Job satisfaction and ‘welfare‐to‐work‘: is any job a good job for Australian single mothers?

This exploratory study sought to assess the job satisfaction of employed Australian single mothers who had mandatory employment participation requirements. In particular, we sought to identify the characteristics of the job and the individual that were closely associated with participant's job satisfaction. Self‐report data on job satisfaction, employment characteristics and parenting stress were collected from 155 employed single mothers. Participant job satisfaction was compared to female Australian population norms and linear regression analyses determined the job‐related and individual predictors of single mothers' job satisfaction. Findings from this exploratory study revealed that single mothers involved in a mandatory welfare‐to‐work program experienced significantly lower job satisfaction than the Australian female population. The individual variable, parental distress, negatively predicted each of the six job satisfaction domains while being employed on a casual basis was inversely associated with three domains (job security, work hours and overall job satisfaction). The Australian government purported that making the transition from welfare to work would improve wellbeing for program participants, under the assumption that ‘any job's a good job‘. However, the relatively low levels of job satisfaction experienced by single mothers in the current study provide little support for this assumption.     

Marginal methods for clustered longitudinal binary data with incomplete covariates

Many analyses for incomplete longitudinal data are directed to examining the impact of covariates on the marginal mean responses. We consider the setting in which longitudinal responses are collected from individuals nested within clusters. We discuss methods for assessing covariate effects on the mean and association parameters when covariates are incompletely observed. Weighted first and second order estimating equations are constructed to obtain consistent estimates of mean and association parameters when covariates are missing at random. Empirical studies demonstrate that estimators from the proposed method have negligible finite sample biases in moderate samples. An application to the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center (NACC) Uniform Data Set (UDS) demonstrates the utility of the proposed method.     

At Home With Derek Jarman

Home is never only of the present. A sense of personal robustness and sometimes political resistance can emerge through a tacking back and forth between homes past and present—especially for those who felt and feel socially or culturally marginalized. We see this vividly in the way the filmmaker Derek Jarman created his home and garden at Prospect Cottage at Dungeness on the Kent coast in the context of his failing health. In this piece I show how formative homes, homes of early adulthood, and aspirations for a different kind of home life inflect the way Jarman lived at Prospect in his here and now. This is about the rolling together of different ages and experiences in ways that can give a sense of endurance in uncertain times.     

Caregiver–Youth Communication about Sex in South Africa: The Role of Maternal Child Sexual Abuse History

Much of the research on child sexual abuse focuses on negative outcomes. This brief report explores a potentially protective parenting behavior among black South African female caregivers with and without a child sexual abuse history. Using cross-sectional baseline data, we hypothesized that caregiver child sexual abuse history would be positively associated with caregiver–youth sex communication and this relationship would be strongest for girls. Youth whose caregiver experienced child sexual abuse were more likely to report communicating with their caregiver about sex than youth whose caregivers did not experience child sexual abuse; however, this relation did not hold for caregiver reported communication. Child sexual abuse survivors’ ability and decision to discuss sex with their youth has the potential to protect youth from sexual risk and demonstrates resilience among a group rarely acknowledged for positive parenting practices.     

A Review of: “Producing Sperm Sperm Counts: Overcome by Man's Most Precious Fluid. By Lisa Jean Moore.”

This paper offers a preliminary conceptualization of the psychological structure of AIDS‐related attitudes among American adults and describes some of the social and psychological factors that affect those attitudes. Data were collected first from participants in focus groups in five U.S. cities and then from respondents in a national telephone survey. Two major psychological dimensions of attitudes were observed consistently. The first dimension, labeled COERCION/COMPASSION, includes judgments about the extent to which AIDS is viewed as highly contagious and requiring containment, through coercion if necessary. It also includes attributions of blame to people with AIDS. The second dimension, PRAGMATISM/MORALISM, includes judgments about the extent to which AIDS is viewed as controllable through research, public education and governmental sponsorship of behavior‐change programs. The two attitude dimensions are not highly correlated. Regression analyses suggest that the two dimensions have different social and psychological antecedents and that these antecedents differ between White and Black Americans. Using the two factors, a tentative typology of responses to the AIDS epidemic is presented. Implications for AIDS education and policy are discussed.     

