Play as a Resource for Children Facing Adversity: An Exploration of Indicative Case Studies

In this paper, we suggest that the ability and opportunity to play affords children a natural resource to meet intellectual and emotional challenge. Analysis of case studies focusing on interventions with children caught in the bombing of Beirut, children abandoned to the state system in Romania, and the street children in Rio de Janeiro and Cali is used to support this view. When resources are in deficit, challenge is more likely to become adversity. The impact of adversity is particular to context, but comparison across contexts also shows connections between children’s disparate experiences. Analysis confirms that given the opportunity, children interact with and influence their environment through play and that this process provides a resource to meet the challenge of adversity.     

The use of external controls: To what extent can it currently be recommended?

With more and better clinical data being captured outside of clinical studies and greater data sharing of clinical studies, external controls may become a more attractive alternative to randomized clinical trials (RCTs). Both industry and regulators recognize that in situations where a randomized study cannot be performed, external controls can provide the needed contextualization to allow a better interpretation of studies without a randomized control. It is also agreed that external controls will not fully replace RCTs as the gold standard for formal proof of efficacy in drug development and the yardstick of clinical research. However, it remains unclear in which situations conclusions about efficacy and a positive benefit/risk can reliably be based on the use of an external control. This paper will provide an overview on types of external control, their applications and the different sources of bias their use may incur, and discuss potential mitigation steps. It will also give recommendations on how the use of external controls can be justified.     

We must do better: Ableism and fatphobia in sociology

Sociologists have contributed greatly to our understanding of how systems of oppression operate and work together to produce injustice. However, they have paid considerably less theoretical and empirical attention to fatphobia and ableism compared to some other systems of oppression. Worse yet, noncritical sociological research on fat bodies and disabled bodyminds has often contributed to the perpetuation of both. In this critical literature review of articles on disability and body size in the three highest ranking sociology generalist journals and two medical sociology journals over the past 10 years, we illustrate the main consequences when sociologists fail to employ a critical approach to the study of fat bodies and disabled bodyminds, including their use of eugenical logic and language. We conclude by offering suggestions for how sociologists can do better moving forward.     

A Typology of Dutch Mothers’ Employment Narratives: Drifters,Privilegeds, Balancers,Ambitious

The sharp increase in Dutch mothers’ labour market participation in recent decades has led to remarkable heterogeneous working patterns. This variation makes the Netherlands an interesting case with which to explore how mothers differ in their ‘narratives of choice’ and (early adult and present) attitudes towards work, gender and motherhood. This was conducted through 39 semi-structured interviews with mothers living in Amsterdam, The Netherlands. The study builds further on the scientific work on relationships between attitudes and personal preferences on the one hand, and employment behaviour on the other (e.g. Hakim, in Br J Sociol 54(3):339–345, 2003; Hakim, in Ashgate Publishing Limited, Hants, 2003; Halrynjo and Lyng, in Br J Sociol 60(2):321–343, 2009; Hoffnung, in Sex Roles 50(9–10):711–723, 2004; Sanders and Beekes, in Wolters-Noordhoff, Groningen, 1993; Thompson, in J Sci Study Relig, 30(4):381–394, 1991). Most of these studies are based on large surveys which lack the details of behavioural steps, preferences and attitudes that mothers themselves underline as relevant while describing their employment decisions. This qualitative study reveals a typology of Dutch mothers, based on the variety of their narratives of choice and considerations regarding the ideal gender division of labour, work and motherhood. The study also reveals a ‘narrative of acceptance’ among all interviewees regarding their spouses’ contribution to the unpaid work, accompanied by a disappearance of gender concerns.     

Mental health service users' experiences of returning to paid employment

Research into mental health and employment has focused largely on people who are unemployed. This paper reports the experiences of 20 clients of employment support agencies who had succeeded in returning to work. A number of barriers to getting back to work were identified, but receiving employment support could enable people to overcome them. There was consistency with previous studies of factors associated with high and low levels of job satisfaction. Even those participants who were less satisfied with their jobs identified benefits and none described any negative effects. The quality of the employment support provided was important, including advice and counselling during the job search, enabling informed choice about disclosure and support in work. Job retention targets are required for funding programmes in addition to placement targets. Further research into the timing and processes of disclosure and into occupational health screening processes would be helpful.     

Towards understanding the Nordic paradox: A review of qualitative interview studies on intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) in Sweden

Intimate partner violence against women (IPVAW) is a major public health problem in countries around the world, including the Nordic region. Contrary to what would be expected, as the Nordic countries are rated among the most gender equal in the world, survey data suggests that the lifetime prevalence rates of IPVAW in Sweden and neighboring Nordic countries are among the highest in the EU. This phenomenon, which has been termed the Nordic paradox, requires elucidation. The aim of this review is to explore what previous qualitative studies, based on interviews with or field observations of victims, perpetrators, or professionals working in the area, primarily in Sweden, have to teach us about the nature of this paradox. Three interrelated themes are discussed. The first is how gender equality is perceived and addressed as linked, or not, to IPVAW in Swedish research and practice. The second is how violence tends to be othered, for example, through assumptions that violence is perpetrated by foreign rather than Swedish men. The third is how causal mechanisms of IPVAW have been described, typically with reference to norms and dynamics of masculinity, femininity, and heterosexual interaction.     

Enriching our understanding of vulnerability through the experiences and perspectives of individuals living with mental illness

ABSTRACT

Vulnerability is a central concept in research ethics and typically serves to identify individuals or groups whose participation in research prompts specific concerns or warrants special consideration. While theoretical discussions on vulnerability have contributed valuable insights to discussions of mental health research and care, they have not been enriched thus far by stakeholder perspectives. This oversight has important consequences for the ways in which we frame vulnerability. It misses the far-reaching insights and experiential knowledge of mental health research participants whose experiences this ethics concept ultimately seeks to capture. In view of this gap, our study combines a pragmatist ethics framework and interpretive phenomenological analysis of qualitative interviews to explore user perspectives on the notion of vulnerability through the lived experiences of mental health research participants and patient-advocates. Importantly, these perspectives offer essential clues to address the difficulties of operationalizing concerns for vulnerability in concrete and practical ways. They help refine our understanding of this key ethics concept.