Haudenosaunee Grandmothers Caring for their Grandchildren: The Process of Assuming the Caregiving Role

The purpose of this grounded theory study was to understand the processes, motivations, and reasons for Aboriginal grandmothers assuming the full-time caregiving role for their grandchildren. Fifteen Haudenosaunee grandmothers who were from the Six Nations community participated in this study. The results indicate that a series of complex factors, circumstances, and processes contributed to them caring for their grandchildren. Of particular significance is that, prior to assuming their full-time caregiving roles, they had intermittently cared for their grandchildren as a means of preventing family breakdown. Many of them were accustomed to this type of care arrangement as over half of the grandmothers had been cared for by their grandmothers or great-mothers. Ultimately, they cared for their grandchildren as a means of “keeping the state’s hands off” their grandchildren and avoiding child welfare involvement. Furthermore, the women in this study served as important vital roles for healing in Aboriginal families and communities.     

The Mediating Role of Secular Coping Strategies in the Relationship Between Religious Appraisals and Adjustment to Chronic Pain: The Middle Road to Damascus

Despite an outgrowth in research examining associations between religiosity and health outcomes, there has been a lack of empirical focus on the relationship between religiosity and adjustment to chronic pain. This study investigated specific secular coping strategies that mediate the proposed relationship between religious appraisals and pain-related outcomes. Twenty-nine chronic pain patients completed measures assessing pain-related coping strategies, pain severity, disability, depression, positive and negative affect, trait anger and three types of religious appraisals- benevolent God appraisals, punishing God appraisals, and demonic appraisals. A significant positive relationship was found between punishing God appraisals and depression, with catastrophizing mediating this relationship. Demonic appraisals were significantly related to disability. Benevolent religious appraisals were related to positive affect. Benevolent religious appraisals were significantly related to the secular coping strategies of diverting attention, ignoring pain sensations, reinterpreting pain sensations and using coping self-statements, but these coping strategies did not mediate the relationship between benevolent religious appraisals and positive affect. While this study provides no evidence that religious appraisals influence pain perception, data suggest that both positive and negative religious appraisals are related to mental health outcomes in a chronic pain population.     

A qualitative analysis of suicide risk factors,preferred means,and means restriction feasibility within a homeless shelter environment

Suicide completion rates among homeless individuals are approximately nine times higher than the general population. The purpose of this study was to capture the state of social support among homeless individuals, understand how homeless community members support peers in crisis, examine the awareness of suicidal ideation, identify common methods for suicide, and generate strategies for means restriction within a shelter. Twenty individuals residing at an emergency shelter were interviewed. Participants were of diverse cultural identities overrepresented in the sample relative to the general population. Interviews revealed that 40% of participants lacked social support. However, the majority indicated that if they encountered someone at risk for suicide, they would provide support and encouragement to the at-risk individual. Almost half of participants reported knowing of an individual in the shelter who had previously attempted suicide and/or was currently or previously feeling suicidal. Overdose was identified as a primary method for suicide; however, the majority of participants were unable to generate strategies for means restriction. The present study offers a glimpse into the experience of homeless individuals and provides valuable information regarding risk factors for suicide within this highly marginalized and underserved population.     

The conceptualization of mistreatment by older American Indians

The problem of how to conceptualize elder mistreatment goes back several decades, and is especially important for ethnic minority populations, who may have perspectives that differ from the dominant society. This community-based participatory research study, which examined perceptions of mistreatment by family among 100 urban and rural older American Indians, permits a rare glimpse into how Native elders themselves understand this issue. Here, good treatment was conceptualized in terms of being taken care of, having one’s needs met, and being respected. We found relatively high standards for how elders should be treated—such as the belief that an elder’s needs should be anticipated and met without the elder needing to ask—in the face of widespread accounts of the mistreatment of elders within the community, largely through various acts of financial exploitation and neglect. Substance abuse and culture loss were blamed formuch of the elder mistreatment occurring in contemporary Native communities.     

Do Children With Gender Dysphoria Have Intense/Obsessional Interests?

This study examined whether children clinically referred for gender dysphoria (GD) show increased symptoms of autism spectrum disorder (ASD). Circumscribed preoccupations or intense interests were considered as overlapping symptoms expressed in GD and ASD. In gender-referred children (n = 534; 82.2% male) and their siblings (n = 419; 57.5% male), we examined Items 9 and 66 on the Child Behavior Checklist, which measure obsessions and compulsions, respectively. Non-GD clinic-referred (n = 1,201; 48.5% male) and nonreferred (n = 1,201; 48.5% male) children were also examined. Gender-referred children were elevated compared to all other groups for Item 9, and compared to siblings and nonreferred children for Item 66. A gender-related theme was significantly more common for gender-referred boys than male siblings on Item 9 only. A gender-related theme was not significantly more common for gender-referred girls compared to their female siblings on either item. The findings for Item 9 support the idea that children with GD show an elevation in obsessional interests. For gender-referred boys in particular, gender-related themes constituted more than half of the examples provided by their mothers. Intense/obsessional interests in children with GD may be one of the factors underlying the purported link between GD and ASD.     

Joint physical custody and neighborhood friendships in middle childhood

Almost half of first marriages end in divorce, which in turn may produce joint physical custody arrangements. Seen by many states to be in the best interest of the child, joint physical custody is increasingly common. Yet much is unknown about its consequences for children. This article considers how joint physical custody arrangements affect children’s neighborhood friendships, an important component of child well-being because of their contributions to social and cognitive development. Thirteen parents and 17 children (aged 5–11) in 10 families, selected via convenience and snowball sampling, participated in semistructured interviews. The findings suggest that joint physical custody arrangements do not imperil children’s neighborhood friendships; indeed, most children and parents interviewed voiced contentment in this area.     

Neglect of older adults in Michigan nursing homes

Although research on domestic elder abuse and neglect has grown over the past 20 years, there is limited research on elder neglect in nursing homes. The purpose of this study is to estimate the incidence of elder neglect in nursing homes and identify the individual and contextual risks associated with elder neglect. Data came from a 2005 random digit dial survey of individuals in Michigan who had relatives in long term care. Our analytic sample included 414 family members who had a relative aged 65 or older in nursing homes. Results showed that about 21% of nursing home residents were neglected on one or more occasion in the last 12 months. Two nursing home residents' characteristics reported by family members appear to significantly increase the odds of neglect: functional impairments in activities of daily living and previous resident-to-resident victimization. Behavior problems also are associated with higher odds of neglect (p = 0.078). Policy implications of these results are discussed.     

Sarcasm and Interactional Politics

In this article, I discuss some of the ways in which sarcasm may be used to accomplish interactional politics, and, in light of these observations, suggest a more appropriate conceptualization of both the overlaps between and the polarity of sarcasm and humor. First, I draw upon observations of routine interaction to illustrate some of the forms that sarcastic transactions may take: social control, declaration of allegiance, establishing social solidarity and social distance, venting frustration, and humorous aggression. I then suggest the analytical utility of regrouping these same observations according to their instrumental and expressive functions in interaction. Finally, I argue that sarcasm and humor, though structurally similar, have different implications for interactional politics. I propose a continuum model which better conceptualizes the relationship between these two communicative resources.