Child abuse,child protection and disabled children: a review of recent research

This paper reports the results of a scoping study that reviewed research about child abuse, child protection and disabled children published in academic journals between 1996 and 2009. The review was conducted using a five stage method for scoping studies. Several studies have revealed a strong association between disability and child maltreatment, indicating that disabled children are significantly more likely to experience abuse than their non‐disabled peers. Those with particular impairments are at increased risk. There is evidence that the interaction of age, gender and/or socio‐cultural factors with impairment results in different patterns of abuse to those found among non‐disabled children although the reasons for this require further examination. It appears that therapeutic services and criminal justice systems often fail to take account of disabled children's needs and heightened vulnerability. In Britain, little is known about what happens to disabled children who have been abused and how well safeguarding services address their needs. Very few studies have sought disabled children's own accounts of abuse or safeguarding. Considerable development is required, at both policy and practice level, to ensure that disabled children's right to protection is upheld. The paper concludes by identifying a number of aspects of the topic requiring further investigation. Copyright © 2010 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Social and spatial networks: Kinship distance and dwelling unit proximity in rural Thailand

We address a long hypothesized relationship between the proximity of individuals’ dwelling units and their kinship association. Better understanding this relationship is important because of its implications for contact and association among members of a society. In this paper, we use a unique dataset from Nang Rong, Thailand which contains dwelling unit locations (GPS) and saturated kinship networks of all individuals living in 51 agricultural villages. After presenting arguments for a relationship between individuals’ dwelling unit locations and their kinship relations as well as the particulars of our case study, we introduce the data and describe our analytic approach. We analyze how kinship – considered as both a system linking collections of individuals in an extended kinship network and as dyadic links between pairs of individuals – patterns the proximity of dwelling units in rural villages. The results show that in general, extended kin live closer to one another than do unrelated individuals. Further, the degree of relatedness between kin correlates with the distance between their dwelling units. Close kin are more likely to co-reside, a fact which drives much of the relationship between kinship relatedness and dwelling unit proximity within villages. There is nevertheless suggestive evidence of a relationship between kinship association and dwelling unit proximity among kin who do not live together.     

Longitudinal evaluation of a training program to promote routine antenatal enquiry for domestic violence by midwives

Background

Routine enquiry about domestic violence during pregnancy is accepted best practice. Training is essential to improve knowledge and practice. Few studies have undertaken a comprehensive evaluation of training impact over time.

Fathers’ Perspectives on Strengthening Military Families: A Mixed Method Evaluation of a 10-Week Resiliency Building Program

A recent Institute of Medicine report on “The Assessment or Readjustment Needs of Veterans, Service Members, and Their Families” http://nationalacademies.org/hmd/Reports/2013/Returning-Home-from-Iraq-and-Afghanistan.aspx, (2013) underscored the need for effective support for military families with young children, and that effective engagement into existing services remains a challenge. This mixed-method study involved 14 fathers (previously deployed military) who engaged in the Strong Military Families Program, a resiliency-building group for families with young children. The purpose of this paper was twofold: first, to identify the efficacy of this brief intervention for reducing mental health symptomatology among previously deployed military fathers who completed the group, and second to better understand the perceptions and reflections of fathers who completed an effective symptom management program in order to fill the literature gap around this issue and guide future efforts at increasing engagement of this population. Pre- and post-group assessments were administered including depression and posttraumatic stress symptom ratings. Assessments also included interviews designed to elicit fathers’ expectations before the program and to capture their reflections after completion. Quantitative analyses examined changes in symptoms pre- to post-group, and qualitative analyses aimed to better understand fathers’ experiences and help guide future efforts to increase engagement of this population. A grounded theory approach was employed to analyze interview content, and two themes were identified reflecting a desire for (1) connection and (2) learning. The prominence of these themes both before and after group underscored the value of connection to others who shared experience and opportunity for learning effective parenting strategies. Corresponding quantitative analyses indicated a significant decrease in self-reported posttraumatic stress (p?<?.05) and trend level reduction in depression (p?<?.10), suggesting participation may contribute to more effective symptom management. Subgroup analyses contrasting the pre-group interviews of fathers who endorsed higher (n?=?9) versus lower (n?=?5) levels of symptoms revealed that those with greater symptomatology expressed more themes related to fear of committing to the program. Discussion will focus on effective outreach and engagement, and the need to align programs to the interests of previously deployed fathers of young children.     

