The influence of faith‐based organisations on Australian social policy

This historical overview explores the crucial and changing relationships between faith‐based organisations and governments, not only in the implementation of social services but also in the formation of social policy. Historically Australian governments have left large areas of social provision to the non‐government sector. For example, income support for the unemployed was not taken up by governments until World War II and income support for sole parents remained largely a responsibility for non‐government organisations (NGOs) until the 1970s. Prior to governments taking responsibility for income support, most of these NGOs were religious organisations surviving on donations, philanthropic support and limited government funding. It is argued that the dominant, semi‐public role of religious organisations in service delivery and social policy formation is an important but largely overlooked aspect of the Australian historical experience.     

On the leadership function of self-sacrifice

This paper describes the leadership function of self-sacrifice in organizational settings using a multiple-level model of leadership. It explores why self-sacrificial behaviors would arise in organizational settings and what would be the effects on followers if a leader exhibits self-sacrificial behaviors. It is proposed that self-sacrificial leadership will facilitate individual and organizational adaptations to changing environments and that followers will attribute charisma and legitimacy to a self-sacrificial leader and intend to reciprocate.     

On cornish-fisher expansions as a ratio of determinants without cumulants

A new method of approximating one quantile of a distribution function in terms of the corresponding quantile of another distribution function is introduced. The method utilizes the Cornish-Fisher expansion so as to eliminate the requirement for knowing the cumulants while at the same time retaining the desired simplicity as well as the property of not affecting the order of the error of the approximation.     

Equality and Illusion: Gender and Tenure in Art History Careers

Using a national survey of 508 art history Ph.D.s including data on graduate school performance and careers 10 – 15 years post‐Ph.D., this study investigates gender, family, and academic tenure in art history, the humanities field with the highest proportion of women. Alternative hypotheses derived from three perspectives—termed here clockwork, two‐body, and synergy—are evaluated with multivariate logistic regression. Analysis finds that marriage increases men’s tenure odds and decreases women’s, but that some types of marriages do not decrease women’s odds, and some types dramatically increase men’s. This study calls attention to male advantage in female‐dominated academic disciplines and demonstrates the potential to better understand the interactions of gender, marriage, and careers by conceptualizing different types of marriages.     

Does Biology Matter?: Lesbian Couples' Transition to Parenthood and Their Division of Labor

The effect of biological motherhood on parents' transition to parenthood and their division of labor is a much contested issue. This paper explores the impact of biological motherhood in a unique context—lesbian parenthood—where biological requirements can be analytically separated from gender effects. The analysis is based on a study of 25 middle-class lesbian couples' transition to parenthood and their division of labor. Each couple had at least one biological child under the age of six and all children were born within the context of the couples' relationship. I conducted in-depth interviews with each partner and all participants filled out a short questionnaire. The distinction between the biological and non-biological mother affected couples in three domains of motherhood: public, relational, and personal motherhood. Comothers countered public ignorance, social and legal invisibility, and the lack of biological connection to the child by sharing primary childcare and establishing a distinct parenting role within the family. The participants employed various models of the division of labor to provide one full-time mother for as long as economically possible. Desire to be with the child, economic considerations, and strong commitments to equality and shared motherhood rather than biological requirements informed decisions about leave strategies and long-term paid work arrangements. Time/availability proved to be the best predictor of involvement in family work. Conflicts erupted whenever one partner perceived the other as not doing her fair share of domestic work.     

Die Bedeutung von Introvision für die Gestaltung von Veränderungsprozessen in Gruppen und Organisationen

The ability of mental self regulation is becoming more and more important to shape change processes. Change agents often experience, especially in potentially difficult situations, limits of self regulation by volition. Imperating oneself as an effort of self control by unconditional commandments has a blocking impact on mental self regulation. Introvision supports mental self regulation in a mode of calmness, which can be described as operating effortless and deliberately. In an attitude of calmness it is possible not to slide into inner conflicts, even when facing difficult situations. Instead it is possible to make use of one‘s whole action repertoire and include the context of change processes. calmness also has a positive impact on group dynamics. The atmosphere becomes more relaxed, dialog ability and the capability of problem solving is supported.     

Young Women's Life Stories and Accounts of Parental Divorce

ABSTRACT

This article presents the results of an analysis of 7 young women's life story accounts of the experience of parental separation during adolescence. The young women took part in the Life Stories and Family Transitions Study conducted in New Zealand. The qualitative methodology used in this study allowed for an investigation of the ways that participants made sense of their experiences of parental separation within the life story. The narratives of parental separation were extracted from the interviews and analyzed for form and content. The analysis of form found that the stories progressed through a number of stages, titled “The Early Years,” “The Deteriorating Parental Relationship,” “The Climax,” and “The Aftermath.” A number of themes emerged from a process of interpretive thematic analysis. These themes were often associated with different stages of the story of separation, and were titled “Putting Together the Pieces,” “The Struggling Self,” and “Self-Determination and Competency.” As participants put together the stories of separation, they considered their parents' perspectives and integrated these with their own experiences of family events, developing their own personal theories. The stories of struggle, and of personal strength and self-determination, emerge from the analysis.     

Threads across the world: sewing resilience into the fabric of children’s lives

Strengthening the ecological resilience factors in the lives of children that have been abused can help them to navigate the healing process. It is through group work that children can share their “resilience wisdom” with one another as a healing community. There is a dearth of research on cross-cultural resilience programs for children who have been abused. This article explores a group work program that was conducted for one year in Bolivia and Australia. The results from each group reveal the similarities and the differences in outcomes between children from different cultural backgrounds that participated in a resilience group work program.