Editor’s Introduction: All About the Mother

ABSTRACT

This short editorial note introduces a panel titled “All About the Mother” that is being presented in its original conference format with papers by Orna Guralnik, Jade McGleughlin, Julie Leavitt, and Stephen Hartman.     

How Can I Become More Secure?: A Grounded Theory of Earning Secure Attachment

The purpose of this study was to develop a grounded theory of earning secure attachment. This study included 15 women and 5 men who met the criteria of having a self-reported history of attachment insecurity and demonstrated evidence of earned security. The grand tour research question, How do adults with a history of insecure attachment earn security?, was explored using constructivist grounded theory and semi-structured interviews emphasizing processes of positive attachment change. The results describe a process model of change hinging on three interrelated categories: meta-conditions of positive attachment change, making intrapsychic changes, and making interpersonal changes. Clinical implications include the importance of clients committing to the process, clients working with a clinician trained in trauma-focused therapy, and clinicians being surrogate attachment figures for clients.     

Learning Under Authoritarianism: Strategic Adaptations Within International Foundations and NGOs in China

VOLUNTAS: International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations - Within the field of international relations, scholarship supports the notion that international non-governmental...     

Is emergency preparedness a ‘disaster’ for people with disabilities in the US? Results from the 2006–2012 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS)

This study compared emergency preparedness of people with activity limitations, with limitations who use specialized equipment, and with mental health conditions with that of people without these disabilities. Results of chi-square analysis and logistic regression analysis showed that people with activity limitations and/or mental health conditions were significantly less prepared for emergencies than people who used specialized equipment or persons without disabilities. Having an activity limitation and/or severe mental health conditions, and being non-white, uncoupled, female, and below the poverty line increases the likelihood of not being prepared. Suggestions for increasing preparedness related to training and policy development were discussed.     

Portfolio Analysis of Layered Security Measures

Layered defenses are necessary for protecting the public from terrorist attacks. Designing a system of such defensive measures requires consideration of the interaction of these countermeasures. In this article, we present an analysis of a layered security system within the lower Manhattan area. It shows how portfolios of security measures can be evaluated through portfolio decision analysis. Consideration is given to the total benefits and costs of the system. Portfolio diagrams are created that help communicate alternatives among stakeholders who have differing views on the tradeoffs between security and economic activity.     

The Significance of Living Together and Importance of Marriage in Same-Sex Couples

Because marriage has been denied to same-sex couples, it is likely that the meaning and significance ascribed to non-marital cohabitation may be unique. Further, it is unclear whether same-sex couples view marriage as important to their relationships, and if they do, why. Using qualitative data from 526 individuals in cohabiting same-sex relationships across 47 states, we explored (1) the meaning and significance of cohabitation and (2) the perceived importance of legal marriage to the relationship. Participants viewed cohabitation as significant, most commonly because it indicates long-term commitment, provides emotional support, makes the couple a family, and allows them to share life together. Marriage was perceived as important to a majority (90%), most commonly because it confers financial and legal benefits, relational legitimacy, and demonstrates the same commitment as different-sex couples. Overall, findings highlight the symbolic significance of cohabitation and importance of access to legal marriage to adults in same-sex relationships.     

Disability, Eugenics and the Current Ideology of Segregation: a modern moral tale

Recently, an amalgamation of articles have appeared in a wide range of publications linking together community and school inclusion, and facilitated communication research as an unholy trinity of anti-empiricism eroding the disability fields. The authors of these critiques suggest that there exists a scientific basis for state institutions, segregated learning and a non-critical acceptance of traditional interpretations of expressive ability on the part of people with disabilities. In this article we expose not science, but an ideology of segregated control behind these claims. This ideology permeates the disabilityrelated professions and is cloaked in the language of the natural sciences. We trace this use of the natural sciences to the eugenics movement of the early twentieth century and explore the legacy of the ideology of control as it impacts current understanding of disability.