Politics and Identity in Cyberspace

This paper reports on an exploratory study of the use of new technologies by the rural women's group Australian Women in Agriculture (AWiA). Data from interviews with twenty members of AWiA and an analysis of organizational documents, including a number of messages posted on the group's discussion list, are used to examine the extent to which cyberspace offers a new space for political engagement for women's activism. The experiences of AWiA members offer some cause for optimism. Geographically dispersed and excluded from male-dominated public agricultural arenas, the women of AWiA have constructed a technosocial landscape that facilitates the active dissemination of information, which has been used to advance a political agenda for farming women. However, there is evidence that less powerful actors within the network whose preference was for more social discussion on the list have been marginalized in the process. For these women, space for political engagement online has been limited on the AWiA discussion list. In conclusion, the paper draws attention to the new research questions that have emerged from this study.     

‘Riding the Wave’: Working Systemically with Traumatised Families

This paper draws on the authors’ clinical experience as family therapists, working predominantly with families who have experienced trauma such as sexual abuse, physical abuse and neglect, to demonstrate that taking a systemic trauma‐informed approach is a powerful therapeutic modality that can facilitate positive outcomes for all family members. The paper discusses the impact of trauma on relationships, and then outlines a rationale for a trauma‐informed, systemic approach with those traumatised families who are, at times, challenged by excessively heightened behaviour and emotional dysregulation. Drawing from parenting research, it includes a discussion of the place of parent work and how this can be integrated with systemic family work. Key constraints and considerations are highlighted followed by a discussion of key interventions the authors have found useful in building a clinical framework for this work, including what is critical for the therapeutic process. While working with traumatised families is complex and challenging, offering a safe place for families to be in the presence of each other's pain and ‘ride the wave’ of emotions can be a powerful path to recovery.     

Effect magnitude: A different focus

The role of measures of effect magnitude in the research enterprise is examined. Measures of effect magnitude are used for four purposes: (a) to estimate the sample size required to achieve an acceptable power, (b) to integrate the results of empirical research studies in meta-analyses, (c) to supplement the information provided by null hypothesis significance tests, and (d) to determine whether research results are practically significant. The advantage of focusing on effect magnitude and practical significance instead of statistical significance and p values is illustrated with an example.     

Trauma Related Critical Incident Debriefing for Adolescents

Events like the tragedy at Columbine High School and the terrorists attacks on New York City in 2001 have highlighted the need for mental health practitioners to become familiar with interventions that are designed to assist young people who have survived extremely stressful events. Mental health professionals often see people who have experienced car accidents, severe abuse, rape, or other victimization, as well as survivors of natural and man-made disasters during the first critical stages of the recovery period. This article describes the process of critical incident de-briefing and provides a step-by-step primer for its application. The process is short-term (four sessions or less) and provides an intervention designed to reduce the frequency and severity of post-traumatic stress symptoms. Adolescents are particularly at risk because of issues surrounding identity formation, self- esteem, and developmental differences in coping mechanisms. Therefore, those who work with an adolescent cohort should be familiar with debriefing methods and how to apply them to the teenager.     

Leadership and culture in the Welsh Assembly: investigating path-dependency

This study of the developing Welsh Assembly (WA) provides a unique opportunity to comprehend how the values and public statements of a democratic institution's initial and ongoing leadership develop its structure and culture. We track the evolution of a new democratic institution and investigate relationships between leadership, path-dependency and cultural development. In this paper, Welsh Assembly Member (AM) leadership is analysed in relation to sources of path-dependency in the WA. Two sets of interviews and surveys provide AM perspectives of the Assembly in relation to the evolving leadership capability and institutional culture.     

Predictors of sexual risk-taking among new drug users

We studied predictors of HIV-related sexual risk-taking among individuals who initiated the use of heroin or methamphetamine during the past 5 years. Many studies have linked drug use to HIV risk and most research has been based on samples of users with long-established drug careers. We conducted face-to-face interviews with 153 adult new drug users in Atlanta, GA. Drug use was not a statistically significant predictor of sexual risk, but gender, age, race, homelessness status, childhood neglect, level of paranoia, and level of (dys)functionality in handling disagreements were associated with the frequency of sexual risk-taking. We discuss the need to incorporate new drug users in HIV/AIDS and other health-related prevention and intervention programs.     

‘Full‐time is a Given Here’: Part‐time Versus Full‐time Job Quality*

This study explores full‐time workers' understanding of and assumptions about part‐time work against six job quality components identified in recent literature. Forty interviews were conducted with employees in a public sector agency in Australia, a study context where part‐time work is ostensibly ‘good quality’ and is typically long term, voluntary, involving secure contracts (i.e. permanent rather than casual) and having predictable hours distributed evenly over the week and year. Despite strong collective bargaining arrangements as well as substantial legal and industrial obligations, the findings revealed some serious concerns for part‐time job quality. These concerns included reduced responsibilities and lesser access to high status roles and projects, a lack of access to promotion opportunities, increased work intensity and poor workplace support. The highly gendered, part‐time labour market also means that it is women who disproportionately experience this disadvantage. To foster equity, greater attention needs to focus on monitoring and enhancing job quality, regardless of hours worked.     

Priority Topics in the Study of Environmental Risk in Developing Countries: Report on a Workshop Held at the East–West Center, August, 1988

The rapid industrialization occurring in developing regions of the world brings not only economic benefits, but changes in the types and severity of health and environmental problems that each region experiences. As the industrialized world moves toward the use of risk assessment methodologies to aid in problem evaluation and regulatory and policy decision analysis, it seems inevitable that these methodologies will be applied globally. The changes brought about by rapid industrialization, however, must be viewed within the context of societies that are still struggling with the more traditional and basic environmental problems associated with urban and rural poverty. The urgency of development and the lack of adequate resources for characterizing health and environmental changes, often present under these circumstances, offer special challenges to the application of risk assessment methodologies.