Why older Australians participate in exercise and sport

Research on variables that encourage older adults to exercise is limited. This study was carried out to identify the participation motives of older Australians involved in regular exercise and sport. The 815 participants (399 men, 416 women) ranged in age from 55 to 93 years (M = 63.6, SD = 7.8) and were participating in their activities of choice at least once per week. All participants completed the Participation Motivation Questionnaire for Older Adults. The most common exercise/sport activities that participants were involved in were walking, golf, lawn bowls, tennis, and swimming. The most highly reported motives for participation were to keep healthy, liking the activity, to improve fitness, and to maintain joint mobility. Principal-components analysis of the questionnaire revealed 6 factors: social, fitness, recognition, challenge/benefits, medical, and involvement. Analyses of variance showed significant differences in reasons for participation in exercise and sport based on gender, age, education level, and occupation.     

Professionalizing youth development: the role of higher education

Certificates, credentials, and degrees offered through institutions of higher education allow youth development professionals to acquire educational experiences that are recognized in a formal manner.     

The governance of free/open source software projects: monolithic, multidimensional, or configurational?

This paper presents the results of a qualitative review and synthesis of the literature on open source governance, addressing four key questions: (1) How has open source software (OSS) governance been defined? (2) Has the phenomenon of OSS governance been conceptualized as a monolithic or multidimensional phenomenon? (3) What purposes is OSS governance hypothesized to serve? and (4) What are the dimensions of OSS governance, and how are these dimensions related to each other? The results of the review suggest a framework for future comparative and case study research on OSS governance, and they provide a basis for comparison with research on the governance of other distributed, community-based forms of content and creation.     

Vulnerable infants program of Rhode Island: promoting permanency for substance-exposed infants

The Vulnerable Infants Program of Rhode Island is a care coordination program to promote permanency for substance-exposed infants by addressing parental needs and increasing collaboration among social service agencies. Over the first four years of the program, there was a decrease in time spent in the newborn nursery beyond medical necessity and identification of permanent placements by 12 months for 84% of infants, with the majority of infants (78%) placed with biological parents or relatives.     

Perspectives of Adult Survivors of Child Sexual Abuse: An Exploration of the Adjustments to Self-Structure through Meaning-Making in Therapy

This critical literature review explored how adult survivors of child sexual abuse experienced adjustments to their self-structure through meaning-making in therapy. Following extensive searches of academic databases, 15 studies were identified for review. Using thematic analysis, eight themes emerged. The eight identified themes of trust, acknowledgement, evolution, acceptance, integration, congruence, relational, and agency represented distinct but interrelated components of self-structure. The findings also indicated that self-structure components may be both intra- and interrelational in nature and that movement in one theme may facilitate movement in another. While recognizing that the nature of the research captured a composite of experiences, it was found that there was a consistent movement and fluidity as to how participants arrived at an adjusted position for each of the themes. A suggested theoretical framework was developed showing the components of the self-structure impacted by meaning-making and the nature of the adjustments made. Recommendations are made regarding future research.     

Situating social work within the post-2015 Global Agenda

ABSTRACT

The launch of the post-2015 Agenda and its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) by the United Nations (UN) initiates a new set of global priorities to replace the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). Over a three-year process, governments and civil society representatives at the UN planned and negotiated the post-2015 Agenda and a set of SDGs and targets. Unlike the MDGs which focused almost entirely on developing countries, the new agenda is intended to be universal and therefore applicable to Europe and North America. The goals address a wide range of issues including poverty and inequality, health, international trade, climate change and gender, with a strong emphasis on the environment. This article will provide an overview of the post-2015 process and explore the implications of this agenda for social work globally and locally. It will highlight areas of particular interest to the profession, especially prospects for addressing growing global inequality within and between countries, and concerns over the role of human rights protection. The advantages and limitations of linking social work’s global agenda to the new UN priorities will be assessed.     

Rejected by Family for Being Gay or Lesbian: Portrayals,Perceptions, and Resilience

A myriad of negative psychosocial outcomes face gay men and lesbians who experience rejection by their family for not being heterosexual. However, what constitutes rejection is not clear, and, more importantly, it is not known how resilience is fostered within such a context. This qualitative study sought to examine these issues by exploring the lived experiences of Australian gay men and lesbians who were previously or were currently experiencing family rejection because of their sexuality. A total of 21 in-depth, semistructured interviews were individually conducted and analyzed. Thematic analysis of the interviews revealed several themes that provided greater understanding of the portrayals and perceptions of family rejection; the impact of family rejection on mental health; and, importantly, how these individuals came to establish resilience in the face of experiencing family rejection. Limitations, directions for future research, and clinical implications of the findings are also discussed.     

Regulation of technology adoption when individuals pursue multiple utility

Should regulatory approaches to technology adoption in U.S. agriculture be command and control in character, or use economic incentives? This paper addresses this question while testing the “I and We” multiple utility model and suggesting socioeconomic theory as a conceptual framework. Results show that one perhaps cannot understand farmer response to regulation without considering norms. Introducing the “We-utility” notion into the standard “I-utility” model adds explanatory power. Government's regulatory role needs to be shifted to first providing the impetus for action and then to helping in the evolution of norms, no matter which approach is used. The proposed socioeconomic theory goes beyond standard microeconomics by including both the idea of norms and that of positive freedoms, and thus introducing ethical considerations into economic analysis.