An extended theory of planned behavior intervention for older adults with type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease

A randomized controlled trial evaluated the effectiveness of a 4-wk extended theory of planned behavior (TPB) intervention to promote regular physical activity and healthy eating among older adults diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes or cardiovascular disease (N = 183). Participants completed TPB measures of attitude, subjective norm, perceived behavioral control, and intention, as well as planning and behavior, at preintervention and 1 wk and 6 wk postintervention for each behavior. No significant time-by-condition effects emerged for healthy eating. For physical activity, significant time-by-condition effects were found for behavior, intention, planning, perceived behavioral control, and subjective norm. In particular, compared with control participants, the intervention group showed short-term improvements in physical activity and planning, with further analyses indicating that the effect of the intervention on behavior was mediated by planning. The results indicate that TPB-based interventions including planning strategies may encourage physical activity among older people with diabetes and cardiovascular disease.     

Psychological Distress as an Indicator of Co-Occurring Psychopathology among Treatment-Seeking Disordered Gamblers

Disordered gamblers frequently present with concurrent anxiety, depressive, personality, and substance use disorders, which may complicate treatment. Although there is a need for a thorough assessment, some questionnaires may prove lengthy for clients and clinicians. Thus, there is a need for brief screens for identifying co-occurring psychopathology. The present study sought to examine whether a brief, self-report measure of psychological distress could indicate the presence of co-occurring psychopathology among an outpatient sample of disordered gamblers. At intake, 69 participants completed self-report measures of distress and gambling symptomatology, a personality inventory, and a structured interview for the diagnostic criteria for disordered gambling. Gamblers with greater elevations of psychological distress evidenced greater severity of gambling pathology. Clinically significant elevations were present for symptoms of depression, deviancy, and anxiety, but not substance abuse. Greater scores of psychological distress significantly predicted elevations of depression, deviancy, and anxiety. Sensitivity and specificity were evaluated and the findings supported that an average psychological distress score of 16 corresponded with the presence of co-occurring psychopathology. Clinicians treating disordered gamblers should consider screening for co-occurring psychopathology with brief, self-report measures of psychological distress.     

The Nonprofit Capacities Instrument

Nonprofits are guided by internal efforts and external mandates to build capacity. However, scholars and grant makers are hampered by varied definitions of the concept, competing but untested models, and the lack of a reliable and valid measure. This research defines nonprofit capacity as the processes, practices, and people that the organization has at its disposal that enable it to produce, perform, or deploy resources to achieve its mission. An inductive‐confirmatory two‐study approach introduces and validates the Nonprofit Capacities Instrument, a 45‐item measure of eight nonprofit capacities derived from existing instruments. The capacities are (1) financial management, (2) adaptive capacity, (3) strategic planning, (4) external communication, (5) board leadership, (6) operational capacity, (7) mission orientation, and (8) staff management. Intriguingly, this research demonstrates that nonprofit capacity is not a singular or second‐order concept, but better described in its plural form, nonprofit capacities.     

Firearm presence and storage practices in North Carolina homes

Firearms injuries are a leading cause of injury and death in North Carolina, including suicide, homicide, intentional assault, and unintentional injuries. Research has demonstrated that the presence of a firearm in a household increases the risk for homicide and suicide. This study examined two firearms-related risk factors, the presence of a firearm in the household and risky storage practices (loaded and unlocked), using the 2011 North Carolina Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS). We hypothesized that among household firearm owners, those who keep unlocked loaded firearms would be varied by demographic variables and also by tendencies for more risk-taking behaviors such as smoking and drinking. Results showed that those who were more likely to keep firearms in or around the home were male, older age, White race, married, with some post high school education, and with higher income. There were no differences by region, age, race, education, or income among those who kept firearms loaded and unlocked. Risky storage practices were related to social conditions such as marital status and number of adults and children in the household. The presence of firearms was lower among those who lived alone; however, among those with a firearm in the household, 42% of single adult households keep a loaded and/or unlocked firearm in the house, and up to 30% of households with children do as well. Behavioral risk factors such as smoking, binge drinking, and not using a seatbelt when driving a car were also related to firearms possession and storage conditions.     

Working and nursing: navigating job and breastfeeding demands at work

Breastfeeding is a sex-specific, work–family issue for women. Yet, there is relatively little sociological research on the breastfeeding-work interface. What challenges do breastfeeding women face during the workday? (How) Are some more successful than others at merging breastfeeding and work? We conducted interviews with 22 US women as part of a case study of workplace breastfeeding support. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act [PPACA] (2010) includes breastfeeding provisions, but primarily address hourly workers. Most women in our study were not covered by the PPACA but had access to a workplace Breastfeeding Support Initiative. Despite this, women faced several challenges: different degrees of schedule control, unequal access to space, and unexpected breastfeeding demands. Women also had differential access to workplace resources to cope with demands. Control over both time and space was a cross-cutting theme. Research needs to better address work conditions that are conducive to breastfeeding rather than simply asking if work and breastfeeding are incompatible. Furthermore, workplace support initiatives will succeed only to the extent that they can directly address work conditions, even if on a temporary basis.