FILIPINA-AUSTRALIAN MARRIAGES: FURTHER PERSPECTIVES ON SPOUSAL VIOLENCE

In this study 61 Filipinos drawn from rural and regional towns reported that they were generally happily married and were subjected infrequently to physical violence in their marriages, although there was evidence of higher levels of abuse in the form of constraints on personal freedom, access to money and verbal criticism. The Filipino cultural value of amor propio (sense of honour or personal dignity) and Filipinas' experience of spousal abuse in their family of origin best predicted their anticipation of reporting spousal abuse and separating from or retaliating against an abusive partner. This provides some support for cultural value and inter generational transfer explanations of response to spousal abuse.     

Unregulated Gambling in South African Townships: A Policy Conundrum?

This study was designed to explore the nature of informal or illegal gambling in South African townships, to investigate what motivates people to participate in this form of gambling and what they perceive are the associated benefits and dis-benefits. A series of focus group workshops was conducted with two groups of gamblers, all of whom had experience of some form of township gambling: one group currently lived in townships and the other had previously resided in townships. Gambling for the township residents was a far more frequent activity than for non-township residents and consumed substantially more of their time. The majority of the township residents classified themselves as unemployed, while of those who were unemployed, most people indicated that gambling was a major source of their income; some even described it as their only source of income. The most significant difference between what township and non-township residents expressed as wanting and getting from gambling was that the former indicated quite clearly and unanimously that what they sought and gained from gambling was money. Township residents were far more likely to indicate that they used gambling to balance their budgets than ex-township residents who gambled primarily at casinos. A lottery type game called “Fahfee” is the most widely spread and pervasive form of gambling and was unanimously portrayed as a necessary and beneficial form of support for the poor and unemployed. Lottery and Casino gambling were, in contrast, widely perceived by the township participants as being ‘rigged’ and unfair. Township Dice and cards were perceived as being ‘fairer’ and as allowing punters to be more in control than casino gambling. The downside of township gambling was reported to be high levels of violence, crime and insecurity surrounding, in particular, the game of Dice. There was widespread inability to calculate expected payoffs or odds, and an apparent belief that these were not particularly helpful skills for gamblers. In Fahfee, the reliance on dreams to guide choice of numbers appears to eradicate any interest in the odds, or of playing strategically. The findings of this study are preliminary but have serious policy implications for education and for gambling regulation in South Africa.     

Reordering Public and Private in Iranian Cyberspace: Identity,Politics, and Mobilization

The capacity of cyberspace to bypass some of the spatial divisions that underpin social inequality endows it with political significance. This article examines some of the ways in which cyberspace has contributed to redrawing the boundaries between public and private and some of the consequences of this for people, things, and ideas in Iran and the Iranian diaspora. It shows how cyberspace influences a wide range of political phenomena including political mobilization and censorship, intergenerational communication, identity formation, sexuality, sense of belonging, and forms and location of symbolic capital. The relationship between net users in the diaspora and cyberspace involves a circuit of reorderings of one's understanding of the diaspora, one's contact with it in cyberspace, of one's own ideas on the basis of what one finds there, and of social relationships established and maintained in cyberspace. Paradoxically, the very richness and diversity of the ideas and opinions found in Iranian cyberspace may undermine the idea of there actually being a single Iranian diaspora.     

Developing sociological arguments through community studies

This paper argues that community studies remain an effective medium for the development of sociological arguments, despite well-known criticisms of the genre. Several features of community studies help to explain the continuing popularity of the approach among researchers and audiences, even though they are at odds with the discipline's supposed 'McDonaldization'. First, community studies have the capability of 'placing' sociological arguments. Secondly, community studies have the capacity to illustrate the meaning of macro-level trends for people's everyday lives. Thirdly, community studies facilitate holistic treatments of the social relations under investigation through their emphasis on context. Fourthly, the community studies format is prized for its accessibility, achieved through a narrative style which plays down conventional researcher/ reader hierarchies without losing analytical sharpness. Recent research monographs and other studies are drawn upon to illustrate these points. They show that while the community studies tradition has necessarily evolved conceptually and methodologically, it has continuing relevance to the sociological enterprise.     

