Intervening with Couples Experiencing Domestic Violence: Development of a Systemic Framework

Current gendered interventions for couples experiencing intimate partner violence often do not address the complex systemic issues, nor allow for couple therapy. Experience of working in men's behaviour change group programs (or batterer programs) and with heterosexual couples, indicates this is not enough. Change options for men perpetrating domestic violence and support for partners are generally provided by individual services or gendered groups, located in separate agencies. This article initially poses some of the inadequacies of this gendered, ‘one size fits all’ ideology, which may compromise safety when couples stay together or there is shared parenting. It then explores further questions and possibilities raised by utilising a systemic lens in working with partners and families. It is possible to work systemically with a couple without compromising safety and accountability, where there is flexibility at intake, a both/and approach, ongoing assessment of risk, collaboration between professionals, and good transitions between individual and conjoint work. This article describes a systemic practice framework for working with partners, utilising individual, group, and conjoint sessions in a recursive four phase approach.     

How Does High School Extracurricular Participation Predict Bachelor’s Degree Attainment? It is Complicated

This study answered novel questions about the connection between high school extracurricular dosage (number of activities and participation duration) and the attainment of a bachelor’s degree. Using data from the Common Application and the National Student Clearinghouse (N = 311,308), we found that greater extracurricular participation positively predicted bachelor’s degree attainment. However, among students who ultimately earned a bachelor’s degree, participating in more than a moderate number of high school activities (3 or 4) predicted decreasing odds of earning a bachelor’s degree on time (within 4 years). This effect intensified as participation duration increased, such that students who participated in the greatest number of high school activities for the most years were the most likely to delay college graduation.     

A randomized controlled trial of the effects of mindfulness practice on doctoral candidate psychological status

Objectives: To examine the impact of guided mindfulness practice on psychological distress and psychological capital (hope, optimism, resilience, and efficacy) in doctoral candidates. Participants: Recruitment of a convenience sample of doctoral candidates occurred in July 2015 and participants were randomly allocated to the control or intervention group (38 and 34 participants completed the trial, respectively). Methods: A single-blinded, randomized controlled trial with intention-to-treat analysis was conducted. The intervention consisted of a daily guided mindfulness practice, using an audio CD. Indicators of psychological distress and psychological capital were measured pre- and post-trial with validated questionnaires. Results: Compared to the control group, the intervention group reported a statistically significantly reduction in depression (p?=?.045) and increased self-efficacy (p?=?.004), hope (p?=?.000), and resilience (p?=?.011). Conclusions: These results highlight the effectiveness of self-administered mindfulness practice on the psychological health of doctoral candidates, and the positive effect on psychological capital is reported as a key finding.     

Using geographically weighted regression for environmental justice analysis: Cumulative cancer risks from air toxics in Florida

Previous quantitative research on environmental justice has been limited by simplistic assumptions used to measure health risks and traditional regression techniques that fail to discern spatial variations in statistical relationships. We address these gaps through a case study that examines: (a) whether potential health risks from exposure to hazardous air pollutants in Florida are related to race/ethnicity and socioeconomic status, and (b) how the significance of statistical associations between health risk and race/ethnicity or socioeconomic status vary across the state. This study integrates census tract level estimates of cumulative cancer risk compiled by the EPA with Census 2000 data and a spatial statistical technique known as geographically weighted regression that allows us to explore spatial variability in analytical results. Our findings indicate that while race and ethnicity are significantly related to cancer risks in Florida, conventional regression can hide important local variations in statistical relationships relevant to environmental justice analysis.     

The Effect of Different Cultural Lenses on Reliability and Validity in Observational Data: The Example of Chinese Immigrant Parent–Toddler Dinner Interactions

This study used a mixed methodology to investigate reliability, validity, and analysis level with Chinese immigrant observational data. European‐American and Chinese coders quantitatively rated 755 minutes of Chinese immigrant parent–toddler dinner interactions on parental sensitivity, intrusiveness, detachment, negative affect, positive affect, and parents' confidence. They also gave qualitative coding rationales for their quantitative ratings. Analysis of quantitative ratings indicated systematic differences associated with coder ethnicity. Such differences could threaten the reliability between coders with different ethnicities. Analysis of qualitative rationales revealed different cultural links between concepts and behavior cues, which could challenge the cross‐cultural validity of a macro‐level coding system. When a coding system is incongruous with coders' cultural schemata, even after intensive training, the effect of culture cannot be eliminated. Implications of these findings for observational cultural research are discussed.     

What's sex got to do with it? A family‐based investigation of growing up heterosexual during the twentieth century

This paper explores findings from a cross-generational study of the making of heterosexual relationships in East Yorkshire, which has interviewed women and men within extended families. Using a feminist perspective, it examines the relationship between heterosexuality and adulthood, focussing on sexual attraction, courtship, first kisses, first love and first sex, as mediated within family relationships, and at different historical moments. In this way, the contemporary experiences of young people growing up are compared and contrasted with those of mid-lifers and older adults who formed heterosexual relationships within the context of the changing social and sexual mores of the 1960s/1970s, and the upheavals of World War Two.