‘Why this story over a hundred others of the day?’ Five journalists’ backstories about writing disability in Toronto

This interview-based study explores the stories behind current disability-based journalism based on the intersubjective experiences of five Toronto journalists whose lives and work intersect with disability. These discussions are divided into salient categories of attitudes, representation, language, framing, gate-keeping, and communication, followed by a list of recommendations on how to pitch disability-based stories to news media. This study uses a dual lens of disability theory and journalism to open a discussion toward further areas of consideration of this apparent gap between journalists and disability-invested organizations/individuals, and to communicate strategies for researchers, allies, and journalists who seek to learn more about how cultural representations of journalism come to exist as they do. Ultimately, participants encourage a shift from dialogue about disability and journalism to a realization that this dialogue is far from oppositional and players in both fields wish to contribute.     

A comparison of carbon and nitrogen stocks among land uses/covers in coastal Florida

Coastal areas are rapidly developing due to population growth and the appeal of coastlines. In order to gain insight into how land use/cover affects carbon (C) storage in a coastal context, we examined soil and vegetation C and soil nitrogen (N) across land uses near Apalachicola, FL. Forested wetlands had the greatest soil C and N storage, while natural pine forests and pine plantations had the least. In paired plots, urban lawns had significantly greater mineral soil N content compared to urban forest remnants. Total ecosystem C (soil + vegetation) was higher in forested wetlands than all other land uses/covers combined due to the high organic content of those wetland soils. Urban forest remnants and lawns had greater total ecosystem C than natural pine forests and pine plantations, which likely reflects the differential influence of prescribed fire and less frequent anthropogenic disturbances between the rural and urban areas, respectively. Projections of land use change in Franklin County, FL combined with these data suggest that increases in C storage are possible with continued urbanization along the Gulf Coast, if forest remnants are left and lawns are incorporated in built-up areas. However, this study does not account for C emissions during land conversion, or any emissions associated with maintaining urban built-up and residential areas. A better understanding of land use/cover influences on C pools has applications for planning and development, as well as ecological and environmental protection in the region.     

The “Homeless Problem” and the Double Consciousness*

The purpose of this article was to identify manifestations of a social discourse that construct those who are homeless as an existential problem. Based on 4 years of ethnographic data and grounded theory analysis, we illustrate the nature of exclusionary social practices that emerge from discourse on the “homeless problem” as well as the conflicting identities experienced by those who are homeless. Herein we frame the data using DuBois concept of “double consciousness.” Our findings indicate that those who are homeless mix together discourses of value and legitimacy with self‐applied stigmas and self‐denigrating political perspectives in ways that directly mirror DuBois’ notion of the conflicting nature of African and American identities around the end of the nineteenth century. We illustrate identity problems that manifest in the contemporary conflict between being both “homeless” and “American.”     

“Better red than dead”: Socialism in British Public Schools, 1900–1918

This paper examines socialism in Edwardian public schools. It concentrates on understanding their students’ responses to, and conceptions of, socialism’s core tenets. For, existing scholarship has depicted these Edwardian institutions as almost uniformly conservative and proficient in inculcating students with pro-social hierarchy, anti-social innovation views. Any ideological tensions, then, stemmed from the interaction of popular, conservative-compliant, dogmas within school contexts: social Darwinism, imperialism, athleticism, muscular Christianity and so on. This paper, however, draws on new Eton College archive sources to enhance and complicate this view. It argues socialism captivated the students’ attention and garnered a strong supportive minority that, at times, advocated complete collective ownership. Moreover, the school administration showed tolerance to even the most outspoken socialists, and its non-hegemonic, semi-decentralized nature gave rise to local, independent sites of support. Accordingly, this research is important to understanding Edwardian public school ideologies and socialization processes. In wider terms, too, it casts insight on Edwardian socialism’s penetration into secondary education and inter-class acceptance.     

