Seeds of change: using peacemaking circles to build a village for every child

Roca, Inc., a grassroots human development and community organization, has adopted the peacemaking circle as a tool in its relationship building with youth, communities, and formal systems. Circles are a method of communication derived from aboriginal and native traditions. In Massachusetts, the Department of Social Services and the Department of Youth Services are exploring the application of the circle in programming with youth and families. By providing a consistent structure for open, democratic communication, peacemaking circles enhance the formation of positive relationships in families, communities, and systems. The outcome is a stronger community with greater unity across truly diverse participants. This article presents the theory and practice of peacemaking circles, the lessons and challenges of implementing circles in formal organizations, and the potential of the circle to support a strengths-based and community-based approach to child welfare.     

Physical and mental health outcomes of women in nonviolent, unilaterally violent, and mutually violent relationships

Despite equivocal findings on whether men or women are more violent, the negative impact of violence is greatest for women. To determine how gender asymmetry in perpetration affects women's health status, we conducted a study in two phases with 835 African American, Euro-American, and Mexican American low-income women in Project HOW: Health Outcomes of Women. In Phase 1, we used severity and frequency of women's and male partners' violence to create six groups: nonviolent (NV), uni-directional male (UM) perpetrator, uni-directional female (UF) perpetrator and, when both partners were violent, symmetrical (SYM), male primary perpetrator (MPP), and female primary perpetrator (FPP). The MPP group sustained the most threats, violence, sexual aggression, and psychological abuse. They also reported the most fear. Injury was highest in the MPP and FPP groups. In Phase 2, we examined group differences in women's health status over time for 535 participants, who completed five annual interviews. Surprisingly, women's health in the MPP and FPP violence groups was similar and generally worse than if violence was uni-directional.     

Community is not a Place but a Relationship<Superscript>1</Superscript>: Lessons for Organizational Development

The premise of this article is that organizations need to be “organized” differently if we want to re-invigorate the power of community in contemporary life. A central theme within the current reform movement toward restorative justice is the devolution of authority from formal governmental systems to community. In order to effectively socialize young people, communities and families must perform certain functions well. As more and more societal activities take place within organizations, we face the dilemma that the weakened communities create a demand for increasing involvement of public organizations in the life of the community. Yet modern organizations do not effectively perform functions unique to families and communities. Drawing on insights from a unique community-system partnership in restorative peacemaking circles, this paper argues we may need to reinvent our organizations so that they learn to behave as members of the community. ¹This apt phrase and fundamental insight about the meaning of community came from the seminal article by Paul McCold and Benjamin Wachtel (1998).     

The counterculture,the new left,and the new right

A version of this article is forthcoming inSocial Movements and Cultural Politics, edited by Marcy Darnovsky, Barbara Epstein, and Richard Flacks, and published by Temple University Press.     

The person-in-environment reconsidered: New theoretical bridges

The theoretical gap between person and environment is the focus of this paper. Multiple determinants of human behavior are presented as they contribute to children's idiosyncratic comprehensions of their worlds or environments. Implications for development and for clinical social work intervention are presented.     

Supportive parenting moderates the effect of discrimination upon anger, hostile view of relationships, and violence among African American boys

Studies have shown that exposure to discrimination increases the probability that African American adolescents will engage in delinquent behavior, especially acts of violence. The present study extended this research by examining the extent to which supportive parenting buffers a youth from these deleterious consequences of discrimination. Analyses based upon two waves of data from a sample of 332 African American adolescent males and their caretakers supported this hypothesis. Further the results indicated that there are two avenues whereby supportive parenting reduces the probability that discrimination will lead to violence. First, supportive parenting decreases the chances that discrimination will lead to anger and a hostile view of relationships. Second, supportive parenting lowers the risk that anger or a hostile view of relationships, when they develop, will result in violence.     

Intimate relationships and changing patterns of money management at the beginning of the twenty-first century

Drawing on British data from two annual sweeps of the ISSP eight years apart in 1994 and 2002, for modules focusing on 'Family and Changing Gender Roles', this paper examines the extent to which changes in women's labour market participation, changing ideologies/discourses of gender and changing forms of intimate relationships are affecting the ways in which couples organize household money, and the implications of such changes for recent theories of intimate relationships. The analysis indicates that by 2002, the type of relationship respondents had established, together with their social class position, were both independently related to the ways in which they managed money, after controlling for socio-economic and cultural or discursive factors. Our findings also provide a degree of support for the thesis of a partial decline in the male breadwinner model of gender, as indicated by small declines in the use of the relatively inegalitarian female whole wage and housekeeping allowance systems which were most likely to be used by married couples and cohabiting fathers, expressing relatively traditional ideologies/discourses of breadwinning - and a slight increase in the use of the partial pool, which was most likely to be used by childless cohabiting couples in which male partners expressed less traditional ideologies of breadwinning and women were in middle-class jobs with incomes high enough to facilitate partially separate finances. We also suggest, however, that in so far as cohabiting couples earning different amounts define equality as contributing equally to household expenditure, it is possible that rather than being associated with shifts to greater equality in access to money for personal spending and saving, the partial pool may be associated with marked inequalities, because it may enable gender inequalities generated in the labour market to be more directly transposed into inequalities within households, despite the decline of traditional discourses of male breadwinning and the increasing importance of egalitarian ideologies of co-provisioning.     

The healing power of dogs: Cocoa's story

Animals bring a sense of "at homeness" and even normalcy to people who are hospitalized or live in health care facilities. Illnesses, separation from family, fear, loneliness, and even depression may be lessened for those who receive a therapy dog visit by providing a welcome change in routine and something to look forward to. Individuals are often more active and responsive during and after a visit. Just stroking and petting a dog requires the use of hands and arms, as well as the motions of stretching and turning. Dogs are also unconcerned with age or physical ability; they accept people as they are. This alone causes many to reach out and interact with dogs. Animals provide a focus for conversation and a common interest. As Cocoa's human partner can attest, a pet also makes it easier for strangers to talk. Cocoa is known by so many people at the facilities she visits that residents' family members often stop to talk with "Cocoa's mom" when they meet her in the community, asking questions about how Cocoa is doing. When Cocoa is no longer able to perform her services, many in her community will mourn. Cocoa's story, as well as the limited research literature, supports the positive physical and psychological effects of animals, but continued research on the effect of therapy animals on health outcomes is needed. As advocates for clients, nurses are in key positions to facilitate the inclusion of animals in clients' care. Although not for everyone, including those who react negatively to animals or who are allergic, pet therapy offers important possibilities for providing holistic care that extends not only to clients, but also to family members and staff, and to the pets themselves.