Career development among young disabled artists

This paper reports on the experiences of 47 young disabled artists and the interaction between disability, impairment and the arts in their educational and career pathways. The artists were finalists in the VSA arts/Volkswagen of America Inc. Program, an arts‐based program intended to showcase the talents and accomplishments of young disabled artists aged 16–25. A few artists found their impairment to be a barrier to making art. Many, however, did not think their impairment affected their ability to make art, and a few thought it actually enhanced their artistic ability. These finalists often cited art as a tool for overcoming impairment‐related, disability‐related and other barriers. In this paper we identify effective strategies that these young artists used to further their arts careers. It concludes with a discussion of the implications of the findings and provides recommendations to support young disabled artists in their educational and career efforts.     

The production of leisure: understanding the social function of football development in China

ABSTRACT

In this article, we utilize the social theories of Antonio Gramsci and Henri Lefebvre to explore the role that leisure activities such as football play within contemporary China in relation to issues of class. We argue that the recent promotion of football in China can be viewed as a continuation of broader top-down processes of ‘modernization from above' that serves as a microcosm of the wider class contradictions inherent in Chinese approaches to development since the 1980s. The issue of class has been strangely absent from the literature dealing with the development of football in China. We explore the major role of the middle classes as the target for the promotion of leisure activities and consumerist lifestyles patterns as part of the Party-State’s effort to integrate them into a transformed historical bloc.     

Vital Connections: Using Literature to Illustrate Social Work Issues

Abstract

This paper introduces a four stage teaching model which encourages students to use fiction as a source of mental imagery and insight into social work issues. Teachers can use the stages flexibly for different courses and levels of student expertise. The model has been developed by the authors during three years of formally implementing it in a range of undergraduate and graduate syllabi. The authors present this approach following detailed observation of the quality of written assignments, classroom interaction and student feedback. This is an exciting way of teaching traditional courses which generates a lively atmosphere for learning.

“We shall not cease from exploration And the end of our exploring Will be to arrive where we started And know the place for the first time.”

T.S. Eliot

(“Little Gidding,” The Four Quartets)     

Therapeutic alliance between youth and staff in residential group care: Psychometrics of the therapeutic alliance quality scale

Therapeutic alliance has been frequently studied in individual counseling sessions; however, research on therapeutic alliance in residential settings for youth with mental health diagnoses has been limited. This may be due, in part, to the presence of multiple service providers often in caregiving roles. The purpose of this study was to examine the psychometric quality of a widely utilized measure of therapeutic alliance used in psychotherapy with youth in residential care where the treatment is provided by a trained married couple. We also compared the relationship between youth ratings of their male and female service providers, as well as examined correlations in ratings between youth and staff on therapeutic alliance. Finally, we investigated the direction, magnitude, and trajectory of change in therapeutic alliance over a 12-month period following admission into residential care. The method was a longitudinal assessment of 135 youth and 124 staff regarding therapeutic alliance over the course of 12 months or discharge from services. Results indicated strong psychometric properties and high correlations for youth ratings of both their male and female service providers. However, the correlation was low between youth and service provider ratings of alliance. Longitudinal analyses indicated that rates of therapeutic alliance changed over time.     

Homelessness,housing instability,intimate partner violence,mental health,and functioning: A multi-year cohort study of IPV survivors and their children

Abstract

Homelessness and housing instability frequently accompany intimate partner violence and can negatively impact health and functioning. When children are exposed to homelessness or housing instability their ability to develop and function is compromised. The purpose of this study is to examine the differential impact of homelessness and unstable housing on health and functioning of women and their children over a 2-year period. Two hundred and seventy-seven mothers reporting intimate partner violence (stalking, physical, or sexual violence by an intimate partner) were asked about housing stability, abuse, risk for murder, mental health, employment/wages, and their child's functioning over a 2-year period. Outcomes of mothers reporting homelessness and unstable housing were compared to mothers reporting stable housing. Over one-third (36%) of the mothers reported at least one episode of unstable housing over the 2-year period and 11% reported homelessness. Measures of maternal mental health and child functioning were worse for both unstably housed and homeless women, compared to stably housed women, with a higher risk for sexual abuse and risk for murder for homeless women. New models of rapid rehousing are needed that address not only the housing problems of women who have experienced intimate partner violence but also the mental health and safety issues that the women and their children face.     

