population which has been virtually unserved. This is the deaf alcoholic. This paper will describe an innovative program of alcoholism treatment for the deaf.     

ASSERTIVENESS IN RECOVERY

This paper is a presentation of the theory and use of Assertiveness in Recovery groups as a model of intervention with alcoholics and significant others during the recovery phase of alcoholism. It focuses upon a rationale that many alcohol-affected individuals need specialized help in changing characteristically dysfunctional drinking behavior and suggests that assertiveness training techniques within a social groupwork format can be adapted adequately to this need.     

Risk Perceptions and Alcohol Consumption among Young People

Swedish cross-sectional survey data on young individuals was used to analyse the determinants of perceived risks of alcohol use and how these perceptions relate to drinking behaviour. Three major conclusions were drawn: (1) that people overestimate the risks of alcoholism, (2) that these risk perceptions fall substantially with age, but nevertheless imply risk overestimation, and (3) that education about alcohol, narcotics and tobacco leads individuals to perceive risks more correctly and to have lower risk beliefs. An additional finding was that individuals with higher perceived risks were less likely to consume alcohol. Equations were estimated both separately and simultaneously.     

Child abuse in China: a yet-to-be-acknowledged 'social problem' in the Chinese Mainland

Child abuse or child maltreatment has been a worldwide concern. In China, however, it receives scant attention from both academic communities and government. Chinese society has little awareness of child abuse as it is known in the West and there are apparently different conceptions and treatments of the problem. This paper attempts to delineate how the problem is now understood and treated in Mainland China. The reasons why child abuse has not yet been recognized as a social problem worthy of public concern in China are explored. It is argued that as a signatory of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child there is a need for the Chinese government, the academic community and professionals to reflect on their conception and treatment of child abuse so as to achieve more effective child protection for all children who are victims of child abuse.     

The Application of Labeling Theory to Alcoholism

As applied to alcoholism, the labeling theory of deviance contends that being labeled by others as an alcoholic results in the acceptance of self-labels, and a self-fulfilling prophecy of alcoholic behavior. This theory was tested in a sample of treated alcoholics who varied in the numbers of alcoholic labels they acknowledged from family members and others. These alcoholics were questioned five to eight years following admission to a treatment facility to determine if they were now drinking moderately vs. abstaining or drinking heavily. The strongest predictor of all alcoholic labels was the total number of lifetime problems with alcohol; alcoholics did not tend to adopt self-labels in response to others' labels of them. Follow-up drinking status was related to gender and lifetime alcohol problems, with women and those acknowledging fewer problems more likely to be drinking moderately. Race was not related to labeling or drinking status at follow-up. The results do not support the hypothesis that being labeled an alcoholic results in poor drinking outcomes.     

Measuring the Effectiveness of Substance Abuse Treatment

Building systematic knowledge about the treatment of alcoholism and substance abuse is constrained by the scarcity of refined measurement instruments that have been developed from a base in theory. A five dimensional index was constructed from a basic set of characteristics of substance abuse problems. Preliminary field testin with 51 clients at three stages of treatment revealed strong reliability estimates as well as evidence of construct and differential validity. Further refinements and uses in program evaluation and knowledge building are discussed.     

Practitioner accounts of responding to parent abuse – a case study in ad hoc delivery,perverse outcomes and a policy silence

Parent abuse is becoming recognized as a serious problem in some families. It can have a damaging impact on physical and mental health, family relationships and employment and has been found to be implicated in other past, current and future forms of family abuse and violence. For this reason, many frontline practitioners who work with troubled families frequently find incidents of parent abuse in their caseloads, but we know little of how they respond to it. This study used in‐depth interviews with nine practitioners who work in a range of agencies in one large county in England and explored how they each identify, conceptualize, explain and respond to parent abuse. In a context where there is no national guidance regarding how agencies should respond to this problem, this study finds that practitioners must ‘make do’ without appropriate resources or policy guidance to help them. The study concludes with suggestions for change for the benefit of families who seek support but who currently find little effective response.     

Alcohol Misuse Among Older Adult Public Housing Residents

Low-income older adults living in public housing are at heightened risk for substance misuse. This study identified the prevalence of alcohol misuse among older public housing residents (n?=?187) and explored predictors of problem drinking. Including weekly drinking levels and binge drinking, 23% of the sample engaged in problem drinking behaviors. Logistic regression analysis revealed that race, gender, employment status, years smoking, and illegal drug use were significant predictors of problem drinking. No residents were receiving substance abuse treatment. As the number of older adults increase, training social workers to assess and treat alcohol misuse in older adults is critical.     

