Risk factors for preterm,low birthweight and small for gestational age births among Aboriginal women from remote communities in Northern Australia

Objective

To identify the risk factors for preterm birth, low birthweight and small for gestational age babies among remote-dwelling Aboriginal women.

The right tool for the job: problems and solutions in visualizing sociological theory

The visualization of social theory is an important part of the development and communication of our theoretical ideas. While most theorists use figures of some kind, few if any have formal training, or guiding rules or principles for the representation of theory. This has often led to poor visualization efforts, and the visual culture of sociology continues to lag behind the natural sciences. The intent of this paper is to serve as a practical and empirically aided guide for social theorists, by providing insights surrounding the cognitive and perceptual properties of certain elements and figures. Through these properties we identify four major problems in theory visualization: vagueness, reduction, unwanted spatial inferences and unwanted metaphorical inferences. We offer solutions to these problems, and to improving theory visualization more generally. Our hope is that this paper will serve as a resource for more thoughtful and informed visualization for practicing social theorists.     

Beyond Bluff oysters? Place identity and ethnicity in a peripheral coastal setting

Studies of culture and place form a long tradition in geography but, within rural studies, less attention has been given to the ways in which contrasting ethnicities intersect with specific places and landscapes. Recently, an increasing number of authors have noted how dominant Anglophone, western, ethnicities (frequently labelled ‘white’) have been privileged in British, Australian and New Zealand settings and this paper engages that literature. We use a detailed case study of place identity in Southern New Zealand to show how a composite appreciation of ethnicity provides a deeper understanding of place identity. As such we demonstrate how place and ethnicity intersect via diverse landscapes, social interaction sites and cultural practices.     

Adolescent Perceptions of Conflict in Interdependent and Disengaged Friendships

Interdependent and disengaged friendships in a middle‐class sample of suburban Israeli adolescents were examined for differences in reports of conflict behavior. A total of 194 (100 females, and 94 males) close, reciprocal friends participated in a joint problem‐solving task used to categorize friendships. Interdependent friends balanced closeness and individuality by cooperating on the task, whereas disengaged friends emphasized individuality by working independently on the task. In separate interviews, these friends recounted their most important conflict from the previous week. Older adolescents (M= 17.4 years) reported more conflicts over private disrespect than did younger adolescents (M= 12.7 years), whereas younger adolescents reported more conflicts over public disrespect and undependability than did older adolescents. Differences between friendship types in conflict initiation, negative affect, and relationship impact were found among older adolescents but not younger adolescents; differences in conflict resolutions were found in both age groups. In contrast to disengaged friends, interdependent friends were better able to manage conflicts in a manner that emphasized relationship harmony over individual gain.     

Self- and family-expressiveness styles in the experience and expression of anger

To assess the relationship between expressivity styles and the experience and expression of anger, 79 college students and adults filled out questionnaires on self-expressiveness, family expressiveness, and anger in social situations. Also, 60 subjects designated a friend, family member, or spouse who filled out short questionnaires about the subject. Agreement between subjects and designated others was strong for self- and family expressiveness, but somewhat weaker for anger.Self-expressiveness was only slightly related to anger expression, and only when the designated other was describing the subject's anger experiences. Negative family expressiveness, however, was related to subjects' anger expression, and to some degree to their anger experience, when assessed by either the subject or the designated other, and when self-expressiveness was partialled out. The results suggest the importance of family expressive background on individuals' present-day expressions and experiences of anger.We gratefully acknowledge the financial assistance of the Vassar Research Fund and the comments of Randolph Cornelius and Judith Hall on an earlier draft of the paper.     

On the multiple frontiers of extraction: excavating contemporary capitalism

Understanding the intensification and expansion of extractive industries in contemporary capitalism requires an approach attentive not only to the literal forms of extraction prevalent in mining and agribusiness but also to new fronts of extraction emerging in activities such as data mining and biocapitalism. This article introduces the concept of operations of capital to trace connections between the expansive logic of extraction and capitalist activity in the domains of logistics and finance. Arguing that extractive operations are at large across these domains, we explore their relevance for capital’s relation with its multiple outsides. The resulting analysis provides a basis for mapping struggles against the changing forms of dispossession and exploitation enabled by extraction.     

Adolescent fathers involved with child protection: social workers speak

This study examined adolescent paternity through structured interviews with their social workers. It adds to the literature by exploring if there were young men involved with the child protection services (CPS) system who are fathers, identifying their unique needs, and beginning discussions on working with these young men. CPS social workers from six area offices and one juvenile detention facility completed surveys for each father on their caseload. A 3.5% rate of adolescent paternity was observed across these offices. Information about the nature of the young men's involvement with CPS, their involvement with their children, and their unique needs as fathers are provided. This paper also identifies some practice and policy implications for adolescent fathers and CPS charged with their care.     

The Experience of Disability from the Perspective of Parents of Children with Profound Impairment: Is it time for an alternative model of disability?

This article considers the significance of a model of disability in relation to the child with profound impairment and examines the individual and social models of disability in connection with this. It is argued that although these two models cannot be completely dismissed, the models largely ignore the experience and perspective of the profoundly impaired child, their parent(s) and family. Following in-depth interviews with four parents I attempted to elicit the experience of disability from this perspective. I invited the parents to tell me the ways in which they experience disability, how they viewed the nature and cause of disability in their lives and the relationship between themselves and the various professionals involved in the care of their child. This article endeavours to implement the interview 'findings' to inform an alternative model of disability, the 'Alliance' model, which is briefly discussed and critiqued.     

Factors Influencing Farmers' Expectations to Sell Agricultural Land for Non‐Agricultural Uses*

Abstract In this study we identify factors that influence farmers' expectations to sell some or all of their farming operation in areas where the increase in the conversion of agricultural land has been relatively rapid. Findings indicate that the following factors increase farmers' propensity to sell some or all of the agricultural operation for non‐agricultural land use: perceived negative change (particularly difficulty in obtaining and retaining rental land and in purchasing land) increases the likelihood that farmers will expect the operation to become nonviable, which in turn increases the expectation to sell some or all agricultural land; lack of a child who will take over the operation; and declining profits from the operation. Factors that apparently exert little influence on the expectation to sell some or all of the farming operation include level of intrinsic rewards that a farmer experiences from his farming operation, the farmer's satisfaction with his community, and the farmer's closeness to retirement age.