Discursive Arenas: Deliberation and the Constitution of Identity in Public Participation at a Local Level

This article is based on empirical research into public participation in two English cities. It discusses issues related to motivations to take part in public participation initiatives and the way in which individual and collective identities may be constructed through participation. Drawing on social movement theory it emphasises the importance both of networks and values in prompting participation and it illustrates this with examples drawn from participation initiatives based around identities: age, gender, ethnicity, and issues/interests such as health inequalities, community regeneration and social care service provision. The analysis suggests it is important to understand the histories and motivations of officials as well as citizens who take part, and questions the priority given to ‘representation’ in constituting the membership of participation forums.     

An “Unthought Known” of Her Own: The Aesthetics of Interruption

Through a personal account, the author reflects on how we are haunted by what we take from our parents or what, unawares, they transmit to us, and how that haunting pulls us forward and back at the same time.     

Adolescents Living in Public Housing: Self-perceptions of Competence and Family Satisfaction

This pilot study was developed to better understand the perceived level of self-competence in African American adolescents living within public housing developments in the mid-South. The study’s goal was to obtain a more in-depth understanding of self-perceptions in strategic areas and begin to determine how their environment may affect dimensions of self-competence. Measurements included Harter’s Self-Perception Profile for Children scale (SPPC) and Hudson’s Family Relationship Problems domain contained in his Multidimensional Adolescent Assessment Scale. A comparative analysis was conducted between the sample means and those obtained from the population on which the SPPC instrument was normed [Harter (1985), The self-perception profile for children: revision of the perceived competence scale for children. Denver: Manual, University of Denver]. All scores were analyzed both within gender and within past scholastic performance. Findings suggested that this sample of public housing youth scored similarly within both gender and past scholastic performance on most domains with a few exceptions. Males scored significantly higher on self-ratings of physical appearance than females, and low-reporting scholastic achievers tended to rank themselves significantly lower in athletic competence. Physical appearance and scholastic competence were associated with global self-worth, and family turmoil was associated with fewer close friendships. Importantly, the sample means were significantly different than the normed population means across several domains of competence. The finding suggesting that scholastic performance is a predictor of self-worth is supported by later research and refuted by earlier research. Perhaps this is a regional effect or perhaps there has been a cultural norm shift that more recent studies are able to identify. Interventions need to be designed for youth at middle-school age because the ability to instill protective factors greatly diminishes at post-puberty development.Article Note Michael Sullivan and Theora Evans are affiliated with College of Social Work, The University of Tennessee, 711 Jefferson Ave. Suite 607 W., Memphis, TN 38163, USA     

A Latent Growth Curve Analysis of the Structure of Aggression,Drug Use,and Delinquent Behaviors and Their Interrelations Over Time in Urban and Rural Adolescents

Latent growth curve analysis was used to examine the structure and interrelations among aggression, drug use, and delinquent behavior during early adolescence. Five waves of data were collected from 667 students at three urban middle schools serving a predominantly African American population, and from a more ethnically diverse sample of 950 students at four rural middle schools. One set of models focused on changes in individual behaviors; the other on changes in a global problem behavior factor. Models with separate growth trajectories for aggression, drug use, and delinquent behavior provided the best fit for both samples and revealed relations between initial levels of aggression and subsequent changes in the other behaviors. Boys and girls differed in their initial levels of these behaviors, but not their patterns of change. Differences in growth curve trajectories were found across samples. These findings have important implications for assessment and prevention of problem behaviors in adolescents.