Loss/Gain Framing,Dose, and Reactance: A Message Experiment

Whether a loss or gain frame has a persuasive advantage in communicating health risks is a matter of ongoing debate. Findings reported in the literature are mixed, suggesting that framing effects are likely complex and may be influenced by a combination of factors. This study examined reactance as a mediator and dose as a moderator of loss/gain framing effects. Adults (N = 1,039) read framed messages about the health consequences of physical (in)activity in varying message doses (i.e., number of framed statements). Compared to loss frames, gain frames generated more threat to freedom and reactance. Dosage exerted significant influence at the extremes; the one‐dose messages invoked less intentions to exercise compared to the four‐dose messages. Planned contrasts revealed significant frame × dose interactions. Notably, the one‐dose gain‐framed messages triggered significantly more freedom threat and less intentions to engage in physical activity—a situation that changed when the information was loss‐framed or when the dosage was increased.     

That time I punched a boy in the forehead: sibling stories ahead of research

In the past month, I have been building relationships with community members at a prairie-based research site in Canada by telling a story about my own sibling advocacy. Namely, the story about that time I punched a boy in the forehead when I was a kid. I observe that this story helps build trust between me and the families invested in a new research project. This is a current issue because recent research on the utility of sibling stories suggests that these narrative accounts, diverse as they may be, are foundational to knowledge creation about disability. Yet these stories are under threat of pathologization when they are understood through a clinical lens, rather than a critical disability studies lens. I conclude by suggesting that sibling stories ought to be claimed as pivotal to critical understandings of disability experiences.     

Romantic partner satisfaction among low‐income mothers: Links to child‐peer and teacher relationships via mother‐child conflict

The current project explores maternal inter‐parental (IP) romantic partner satisfaction in relation to mother‐child conflict and later peer and teacher relations from early to middle childhood among a sample of low‐income, ethnically diverse mothers (N = 271) who were part of a longitudinal study testing the effectiveness of the Family Check‐Up intervention. We hypothesized spillover effects from IP dissatisfaction during early childhood to mother‐child conflict two years later. Greater mother‐child conflict in turn was expected to lead to poorer peer relations and greater conflict with teachers in middle childhood. The results support a spillover effect from lower IP satisfaction at age 3 to higher mother‐child conflict at age 5 to poorer peer relations and greater conflict with teachers at school at ages 8.5, 9.5, and 10.5. Mother‐child conflict significantly mediates these pathways. The results support the importance of IP satisfaction and mother‐child conflict in early childhood as critical factors in pathways leading to low‐income children's social relationships at school during middle childhood.     

Changes in the health status of newly housed chronically homeless: the Alaska Housing First program evaluation

The Housing First (HF) model is an evidence-based supportive housing initiative that provides permanent housing for the homeless without preconditions such as sobriety or treatment compliance. This three-year longitudinal study investigated the effects of Alaska's inaugural Housing First projects in Anchorage and Fairbanks on local service usage, costs and tenant quality of life (QoL). A total of 94 tenants participated at baseline in the QoL study and 68 continued to follow-up. Cost data was collected from local municipalities, Alaska Department of Corrections, and local hospitals, health care clinics, behavioral health providers, and detox facilities. Emergency services use by tenants decreased from the year before moving into Housing First to the year after. Changes in health care costs were more variable depending on site and type of service.     

Mothers' Partnerships,Men in the Home,and Adolescents' Secondary Exposure to Violence

Family instability means that many U.S. youth spend time without biological fathers and with other men. This study extends the literature on the developmental implications of living with fathers and father figures by investigating the association between the presence of mothers' male romantic partners in the home and secondary exposure to violence with a focus on variability according to the identities of the men and the communities of the family. Fixed effects models of multilevel data from the Project on Human Development in Chicago Neighborhoods (N = 2,201) revealed that living with mothers' partners did not have a general protective or risky association with youths' secondary exposure to violence. This exposure, however, was lower when such men were youths' biological fathers (vs. social fathers) and when they were married to (vs. cohabiting with) youths' mothers. The link between men's marital status and exposure to violence appeared stronger in higher crime neighborhoods.