Infant Behavior and Competence Following Prenatal Exposure to a Natural Disaster: The QF2011 Queensland Flood Study

This study utilized a natural disaster to investigate the effects of prenatal maternal stress (PNMS) arising from exposure to a severe flood on maternally reported infant social–emotional and behavioral outcomes at 16 months, along with potential moderation by infant sex and gestational timing of flood exposure. Women pregnant during the Queensland floods in January 2011 completed measures of flood‐related objective hardship and posttraumatic stress (PTS). At 16 months postpartum, mothers completed measures describing depressive symptoms and infant social–emotional and behavioral problems (n = 123) and competence (n = 125). Greater maternal PTS symptoms were associated with reduced infant competence. A sex difference in infant behavioral problems emerged at higher levels of maternal objective hardship and PTS; boys had significantly more behavioral problems than girls. Additionally, greater PTS was associated with more behavioral problems in boys; however, this effect was attenuated by adjustment for maternal depressive symptoms. No main effects or interactions with gestational timing were found. Findings highlight specificity in the relationships between PNMS components and infant outcomes and demonstrate that the effects of PNMS exposure on behavior may be evident as early as infancy. Implications for the support of families exposed to a natural disaster during pregnancy are discussed.     

Mentoring Matters: An Innovative Approach to Infusing Mentorship in a Social Work Doctoral Program

Social work doctoral students must identify how to prioritize their time and how to gain the many qualifications required by the academic job market. Mentoring has long been recognized as an effective strategy for promoting academic success and degree completion in doctoral studies. This article describes three student-led initiatives in a social work doctoral program that sought to infuse mentorship throughout the program. The content of these innovative initiatives is discussed, as well as their implications for social work doctoral education.     

Open Dialogue: Frequently Asked Questions

Open Dialogue is an approach to working with people and their families experiencing psychosocial distress. Interest in Open Dialogue in Australia has been growing recently, raising questions about its adaption and implementation to local contexts. This article is an attempt to answer some of the frequently asked questions we have encountered in training and discussions about Open Dialogue. We attempt to provide responses to questions of how Open Dialogue is different to what is done already, how it fits with current approaches, how you know if you are doing it, whether it is passive or just about doing reflections, issues about including the social network, and concerns about the evidence base. This article aims to present a variety of viewpoints in relation to these questions and to hopefully further discussions on how Open Dialogue can be implemented and adapted to Australian health care and social care contexts.     

Colorful Reflections: Skin Tone,Reflected Race,and Perceived Discrimination among Blacks,Latinxs, and Whites

Race and Social Problems - How do Black, Latinx, and White people who believe they are mistaken as a member of another racial group perceive the amount of racial discrimination they experience, and...     

Is a Picture Worth A Thousand Words? An Experiment Comparing Observer-Based Skin Tone Measures

Several different measures of skin color are popular in social science surveys, yet we have little evidence to suggest which method is the most valid or re     

Building home on a fault line: Aging out of child welfare with a serious mental health diagnosis

Youth aging out of foster care are at high risk for homelessness. This research explains how and why homelessness occurs among youth with serious mental health struggles after aging out of residential and transitional living programmes. Using a longitudinal constructivist grounded theory design, we analyse 20 in‐depth interviews exploring youth's transition experiences and perceptions of transition success within 4 months of emancipation and at 6 and 12 months postemancipation. Monthly 15‐min check‐ins prevented attrition. A three‐phase transition process was observed driven by participant desires and actions to cultivate psychological home through establishing physical home alone away from social networks. Pre‐emancipation, the promise of home was privacy and opportunity for self‐redefinition. Shortly after emancipation, home became a physical and social space to be, a valuable resource to share and a demonstration of personal transition success. However, later in the year postemancipation, maintaining physical home proves nearly impossible given the risk context. Findings speak to how and why youth aging out appear overly self‐reliant upon emancipation. Cultivating a psychological sense of home has practice implications for child welfare providers who aim to prepare youth to live independently postemancipation.     