Integrating institutional, relational and embodied structure: an emergentist perspective

This paper begins to develop an emergentist and realist account of normative social institutions. The argument is developed as a response to Lopez and Scott's historical portrait of the debate on social structure as a dialogue between two different concepts of structure: institutional structure and relational structure, integrated more recently through the concept of embodied structure. The paper argues that all these approaches tend to neglect the idea of structure as a whole and suggests that we cannot understand social structures without recognizing the nature of the corresponding wholes, and how they relate to the human individuals that comprise them. Such a perspective makes clear that embodiment alone is inadequate as a means of integrating institutional and relational conceptions of structure. For a fuller resolution, we must set social structure in an emergentist framework, which can reconcile the complementary roles of institutional structure, relational structure, and indeed embodiment, as aspects of the production of social structures as wholes.     

Long-term effects of forearm support: computer users working at conventional desks

Recent research has demonstrated that forearm support might be preferable to working in the traditional "floating" posture for computer users. A previous field study in a call centre reported a significant decrease in discomfort following 12 weeks of using a conventional desk for forearm support. The aim of this follow up study was to determine the long-term effect (21 months post intervention) of forearm support on reported musculoskeletal discomfort in the previous sample of intensive computer users. METHODS: The follow-up sample consisted of 33 females and 2 males (59% of original group). Data were collected via self-report questionnaires and workstation assessments. RESULTS: Despite a significant reduction in discomfort for most body regions following the initial intervention, the only significant decrease in discomfort over 21 months was for the neck. Reported discomfort for all other body regions had decreased, apart from the shoulder in which there was a reported increase in discomfort. The results of this follow up study indicate that forearm support has a positive effect on the reduction of neck discomfort. The increase in shoulder discomfort indicates that a concave desk may be preferable to the conventional desk if the forearm support posture is to be adopted.     

The role of psychiatric nurse faculty in establishing a campus suicide prevention program

Suicide among college students has received increased national attention over the past few decades, partly due to the publicity regarding high-profile suicide events on college campuses throughout the United States and its territories. Currently, suicide is identified as the second-leading cause of death in college students. Due to federal legislation such as the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act of 2004, many college campuses have been able to establish suicide prevention programs. This article describes how a psychiatric nurse faculty member successfully established a comprehensive suicide prevention program that was initially supported by grant funds from the Garrett Lee Smith Memorial Act.     

Fear of property crime: examining the effects of victimization, vicarious victimization, and perceived risk

Fear of crime research has primarily focused on fear of crime in general or on fear of specific types of violent crimes. This study builds from this line of research by focusing exclusively on the night fear of six types of property crimes, including fear of burglary while away from home, vehicle theft, bicycle theft, property theft, vandalism, and vehicle burglary. This study examines the effects of victimization, vicarious victimization, and perceived risk on fear of property crime. Survey data from college students reveal that victimization and vicarious victimization were not significant predictors of fear of property crime, whereas perceived risk was a consistent and significant predictor of fear of all property crimes.     

郭店楚简《成之》等篇杂志

《郭店楚墓竹简》自从1998年问世后,一直引起中国内外学者的关注,成为研究先秦文字、历史、思想等领域的热门对象。然由于此批竹简的复杂性,再加上研究时间不长,因而尚有许多基本问题有待解决,而这些问题又是与竹简内容的正确理解息息相关的。如果郭店楚简几篇儒家逸书中的部分问题能够解决,便能够对其思想内涵及历史意义达到更进一步的认识。对《成之》篇作两处简序上的调整及对某些字提出新的读法后,便突显出了其中“恒”、“疾”、“终”的进阶概念,关于圣人对善道之“不拾”观念也可以有更深的理解。另外,对《唐虞之道》作简序调整,对《六德》中“多”字给新的解释,涉及问题虽小,但给先秦思想史研究带来的意义不可低估。