Living on an island: consequences of childhood abuse, attachment disruption and adversity in later life

This paper reports on a study which sought to obtain greater knowledge and understanding of the life circumstances of a group of people who had experienced adversity and abuse in childhood. A qualitative research strategy involving in-depth interviews with individuals was used to help achieve the study's aim. The study found that interviewees detailed multiple risks to their development during childhood and adolescence, including experiences of child abuse, being placed in care and major grief and loss experiences. Most had left home in their mid-teenage years and had little or no contact with their families of origin. Interviewees had very limited social networks and described difficulties in making and keeping friends. Many reported unstable and often violent personal relationships. As suggested by attachment theory, this study supports the notion of developmental continuities from adverse childhood experiences into later life, particularly in relation to personal and social relationships. Recommendations for a number of suitable methods of intervention and support are outlined.     

Examining Protective Factors for Dysthymia Among Individuals Attending Substance Abuse Treatment

ABSTRACT

Dysthymia affects millions of people and has been associated with impaired psychosocial and occupational functioning and poor clinical treatment outcomes. Yet few studies have examined protective factors that can be utilized to help individuals with dysthymia in clinical settings, particularly among individuals with comorbid substance use disorders. The purpose of this study was to examine the potential protective quality of adult attachment dimensions, spirituality, and meaning in life among clients with and without dysthymia in treatment for addiction. Data were obtained from 305 self-report questionnaires administered to clients attending a residential substance abuse treatment center. Approximately 25% of the sample met criteria for dysthymia. Results from logistic regression analyses indicated that purpose and meaning in life and attachment anxiety were the most important protective factors against having dysthymia. These results suggest that mental health professionals may need to integrate these protective factors into the treatment of individuals with dysthymia and substance use disorders, which may enhance treatment outcomes and maximize treatment effectiveness. Future studies should continue to explore protective factors that can assist individuals who experience these comorbid conditions and consider replicating this study using an ethnically diverse sample and other clinical settings to determine the generalizability of the findings.     

Protecting the Right to Life of Children with Disabilities in China

ABSTRACT

Chinese social policy to support parents in caring for their children is vital to address the urgent social problem of abandoning the life of children with disabilities by not seeking medical treatment. The child rights approach was used to analyze the effectiveness of Chinese social policy to protect the right to life of these children. Primary and secondary empirical data from 3 case studies where parents decided whether to abandon their child were analyzed. Did the child protection mechanisms protect the right to life of these children, and when did parents decide to abandon their children? The findings were: a) When the children were born, their right to life was not unconditional; b) the decision was made privately by parents—no formal decision procedure was available, the role of professionals was minimal, and the state did not intervene; and c) parents considered the disadvantages to their children if they lived. The implication is that China has not yet established a system to support parents and protect the lives of young children with disabilities. Future research to inform child protection reform and disability support to children and families to prevent children becoming abandoned is urgently needed.     

BREAKING THE LAST TABOO: CHILD SEXUAL ABUSE BY FEMALE PERPETRATORS

In the past two decades the truth about the sexual violation of children has been spoken over and over. Finally, the magnitude of this problem is being recognised. Volumes have been written about the prevention of and intervention in child sexual abuse, and services (although inadequate) have been established. Sexual abuse by women until recently, has been treated as a taboo subject. The knowledge that the overwhelming proportion of child sexual abuse is perpetrated by males left the issue of female perpetrators unexamined. Having only recently made progress in a hard-fought battle to place gender and male power at the centre of an analysis of sexual abuse, practitioners and theoreticians are understandably reluctant to focus any attention on female abusers. However, it is now becoming clear that a significant minority of victims are abused by women and it is essential that no child should be silenced by ideology which denies the reality of abuse by females. This article examines the controversies surrounding the issue of female sexual abuse and the struggles which we have in confronting this abuse. An explanation of sexual abuse by women within feminist understanding is proposed. Current evidence on the prevalence of female sexual abuse and characteristics of perpetrators is outlined. Practice implications for practitioners working with child victims or adult survivors are explored.     

The protection of children in time: child protection and the lives and deaths of children in child abuse cases in socio-historical perspective

For some 20 years now in the UK, assessments of the effectiveness of child protection have been carried out under the shadow of child abuse inquiries. Yet, relatively little is known about social work and matters of child life and death that preceded the first major inquiry into the death of Maria Colwell in 1973. This paper offers a socio-historical perspective on child protection and the lives and deaths of children in child abuse cases, and excavates the foundations upon which the major developments of the past two decades have proceeded. The emergence and development of a'modern' ideology of child protection, which held that it is possible and desirable for social intervention to work to protect children in time, is traced to processes that unfolded from the late nineteenth century. Statistical evidence on the numbers of children who have died in cases across the twentieth century is examined and analysed in the context of social theories of modernity and perspectives on the changing ways in which child death has (literally) been handled by professionals and knowlege about the problem managed over time.     

