Gender,Culture and Intervention: Exploring Differences between Aboriginal and Non‐Aboriginal Children’s Responses to an Early Intervention Programme

Evaluation of a group parenting programme in the Northern Territory of Australia showed significant differences in benefits for Aboriginal and non‐Aboriginal boys and girls. The analysis considers whether boys and girls from different cultural backgrounds present with different problems; whether parental expectations for boys and girls differ and whether the intervention activates different responses in different settings. Conclusions suggest that there is a need to closely examine the ‘cultural logic’ of interventions, the appropriateness of their assumptions about child development and hypothesised mechanisms of change in different settings.     

Discrepancies in Reporting of Physical and Sexual Abuse Among Homeless Young Adults

This study investigated risk factors for discrepant reporting of physical and sexual abuse among 172 homeless young adults. Discrepant reporting includes situations in which a respondent denies experiencing abuse in general but reports being a victim of specific forms of maltreatment. The results revealed that discrepant reporting rates tended to be highest for minor physical assault and for noncontact sexual abuse. Multivariate results revealed that demographic characteristics were important correlates of both discrepant physical and sexual abuse reporters. Family background characteristics also played a role in discrepant reporting for physical abuse. Overall, some young people with abuse histories are not adequately labeling their maltreatment experiences and, as a result, may not be receiving the necessary treatment.     

Creating “Community”? Preparing for Bushfire in Rural Victoria

The term “community” has a long and contested lineage in social analysis and debate. This lineage, however, is not generally recognized in policy and public debates on community and bushfire in Australia. “Community” is thought to be central to bushfire preparedness in Australia, especially in rural areas, but what “community” actually means in this context is vague at best. There is an ever‐present tension between the use of “community” as a reference to locality, a “sense of community” as experienced by residents, and the use of “community” as a rhetorical tool by governments and state agencies. We argue that a rigorous analysis of the concept of “community” is critical to an understanding of the processes involved in preparing for the challenges associated with disaster, in this case bushfires. These broader issues are supported by research (a series of surveys, interviews, and focus groups) carried out with residents living in (predominantly rural) bushfire‐prone areas in the state of Victoria, Australia. Ultimately, we assert that social participation and social networks are likely to be the crucial aspects of community that play a central role in effective bushfire preparedness.     

Occupational Mobility and Culture Maintenance: The Welsh in a Nineteenth Century Australian Gold Town

This article quantifies the concentration of Welsh male immigrants in a nineteenth- century Australian gold town within one occupational category (gold mining), and considers the extent to which that concentration was maintained and the relevance of this economic specialisation to culture maintenance. In addition, this study provides an analysis of intragenerational and intergenerational changes in socio-economic status amongst the Welsh, as indicated by occupational shifts, which gives a clearer picture than the images promulgated by contemporary Welsh leaders who strove to emphasize the industry and upward mobility of their fellow countrymen.     

“Would You Do That in Your Home?” Making Nursing Homes Home-like in Culture Change Implementation

Qualitative interviews with nursing home administrators reveal innovative and cost-conscious ways to physically modify facilities that help institute culture change practices. Telephone interviews were conducted following a national survey of nursing home nursing directors and administrators. In this cross-sectional snapshot of administrator experiences, motivations for making facilities more home-like and less institutional and creative responses to challenges are described. State and corporate support and regulator encouragement are noted that help their reform efforts. Administrators note that small steps to create a more home-like environment can result in a positive impact that minimizes disruption to existing care processes. They describe how they respond to challenges, such as the physical plant and high costs, and note how comparative shopping, cost-conscious physical improvements, and continuous involvement of staff and residents contribute to successful efforts. Their examples illustrate novel ways to humanize long-term care facilities that other nursing homes can emulate.     

A comparison of risk factors for sexual victimization among gay, lesbian, bisexual, and heterosexual homeless young adults

Although high rates of sexual victimization have been reported among homeless youth, less is known about whether the risk factors vary for gay, lesbian, and bisexual youth compared to heterosexual youth. Based on a sample of 172 homeless young adults ages 19 to 26, results revealed that depressive symptoms, prostitution, and having friends who traded sex were significantly associated with higher levels of sexual victimization. Gay, lesbian, and bisexual young adults experienced more sexual victimization compared to heterosexual young adults. A test for interactions revealed that the effect of sexual orientation on sexual victimization was moderated by trading sex and having friends who traded sex. Finally, there is support for partial mediation of the effects of sexual abuse, neglect, and depressive symptoms on sexual victimization through other risk factors.     

A Qualitative Study of the Formation and Composition of Social Networks Among Homeless Youth

Although social networks are essential for explaining protective and risk factors among homeless youth, little is known about the formation and composition of these groups. In this study, we utilized 19 in-depth interviews with homeless youth to investigate their social network formation, role relationships, housing status, and network member functions. Our findings reveal that the formation of these networks occurred in different ways including meeting network members through others or in specific social situations. The majority of social network members were currently housed and provided various functions including instrumental and social support and protection. Responses from participants provide valuable insight into the formation of social networks and potentially explain their subsequent involvement in risky behaviors.     

The effect of poor parenting on male and female dating violence perpetration and victimization

This study examines the effects of poor parenting on dating violence perpetration and victimization among approximately 900 males and females from the National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health (Add Health). Results revealed that more physical abuse and low parental warmth were linked to greater substance use and higher rates of delinquency. In addition, low parental warmth, more neglect, and greater delinquency had positive direct effects on dating violence perpetration, whereas more physical abuse, low parental warmth, and increased delinquency were all positively associated with dating violence victimization. Finally, delinquency mediated the link between low parental warmth and dating violence perpetration and victimization. The results provide some support for both social learning theory and an antisocial orientation perspective.     

The Impact of Childhood Sexual Abuse on Later Sexual Victimization among Runaway Youth

Path analysis was used to investigate the impact of childhood sexual abuse on later sexual victimization among 372 homeless and runaway youth in Seattle. Young people were interviewed directly on the streets and in shelters by outreach workers in youth service agencies. High rates of both childhood sexual abuse and street sexual victimization were reported, with females experiencing much greater rates compared with their male counterparts. Early sexual abuse in the home increased the likelihood of later sexual victimization on the streets indirectly by increasing the amount of time at risk, deviant peer affiliations, participating in deviant subsistence strategies, and engaging in survival sex. These findings suggest that exposure to dysfunctional and disorganized homes place youth on trajectories for early independence. Subsequently, street life and participation in high‐risk behaviors increases their probability of sexual victimization.     

Lesbian brides: post-queer popular culture

The last decade has witnessed a proliferation of lesbian representations in European and North American popular culture, particularly within television drama and broader celebrity culture. The abundance of “positive” and “ordinary” representations of lesbians is widely celebrated as signifying progress in queer struggles for social equality. Yet, as this article details, the terms of the visibility extended to lesbians within popular culture often affirm ideals of hetero-patriarchal, white femininity. Focusing on the visual and narrative registers within which lesbian romances are mediated within television drama, this article examines the emergence of what we describe as “the lesbian normal.” Tracking the ways in which the lesbian normal is anchored in a longer history of “the normal gay,” it argues that the lesbian normal is indicative of the emergence of a broader post-feminist and post-queer popular culture, in which feminist and queer struggles are imagined as completed and belonging to the past. Post-queer popular culture is depoliticising in its effects, diminishing the critical potential of feminist and queer politics, and silencing the actually existing conditions of inequality, prejudice, and stigma that continue to shape lesbian lives.