Therapeutic alliance and treatment progress in couple psychotherapy

This study examined the ability of the therapeutic alliance to predict treatment progress on individual- and relationship-level variables from the early to middle phase of couple treatment. Although alliance did not predict progress in individual functioning, it accounted for 5-22% of the variance in improvement in marital distress. Women's mid-treatment alliance uniquely predicted improvement in marital distress, over and above early treatment alliance. When men's alliances with the therapist were stronger than their partners' at session 8, couples showed more improvement in marital distress. Treatment response was also positively associated with women's ratings of their partners' alliance. Results confirm that the therapeutic alliance in conjoint treatment is composed of distinct client subsystems that are useful predictors of treatment progress.     

Women's Career Progression in Law Firms: Views from the Top,Views From Below

Law continues to be an attractive career path for women. Yet evidence shows that women's careers in law stagnate with proportionally small numbers of women progressing up the hierarchy from law graduate to partner. In this study we investigated how gendering and class processes impact on women's career progression. A major contribution is that we explored the heterogeneous views held by women below and above the partnership line, in Auckland's top law firms. Drawing on Acker's gendering processes (1990, 2006a) plus the accumulation of appropriate capitals needed to progress, we analysed 52 interview accounts. The women lawyers themselves were divided on how gendering and class processes impact on their career progression. Women partners accepted the hierarchical employment model of law and were confident in their role and place. Women below the partner line, while frustrated by the personal and professional requirements for success, did not demonstrate agency for change. In concluding, we reflect on the potential for change in the profession.     

Brain death during pregnancy and prolonged corporeal support of the body: A critical discussion

Aim

To discuss corporeal support of the brain-dead pregnant woman and to critically examine important aspects of this complex situation that remain as yet unexplored.

The relationship of maternal work characteristics to childcare type and quality in rural communities

Drawing on data from the Family Life Project collected in North Carolina and Pennsylvania, this paper examines the relationship between maternal work characteristics and childcare type and quality in rural communities. Research is limited on the childcare experiences of rural families. Rural areas have less access to formal childcare and families often commute long distances for work, restricting childcare options. Employed mothers using childcare were selected (n=441). Logistic and OLS regression was used to examine which characteristics, including workplace support, objective occupational measures, hours, wage, and shift, predicted care type and quality. Results indicated that most families were using informal care. Those with more hazardous work conditions and working night shifts were less likely to use centers. Higher quality care was related to more workplace support, center use, and higher wages. Implications for social policy and practice are discussed.     

European challenges in delivering social services in rural regions: a scoping review

This article presents an overview of the challenges facing the diverse rural regions of Europe in delivering social services to its citizens. This is at a time of significant socio-economic and demographic change in Europe. Changes include the impact of globalisation, European integration, population ageing, international and regional migration and restructuring of employment. The uneven impact of change is transforming rural regions in different ways. The article uses findings from a scoping review of the literature that explored different definitions and policy dimensions of the term ‘rural social services’. A desktop search was undertaken of social services and rural policy literature published in the English language, from 1996 to 2007, and the limitations of this are acknowledged. This narrative review aims to scope the broad nature of challenges facing rural regions with regard to social services provision. The findings are grouped in sections exploring definitions, common trends and debates, key questions and underlying paradigms. The article concludes that policy makers and social work professionals may find it useful to take a wide view of existing literature while recognising that it is often limited and compartmentalised.     

Clandestine existences and secret research: eliminating official discrimination in the Canadian military and going public in academia

The 1990s was a notable decade for lesbians and gays in the Canadian military. Two important changes were the 1992 elimination of the official policy permitting discrimination against homosexual service members, and the 1996 introduction of benefits to same-sex partners. These changes radically influenced the psychological day-to-day reality of lesbian and gay military members. Yet, given the military culture, lesbian and gay members only began to come out in significant numbers at the turn of the century. This article presents an overview of our experience with researching the history of lesbians and gays in the Canadian military during the late 1990s and early years of the new century. It reveals the early clandestine nature of our research, and recounts some of the trials, tribulations, resistance, and successes we encountered when dealing with ethics boards and funding sources. It also describes our relationship with the media and how the military actively took steps to stall our efforts. We draw parallels between our experiences as researchers, and those of the lesbian service-members we were interviewing.     

Starting to drink: the experiences of Australian lower secondary students with alcohol

This study describes Australian year eight students' (13-14 years old) experiences with alcohol in terms of communication with parents, initiation into drinking, patterns of consumption, context of use, and harms experienced. The sample comprised 521 year eight students from four state government secondary schools in the state of Victoria. Three of the schools are in Melbourne, the capital of Victoria; the fourth is in a rural center. Female and rural students were more likely to talk to parents about alcohol, but this was not associated with safer drinking. Initiation into drinking was higher among rural students. Rural students also drank more, were more likely to drink without adult supervision, to drink to get drunk, and drink more than planned. Student drinkers experienced just over four alcohol-related harms on average in 12 months, with some indication of greater harm among rural students. Higher levels of drinking by rural students, accompanied by more risky patterns of consumption and the possibility of greater harm, supports prioritizing interventions in rural schools.     

Conflicts in the habitus: the emotional work of becoming modern

This article argues that Bourdieu's concept of habitus, and, in particular, the way habitus is transmitted intergenerationally, can be enhanced by considering conflictual conscious and unconscious processes that emerge in relationships. We suggest that Christopher Bollas's discussions of the ‘unthought known’ and of ‘transformational objects’ add relational depth to the concept of habitus and thus contribute to developing a more psycho‐social understanding of the relation between agency and change. Drawing on in‐depth interviews with a socially mobile chain of a middle‐class grandmother, mother and daughter in a period of rapid change, we describe how conflicts in the habitus are produced relationally and can either impede or motivate desires for change. Relational and object relational psychoanalytic theories offer a way to move beyond what we consider a problem in Bourdieu's theory of habitus that derives from his assumption of a subject who either consciously opts for change in habitus when faced with new social demands or non‐consciously and unconflictually reproduces habitus.     

Differences in registering and voting between native-born and naturalized Americans

Relatively little is known about the differences in voting behavior between immigrantsand native-born Americans, primarily due to a lack of good quality data on the national level. Using data from the Voting and Registration Supplement to the November 1996 Current Population Survey (CPS), we examine whether variables known to affect electoral participation among the citizen population are also important among naturalized citizens. We find that naturalized citizens are less likely to register and to vote than native-born citizens, net of other factors. Citizens born abroad in Europe, Latin America, and Asia are less likely to register and those born abroad in Europe and Asia are less likely to vote than those born in the U.S. Among naturalized citizens, region of origin does not remain a major explanatory variable once time in the U.S. is considered.     

Elder abuse and oppression: voices of marginalized elders

The voices of elderly people from marginalized groups are rarely solicited, and the relationship between elder maltreatment and belonging to an oppressed group has not been adequately investigated. This article reviews the literature on oppression and elder abuse and describes findings from the secondary analysis of data from focus group discussions on elder abuse held with marginalized older adults and (quasi)professionals caring for them in two Canadian cities. Participants identified that increased vulnerability to elder abuse was related to oppression experienced as a consequence of ageism, sexism, ableism/disability, racism, heterosexism/homophobia, classism, and various intersecting types of oppression.