Facilitating Difficult Discussions: Processing the September 11 Attacks in Undergraduate Classrooms

College and university educators have a unique and appropriate forum in which to address social issues, the classroom environment. On September 11, 2001, this opportunity became very real. With it came the challenge of facilitating classroom discussions that include myriad views and feelings. Instruction on conducting difficult discussions in a productive, versus destructive, manner is not commonly included in graduate training, leaving many educators without the tools of effective facilitation. An overview of some of the literature on conducting difficult discussions is presented and applied to classroom discussions of the September 11 events. Recommendations on the process component of facilitating are provided, as well as a rationale for why faculty may want to accept this educational challenge.     

Disability and Dependency: origins and futures of 'special needs' housing for disabled people

In this paper we analyse the provision of housing for disabled people in both its historical and ideological contexts. While the recent extension of part M of the Building Regulations to dwellings by the government represents a significant advance towards the inclusion of disabled people, we argue that the shift in funding of public housing from a 'bricks and mortar' subsidy to Housing Benefit potentially creates greater dependency. This amounts to a policy contradiction in which the government is punishing disabled people for being dependent whilst simultaneously being the cause of their dependency. If this issue is not addressed disabled people will continue to remain excluded, albeit within accessible dwellings.     

The health consequences of trafficking in women in Mexico: findings from Monterrey city

There has been little research on the health consequences of trafficking in women in Mexico and this study examines the effects of trafficking in women. Twenty internally trafficked women were interviewed in Monterrey city, Mexico, during the years 2007 and 2008. Although the study found that trafficking of women in Mexico results from multi-causal factors, we found that in general trafficked women suffer a wide range of physical and sexual violence. This has direct consequences on their physical and mental health and in particular their sexual health.     

‘The Bad People Go and Speak to Her’: Young People’s Choice and Agency when Accessing Mental Health Support in School

Concerns about the mental health and well‐being of children and young people have been articulated in health and education policy fields as a call for closer working between schools and providers of mental health support services. Drawing from a Scottish study, this article explores issues of access, when mental health initiatives are sited in formal educational settings. In particular, it focuses on the implications for the agency of children and young people seeking support from those services when and how they choose. The study argues that over‐reliance on teachers as the main referral route to service influences what is deemed to be a problem, who is thought to need support and how the interventions are viewed by the children and young people. Alternative approaches are discussed, which offer opportunities for children and young people to explore the available services and make their own choices about their level of engagement.     

Under One Roof: A Review of Research on Intergenerational Coresidence and Multigenerational Households in the United States

What motivates adult children, parents, and even grandchildren to live together? To answer this question, we review the sociological and social gerontological research on multigenerational households and families. We first provide a snapshot of multigenerational coresidence in the US and then discuss the primary theoretical perspectives used to explain these patterns: exchange theory, altruism, and norms and obligations. Structural conditions including economic crises tend to facilitate adult children moving in with parents (often with dependent children in tow), while spousal loss and declining health act as catalysts for parents moving in with adult children. Furthermore, economic struggles often facilitate the formation of grandparent-headed families where the middle generation parents may or may not be present. We suggest that the current economic recession and housing crises will have profound effects on multigenerational households and may also encourage more coresidence. Changes in social welfare policies, increases in coresident grandparenting, and changes in the racial and ethnic composition of the US also have implications for multigenerational households’ economic and social security.     

Turn-taking patterns in deaf conversation

This paper will focus on the turn-taking patterns of Deaf signers and will compare them with turn-taking patterns found in spoken interaction. Turn-taking in the conversation of hearing people has been the subject of considerable attention, but the way conversation is organised by Deaf conversationalists has received less attention. This paper reports on a small project involving conversational data obtained from two Deaf friendship groups, one all-female and one all-male. Our main aim was to establish whether Deaf interactants orient to a one-at-a-time model of turn-taking, or whether there was any evidence to suggest they can also orient to a more collaborative model. It has been assumed by researchers in the field of Deaf Studies that Deaf interactants orient to a one-at-a-time model since, where the medium of communication is visual rather than sound based, participants can attend to only those sources of talk that they can see. The paper also examines the data to see if there are any gender differences in the way Deaf interactants organise conversation.     

THE ANIMAL TEXT:

We studied the dominant messages about animals in television commercials and the ways these messages might be subject to alternative readings. Six primary themes captured the portrayal of animals in the advertisements: animals as loved ones (e.g., a member of a family), as symbols (representation of logos or ideas), as tools (using animals for human use or consumption), as allegories, as nuisances, and animals in nature. Many of the commercials had multiple themes, indicating the varied, multilayered messages about animals in advertising and the different value and use categories that humans assign to different nonhuman animal species, upholding the ideology of the U.S. political economy. Finally, most of the animal portrayals were not anthropomorphized; those that were given human characteristics were typically part of a multithemed message that portrayed animals as allegories. Many of the animal images reinforced human gender and racial boundaries. This research establishes the importance of incorporating the study of nonhuman animals in sociological theory and research, particularly the animal image in popular culture and its connection to the portrayal of other outgroups, such as women and racial minorities.     

Children's Agency: ‘Getting By,Getting Back,Getting Out and Getting Organised’ Under Welfare‐to‐Work in Australia

One in four children in lone‐parent households in Australia lives in poverty. Welfare‐to‐work policies designed to 'activate' lone‐parents into the labour market is one approach that successive governments have employed to address this issue. This article argues that activation policies that target parents risk overlooking the implications for the children in these families. It concludes that more understanding about how poor children employ agency within the constraints and conditions of their lives could inform policy that better supports their well‐being, values their contributions, and is more sensitive to the diverse and changing needs of families. It draws on child‐centred participatory research with twenty‐six children in Australia that found they were active agents across a range of areas that included strategies for getting by, aspiration for the future, and acts of resistance.     

Passenger Rail Security,Planning, and Resilience: Application of Network,Plume, and Economic Simulation Models as Decision Support Tools

We built three simulation models that can assist rail transit planners and operators to evaluate high and low probability rail‐centered hazard events that could lead to serious consequences for rail‐centered networks and their surrounding regions. Our key objective is to provide these models to users who, through planning with these models, can prevent events or more effectively react to them. The first of the three models is an industrial systems simulation tool that closely replicates rail passenger traffic flows between New York Penn Station and Trenton, New Jersey. Second, we built and used a line source plume model to trace chemical plumes released by a slow‐moving freight train that could impact rail passengers, as well as people in surrounding areas. Third, we crafted an economic simulation model that estimates the regional economic consequences of a variety of rail‐related hazard events through the year 2020. Each model can work independently of the others. However, used together they help provide a coherent story about what could happen and set the stage for planning that should make rail‐centered transport systems more resistant and resilient to hazard events. We highlight the limitations and opportunities presented by using these models individually or in sequence.