Toleration or trust? Investigating the acceptance of ‘boat people’ among young Australians

There has been intense debate in Australia regarding how asylum seekers who arrive by boat should be treated. Some call for compassion towards those prepared to risk their lives to seek protection, whereas others believe ‘boat people’ should not be allowed into the country. This article uses data from a large representative sample of young people in Queensland, Australia, to understand the acceptance of asylum seekers by young people in Australia. The findings suggest that young Australians are more accepting than the Australian adult population. Several social and political background factors were also found to be associated with the belief that ‘boat people’ should be permitted into Australia. Fewer factors, however, are associated with the trust young Australians have in people from another country. This suggests that while some young Australians may believe boats carrying asylum seekers should not be turned away, fewer might be prepared to enter into trusting relationships with ‘boat people’ should they resettle in Australia.     

Fictions and Facts about Parents and Parenting Older First-Time Entrants to Foster Care

Knowledge about the parents of older first-time entrants into foster care is embedded in fictions created by media images, anecdotal stories of professionals in the child welfare system, as well as reports and observations of youths who have experienced foster care. Even though there are caring and effective nonrelatives who are foster parents, the public perception of non-relative foster parents is sometimes quite negative. In order to separate some of the facts from some of the fictions about the parents/caregivers of older first-time entrants to foster care, this article will describe the parents and relative caregivers (grandparents and others) of older first-time entrants to foster care in an urban public welfare agency by examining maltreatment data.     

Gender differences in perceptions of aftercare supports and services

Youth depart residential care with many continued risk factors, unique needs, and challenges as they reintegrate into the home, school, and community settings. Currently, there is limited research on needs and best practices in aftercare services and supports for youth departing from residential settings and even less is known about how these differ by gender. While preliminary studies have explored perceptions of need during reintegration and aftercare by youth and caregivers, little is known about how these may differ by gender or if perceptions change over time after experiencing the initial transition period. One way to address this knowledge gap is to identify how prepared males and females feel for reintegration in critical life domains, their beliefs about aftercare, and preferences regarding potential services or supports to aide in the reintegration at discharge. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore if males and females differ on preparedness for reintegration across critical life domains, beliefs about aftercare, and preferences regarding potential services or supports to aide in the reintegration at departure from a residential treatment facility (N = 132). Overall, very few differences were found between males and females at departure. Implications, limitations, and future research are discussed.     

Depression in Older Adults: A Meta-Synthesis

Depression in older adults is often overlooked and dismissed as a part of aging. A body of knowledge—both quantitative and qualitative—has developed on the topic of depression in older adults. Meta-analyses and systematic reviews have been used to synthesize the quantitative findings of studies, and our research seeks to synthesize the qualitative studies that have been conducted on elders' experience with depression. Thirteen studies met inclusion criteria, and 4 major themes were extracted: experiences, causes, recovery, and barriers to treatment. These themes are detailed and their implications for practice are explored.     

Preparing Whistleblowers for Reporting Research Misconduct

Making an allegation of research misconduct can be stressful for a whistleblower. The Research Integrity Officer (RIO) can play an important role in helping reduce the stress by thoroughly discussing what whistleblowers can expect if they make an allegation. Through interviews with 77 RIOs who had recently handled a research misconduct case, we found that RIOs who addressed more topics as well as specific aspects of the topics were more likely to have used some type of memory aide in their initial contact with whistleblowers, talked with ORI staff or other RIOs about “hypothetical” research misconduct cases, or attended a RIO boot camp training. We believe that RIOs who more fully inform whistleblowers are providing timely preparation and building whistleblowers' confidence so they can make a more informed decision about reporting and experience less stress.     

Book Review: Civil Society and the Political Imagination in Africa. John L. Comaroff and Jean Comaroff (eds.). University of Chicago Press,Chicago and London, 1999

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations -     

MOVEMENT SOCIALIZATION IN ART WORKSHOPS: A Case from Pinochet's Chile

This article addresses the question of how the socialization of people into a social movement occurs under repressive dictatorships. It takes as a case the socialization of shantytown women into the anti-Pincohet pro-democracy movement in Chile. Using ethnographic data gathered in Chile and Europe, the article concludes that socialization in repressive regimes can occur when organizers gather recrutis into groups that do not have political change as their stated goal. Within these groups socialization occurs as a result of intentionally educational activities by the social movement organizers. These can take the form of the giving of talks, the introduction of informative publications, the use of the group as a model for how society should work, the organizing of testimonial get-togethers, and the inviting of other victims of the dictatorship to the groups to relate their experiences. Socialization also occurs as a result of processes that are not intentionally educational, including the directing of artwork production, the sharing of grievances by group members, and the involvement of group members with other social movement organizations.     

The Makings of Political Art

Sociological work on how cultural objects are produced tends to neglect the politcal context of such production, whereas work on social movements and art neglects how movement artwork acquires its form and content. This article aims to fill these lacunae by analyzing the protest art of shantytown women against Pinochet. Artists, movement organizers, movement sponsors, and buyers interact to shape political art. The national and international political and economic contexts also play a part in that shaping. Ethnographic data from Chile and Europe, as well as a study of the art forms themselves, form the basis for the article's claims.     

Assessment of an e-training tool for college students to improve accuracy and reduce effort associated with reading nutrition labels

Objective: Nutrition labels are often underutilized due to the time and effort required to read them. We investigated the impact of label-reading training on effort, as well as accuracy and motivation. Participants: Eighty college students (21 men and 59 women). Methods: The training consisted of a background tutorial on nutrition followed by three blocks of practice reading labels to decide which of two foods was the relatively better choice. Label-reading effort was assessed using an eye tracker and motivation was assessed using a 6-item scale of healthy food-choice empowerment. Results: Students showed increases in label-reading accuracy, decreases in label-reading effort, and increases in empowerment. Conclusions: The nutrition label e-training tool presented here, whether used alone or as part of other wellness and health programs, may be an effective way to boost students’ label-reading skills and healthy food choices, before they settle into grocery shopping habits.     

Public/private: Gender – social and political citizenship in Eastern Europe

Theory and Society -