Parenting perceptions among college students: A qualitative examination

This study assessed the knowledge and attitudes of young adults without children in regard to discipline and parenting practices. A qualitative design was utilized (n?=?26) with semistructured focus groups. Results indicated participants believed discipline is important, with spanking and loss of privileges being the most effective strategy for behavior change. The majority of participants reported plans to discipline future children the way in which they were disciplined, suggesting a high percentage intend to utilize spanking. Findings suggest that personal experiences shape parenting beliefs, attitudes, and knowledge. Results inform efforts at educating future parents on appropriate parenting practices and indicate the need for protocols for young adults to educate about practices that may diverge from their personal experiences.     

Social Justice as Concept and Practice in Australian Social Work: An Analysis of Norma Parker Addresses, 1969–2008

Abstract

Social justice is central to Australian social work. Principles of social justice underpin the definition of social work as a profession, its code of ethics, and its standards of practice and education. However, there is a dearth of empirical research regarding what social justice has meant to social work over time and how it has been enacted in practice, topical as social inequalities continue to escalate. As a first-stage study, this paper examines how social justice was represented within 19 Norma Parker Addresses delivered by Presidents of the Australian Association of Social Workers at national conferences between 1969 and 2008. Two key themes were evident: social justice as a concept and social justice as social work practice. Social justice was represented conceptually throughout the Addresses as an enduring guiding principle and moral responsibility for social work. How social justice was enacted in practice included themes of: standpoint; practices and strategies; educating social workers; and contested and constrained practice. The meanings and practices of social justice were embedded within the changing contexts within which the Addresses were delivered. Further historical studies can inform social work knowledge, practice, and critical reflection as the profession continues to evolve and confront persistent social justice challenges.     

Family support: A review of the literature on families of adolescents with disabilities

ABSTRACT

For all youth, adolescence is a time of great change, marked by multiple transitions. For those with disabilities, these transitions can be especially challenging for the youth and their families. Although families of adolescents with disabilities often require support, it is unclear what types of assistance are most helpful. To understand the responsibilities of and, correspondingly, supports needed for parents and siblings, the authors conducted a comprehensive literature review. Specifically, the authors examined the literature to identify the supports that families provide to their adolescent relatives with disabilities, the impacts of caring for an adolescent relative with a disability, and the assistance that families receive. The authors conclude by discussing implications for future research about family support.     

Association of Demanding Kin Relations With Psychological Distress and School Achievement Among Low‐Income,African American Mothers and Adolescents: Moderating Effects of Family Routine

Association of demanding kin relations and family routine with adolescents' psychological distress and school achievement was assessed among 200 low‐income, African American mothers and adolescents. Demanding kin relations were significantly associated with adolescents' psychological distress. Family routine was significantly related to adolescents' school achievement. Demanding kin relations were negatively associated with school achievement for adolescents from families low in routine, but unrelated to achievement for adolescents in families high in routine. Additional research is needed on poor families and their social networks.     

Using the Constructs Multifinality,Work Hope,and Possible Selves With Urban Minority Youth

This article describes and highlights the potential contributions that the constructs multifinality, work hope, and possible selves make for designing career counseling interventions and for better understanding possible career‐related factors associated with academic engagement and achievement among urban minority youth. Multifinality may serve as a superordinate orientation because it conceptualizes development as discontinuous and relatively plastic, allowing for youth deemed at risk to follow more hopeful pathways. Work hope and possible selves emphasize the utility of providing urban minority youth with space to answer questions related to what they might achieve and do in the future and who they might become. Together, multifinality, work hope, and possible selves provide a hopeful conceptual framework for career researchers and practitioners.     

Multidimensional self-esteem as a mediator of the relationship between sports participation and victimization: a study of African American girls

The purpose of this study that focused on African American high school girls was threefold. First, the relationship of sports participation and victimization was explored. Second, the impact of sports participation on self-esteem was assessed. Third, the role of self-esteem and its disaggregated components (social acceptance, competence, and self-confidence) as mediators of the relationship between sports participation and victimization was examined. In accordance with the sport protection hypothesis, it was hypothesized that sports participation would be related to enhanced self-esteem and reduce victimization. Results suggest that sports participation appears to have some relationship to lower rates of victimization. There was also support for our assertion that sports participation was related to enhanced self-esteem. Finally, overall self-esteem and, specifically, the individual component competence mediated the relationship between sports participation and victimization.     

Women’s Cultures and Social Movements in Global Contexts

This article examines the role that women’s cultures and communities have played in political protest and social change. We argue that women’s cultures, which form around the reproductive roles, labor, and emotional expectations placed on women, have been used to express femininity and as cultural resources or “toolkits” to transform male‐dominated spheres of society. We begin by defining women’s cultures, emphasizing that there is no universal women’s culture because the structural arrangements and cultural meanings of gender vary by race, ethnicity, class, nationality, and political context. We then review research that demonstrates the significance of women’s cultures for the collective identities and tactics deployed in social movements and protest, demonstrating how the study of women’s cultures and gender processes in social movements has contributed empirically and theoretically to understanding social movements. We examine women’s cultures and collective identities in communities as wide ranging as self‐help groups, lesbian communities, feminist organizations, and anti‐feminist groups. We then draw on prevailing theories of cultural change in globalization studies (cultural differentialism, cultural convergence, and cultural hybridization) to understand how women’s cultures have contributed to social change. We conclude by identifying future directions for the study of women’s cultures and social movements.     

Maya cosmopolitans: engaging tactics and strategies in the performance of tourism

Maya heritage is embraced throughout Yucatán as a crucial component of tourism promotions. This, coupled with an emphasis on multiculturalism, makes the state itself a local actor in the marketing of Maya identity through the creation and funding of community-based tourism projects. This article discusses the shifting role of the state in shaping these communities, referencing a Maya village in the Mexican state of Yucatán as the context. The aim is an understanding of the articulation of local tactics to conceal cosmopolitanism while remaining competent in the eyes of funding agencies and the strategies employed by the state that reinforce the importance of performance for tourists. The desire on the part of state creates situations in which individuals are expected to exist in concurrent states of authenticity and modernity, as both traditional and cosmopolitan.