Factors Associated with Adjustment to Marital Separation

Abstract

The dramatic increase in divorce in the United States over the past two decades has resulted in a need for closer examination of the factors associated with the adjustment to marital separation. This article reports a multivariate examination of health and social factors associated with post-separation adjustment In depth interviews were completed with 205 individuals, separated no longer than 26 months, about their marriage, its failure, and its aftermath. The study examines the role of social contact, health, economic stability, and dating behavior in the adjustment to marital separation. Multiple regression analysis is used to examine the independent and collective influences on adjustment, measured both by the Bradburn Affect Balance Scale and the Cantril Ladder technique. The analysis consistently demonstrated that economic stability, health status, and frequency of dating are significant predictors of post-separation adjustment. The implications of these findings are considered with special attention to some variations between sub-groups of the sample.     

Inside Out: An ‘English’ Dispersal into North-West Wales

This article is based on an empirical baseline study undertaken in 2005 which examined the experience of ‘the English’ who have moved and settled into north-west Wales. The movement of the British/white groups and their experiences have been less of a subject for examination and yet a dispersal of ‘the English’/British as both immigrants and colonisers has occurred and is ongoing. Migration between the constituent countries of the UK and the movement of English people into Wales has been a long-standing and accepted practice; it has been resisted by some in the more Welsh parts of Wales as a continuing ‘colonisation’. The rise of devolution within the UK and the burgeoning Welsh Assembly Government (WAG) with its increasing powers for self governance is leading to a decline of English dominance in Wales. This essay explores the experiences of ‘the English’ in Wales as England's influence over Wales becomes diluted, the role of leader and led reversed, and as the ‘empire begins to bite back’ (with apologies to Paul Gilroy).     

“Something Amazing I Guess”: Children's Views on Having A Say About Supervised Contact

Abstract

This paper reports on a small-scale, qualitative study on children's perspectives about their participation in decision-making processes regarding supervised contact. The paper begins with an overview of the study and a summary of findings in relation to four key research questions framed around the idea of children having a say, that is, children's views and perspectives of their participation in family law decision-making processes. These key questions include: What are children's experiences of having a say? What are children's understandings of having a say? Did children want a say in the decision for them to have supervised contact? How did having (or not having) a say feel? Discussion focuses on what importance children place on having a say in family law matters, a finding that is contrasted with children's experiences of marginalisation and exclusion from decision-making processes and of ambivalence and reluctance sometimes expressed around having a say. Children's idea of having a say as taking place in and through particular forms of dialogue and conversation, thus enabling the recognition of children and respect for what they have to say, are also explored. We conclude by reflecting on the implications of the study for professionals working in family law     

When Do First-Year College Students Drink Most During the Academic Year? An Internet-Based Study of Daily and Weekly Drinking

Abstract

Objective: The authors investigated the alcohol consumption trajectories among first-year university students. Participants: A sample of 415 students attending a large university in Southwestern Ontario, Canada, was recruited. Methods: Students completed a baseline questionnaire and 26 weekly brief Internet surveys assessing alcohol consumption from September 2006 to April 2007. Results: Findings indicated that alcohol consumption varies considerably as a function of time of the academic year. Overall trends indicate that students drink more heavily at the beginning of each semester and less during exam periods. Daily patterns indicate that most drinking occurs on weekends. The highest drinking days in the first academic year included Halloween, New Year's Eve, and St. Patrick's Day. Conclusions: The present study provides evidence that periods of high and low alcohol consumption are contingent upon specific events and the time of the year.     

The disability–poverty nexus and the case for a capabilities approach: evidence from Johannesburg,South Africa

Debates about the relationship between poverty and disability continue and are important in that they contribute to policies regarding how best to address the needs of disabled people living in conditions of poverty. Increasingly, researchers have begun to use Sen's capabilities approach in understanding disability. However, the approach has not been adequately applied to understand the nature of the poverty and disability nexus, particularly in developing contexts. This article seeks to address this gap by reporting on evidence from a study conducted in eight of the poorest wards in Johannesburg. Using the capabilities lens we demonstrate the ways in which both poverty and disability compound one another to limit the capabilities of people. The findings point to the need for broad-scale as well as targeted social development policies and programmes to address the consequences of poverty and disability.