以沉默的姿态诉说——《呼兰河传》女性形象分析

《呼兰河传》中王寡妇和小团圆媳妇都是处在最底层的人物形象,以她们为代表的女性活着而毫无地位可言,只能以沉默作为生存的方式。作者通过展示她们的生存状态而揭示了她们构建于他者之上的无意义的但却是对个体精神戕害最为严重的价值体系,从而引起读者对启蒙主题下的人的自我、人的价值的呼唤以及建构。     

现代自由主义对青少年影响再探——基于青少年堕胎现象之视角

对于青少年堕胎泛滥,这一关涉中华民族永续发展的问题,广大家长表示了深深的忧虑,但迄今为止,从哲学角度对青少年堕胎问题进行反思的文章尚不多见.从建设性后现代哲学角度分析表明,“性教育的匮乏”固然是青少年堕胎泛滥的一个重要成因,但青少年堕胎泛滥背后还有其重要的理论原因,那就是现代自由主义的影响,而现代自由主义背后是现代个人主义在作祟,也就是说现代个人主义哲学是青少年堕胎泛滥背后的理论支撑物.在分析现代自由主义堕胎观局限的基础上,提出一种建设性后现代的厚道堕胎观,其中包括对生命的厚道、对少女的厚道、对婴儿的厚道.与此相应,主张在青少年中展开责任教育、共情教育和敬畏生命教育.本着“上医治未病”的原则,这种厚道堕胎观主张对青少年堕胎泛滥应该全社会共动员,标本兼治,以防患于未然.     

Alcohol and Contingent Drunkenness in Central Australia

Problems arising from alcohol consumption in the Aboriginal fringe camps and settlements of Central Australia have commanded medical and other professional attention for several decades. To date a real breakthrough in combating this problem has not been forthcoming. This paper suggests that the point of view of Western professionals in this field, absorbed as they seemingly are in the concept of alcoholism as individual pathology, obscures the real issues and precludes the possibility of finding lasting solutions. A move form the disease concept of alcoholism to a view of social dependence is suggested, and some implications of this for those involved in the delivery of treatment services are discussed.     

Prediction of outcome in coerced and voluntarily treated alcoholics

The study concerns multivariate prediction of the short-term outcome of alcoholism in a coercive treatment setting in Sweden. One hundred and twenty-one patients (87 men, 34 women) with a mean age of 41 (range 26–63) years attended a 5-week program. They were for the most part severely alcohol-dependent and socially unstable. Compulsorily committed patients ( n -32) were less socially stable but did not differ from the voluntary patients ( n =89) in the type of drugs abused. Nine months (mean) after treatment, a follow-up was performed by mailing questionnaires to the patients and to the referring social workers. The improvement data in the questionnaires were checked with other data. Data on alcohol abuse were available for 116 (96%) of the patients; 55% improved. Of these, 13% had remained entirely abstinent. Using multivariate logistic regression, participation in a self-help group and first-time admission were found to be significant factors for overall improvement, while having a family and more than primary education were significant for abstinence. Compulsory commitment to treatment was not related to the short-term drinking outcome. Undergoing voluntary treatment and having previous treatment experience were significant factors for participation in self-help groups.     

Impact of Mid-Life Symptoms of Alcoholism on the Health and Wellbeing of Aging Parents of Adults with Disabilities

The study examined the effect of adult children’s disability on parents’ physical health in later life and the extent to which parents’ symptoms of alcoholism in mid-life moderates the link between children’s disability and later life parental health. Analyses are based on data from the Wisconsin Longitudinal Study. The analytic sample included parents of children with developmental disabilities (n = 145) or mental health problems (n = 200) and 2,432 parents of unaffected children. The results showed that the negative health consequences in later life of having a child with a developmental disability were greater for those who showed more symptoms of alcoholism in mid-life. However, symptoms of alcoholism in mid-life did not significantly moderate the impact of an adult child’s mental health problems on parents’ later life physical health. The findings suggest a potential area where gerontological social workers could intervene, given the negative impact of symptoms of alcoholism on the health of aging parents of children with a disability who may be significantly more susceptible to the negative health impacts of alcohol compared to their younger counterparts.