A Troubling Presence: Indigeneity in English‐Language Canadian Sociology

Over the past decade Canadian sociology has engaged in spirited debates on the sociology of sociological research, but it has barely begun to address its relation to Indigenous theorizing, scholarship, and politics. How does the discipline deal with the settler colonial history and current realities of Indigenous social lives, and where is the place in our field for Indigenous voices and perspectives? Drawing on Coulthard's politics of recognition and Tuck's damage‐centered research, we present here the first systematic empirical analysis of the place of Indigeneity in the Canadian Review of Sociology and the Canadian Journal of Sociology. We situate the presence of Indigeneity in Canadian sociology journals in the sociopolitical context of the time, and examine how imperialism, statism, and damage are oriented within the two journals. Most importantly, we challenge the silence in the discipline's intellectual frames and research programs with respect to Indigenous theorizing about the social world.     

Maternal mortality: What can we learn from stories of postpartum haemorrhage?

Death from pregnancy is rare in developed countries such as Australia but is still common in third world and developing countries. The investigation of each maternal death yields valuable information and lessons that all health care providers involved with the care of women can learn from. The aim of these investigations is to prevent future maternal morbidity and mortality.Obstetric haemorrhage remains a leading cause of maternal death internationally. It is the most common cause of death in developing countries. In Australia and the United Kingdom, obstetric haemorrhage is ranked as the 4th and 3rd most common cause of direct maternal death respectively. In a number of cases there are readily identifiable factors associated with the care that the women received that may have contributed to their death. It is from these identifiable factors that both midwives and doctors can learn to help prevent similar episodes from occurring.This article will identify some of the lessons that can be learnt from the recent Australian and UK maternal death reports. This paper presents an overview of the process and systems for the reporting of maternal death in Australia. It will then specifically focus on obstetric haemorrhage, with a focus on postpartum haemorrhage, for the 12-year period, 1994–2005. Vignettes from the maternal mortality reports in Australia and the United Kingdom are used to highlight the important lessons for providers of maternity care.     

Negative Religious Rhetoric in the Lives of Black Cisgender Queer Emerging Adult Men: A Qualitative Analysis

Given the intersection of racial, religious, and sexual identities for Black queer populations, the current study examines sexuality-related religious rhetoric. Twenty Black cisgender queer men were recruited to participate in a qualitative interview. Using thematic analysis, the research team identified four themes: negative religious rhetoric, personal consequences of negative religious rhetoric, social consequences of negative religious rhetoric, and growth from negative religious rhetoric. Participants explained the pervasiveness of negative religious rhetoric within their churches and family structures. Men also conveyed how negative religious rhetoric frames societal ideologies around same-sex behavior, often condoning violence toward queer populations. Although men had negative experiences, participants articulated the importance of using oppression as a platform for growth. Black cisgender queer men are present within religious institutions; however, such negative religious rhetoric may negatively affect their mental and physical health. Researchers, clinicians, and clergy should consider the ways negative religious rhetoric marginalizes queer populations.     

Partner Violence in Transgender Communities: What Helping Professionals Need to Know

ABSTRACT

In recent decades, there has been an increase in scholarly attention devoted to the study of intimate partner violence (IPV) within rainbow communities. While a growing body of scholarship now informs our understanding of the experiences of gay, lesbian, and bisexual men and women with IPV, comparatively less is known about IPV within transgender communities. Drawing on the published literature on transgender intimate relationships, this article seeks to provide practitioners with a foundational understanding of IPV in the lives of transgender people. Specifically, we will examine (a) methodological, political, and social barriers to the creation of knowledge about transgender IPV; (b) the familial and relationship contexts of IPV within transgender communities; (c) the prevalence of IPV experienced by transgender survivors; (d) the dynamics of IPV perpetrated against and/or by transgender persons; (e) the problematic use of the “trans panic” defense by perpetrators of IPV in legal contexts; and (f) recommendations for supporting transgender survivors of IPV in ways that are trans-inclusive and trans-positive.