The Greens and Social Policy: Movements,Politics and Practice?

The central aim of this paper is to show how different types of green movement respond to questions of social policy. An important factor in this is a difference in attitudes to the state between more anarchistic greens and those greens that are prepared to accept a permanent and/or strategic role for the state. The paper is divided into two parts. In part one, after defning the green movement, it outlines how different green social movements from local groups, direct action protestors, established environmental groups and green political parties, have developed analyses, responses and alternatives to social policy issues. Part two of the paper looks at some of the ideological/theoretical debates within green politics with regard to social policy, with particular regard to the role of the state. It goes on to look at some of the ways in which European green parties have viewed social policy, and at proposals they have advanced for moving the aim of social policy from "welfare" to "well-being". It concludes with suggesting that the "post-materialist" characterization of green politics is very wide of the mark in terms of the range of analyses and policy alternatives greens have put forward, from health, education and drugs to transport. The central and long-standing green concern with lessening socioeconomic inequalities (but without relying on indiscriminate and unsustainable "economic growth") means that in terms of social policy, green politics can be seen as an "environmentalism of the poor", concerned with "materialist" issues.     

What Adolescents Can Tell Us: Technology and the Future of Social Work Education

The use and usefulness of Information Technology (IT) is rapidly growing around the world, especially among the youth. IT has been shown to impact learning styles, communication, and social relationships in many ways. Recently, significant discussion has arisen around the importance of IT in higher education and more specifically, social work education. This study qualitatively assesses 128 youth aged 13–14 years to understand their access to and use of IT as well as the way it impacts their psychosocial development to provide clues that will help inform the design of social work education for the future. Youth in four school districts reported unanimous access to computers and television and a majority of students used other technologies. Adolescents reported increased ease of communication and ability to get information as well as enhanced social relationships connected to their use of IT. Discussion and implications suggest that in the future, social work education will have to implement IT into its curriculum in order to attract students and provide the best possible learning environment for the next generation, which has included technology in every aspect of their lives.     

The Impact of Living in Co-ed Resident Halls on Risk-taking Among College Students

Abstract

Objective: Although previous research has suggested that college housing impacts student behavior and outcomes, recent research linking college housing to risk-taking has been limited. In this study, we investigate if patterns of risk behavior differ based on the type of college housing environment students reside in. Participants: This study utilizes 510 college students living in on-campus college housing. Methods: Students were recruited from 5 college sites across the United States. Participants responded to survey items online that measured current risk-taking behaviors such as binge drinking and sexual activity. Results: After controlling for an assortment of demographic and psychological variables, results indicated that students living in co-ed housing were more likely than students living in gender-specific housing to binge drink and consume alcohol, have more permissive sexual attitudes, and have more recent sexual partners. Conclusions: On-campus housing environments impact college student risk behaviors. Implications are discussed in light of the decline of in loco parentis on most college campuses.     

Hospitalizations for Students With an Alcohol-Related Sanction: Gender and Pregaming as Risk Factors

Abstract

Objective: The purpose of this study is to investigate whether pregaming (ie, drinking prior to a social event) is a risk factor for hospitalization. Participants: Participants (N = 516) were undergraduate students with an alcohol-related sanction. Methods: Participants completed a survey about alcohol use, as well as behaviors and experiences, prior to and during the referral event. The dependent variable was whether participants received medical attention at an emergency department during the sanction event. Results: Results indicated that older students, females who pregame, students with higher alcohol use screening scores, lighter drinkers, and higher numbers of drinks before the referral event all increased the odds of receiving medical attention. Pregaming alone was not significantly related to receiving medical attention in the multivariate analysis. Conclusions: Female students who pregame appear to be at risk for requiring hospitalization after drinking when controlling for the number of drinks consumed.     

Assessing the Level of Elder Abuse Knowledge Preprofessionals Possess: Implications for the Further Development of University Curriculum

Elder abuse is a multifaceted problemthat requires interdisciplinary prevention and intervention strategies. An important question that arises is whether professionals are adequately prepared to address elder abuse in this collaborative network. Unfortunately, no studies have been conducted to assess the varying levels of knowledge that preprofessionals enrolled in university courses possess with regard to elder abuse. To fill this void, this study assesses the levels of elder abuse awareness among social work, nursing, health professions, and criminal justice students. Specific attention is given to determining whether there are differences in the amount of exposure to elder abuse literature across the disciplines. The study involves the analysis of survey data collected from 202 students enrolled in health and human sciences classes at a large university. Results show that none of the preprofessional groups, on average, reported knowing enough about elder abuse. Implications for future practice and research are provided.     

PERFORMING THE VISUAL NORTH

During the last decade, the phrase ‘visual culture’ has come to identify a variety of interdisciplinary approaches to the visual in everyday life. While analytic perspectives may come from gender, race or media theory, political economy, psychoanalysis, and so forth, there is an apparent agreement about the critical relation the visual has to subjectivity and social organization. The travelling of critical and cultural theory across disciplinary boundaries has given ‘visual culture’ an institutional form through new degrees, programmes, cross-faculty appointments, courses, introductory textbooks, and research publications. This paper comments on the intellectual history of ‘visual culture’, identifies cultural aspects of visual performance that have been understated in recent formulations of visual culture and visual studies, and argues that the current institutional form of visual culture research has contributed to the disappearance of cultural and anthropological approaches within visual culture. The paper is developed in relation to a case study involving popular photography as a cultural performance of the Canadian north, and considers the contribution of performance to visual culture.     

Male Bisexuality and Condom Use at Last Sexual Encounter: Results From a National Survey

Relatively little is known about condom use among bisexual men as separate and distinct from exclusively homosexual and heterosexual men. Most previous research on bisexual men has relied on nonprobabilistic, high-risk samples with limited generalizability. We examined the relationship between behavioral bisexuality and condom use in the 2002 cycle of the National Survey of Family Growth (NSFG). Bisexually active men positively differed from heterosexually and homosexually active men on every indicator of confounding risk. Bisexually active men, however, did not report using condoms less often than other men during their last sexual encounters with males and females. Indeed, with female partners, bisexually active men reported higher rates of condom use than did other men. These relationships remained when all sociodemographic and confounding risk factors were held constant. Our results suggest that caution must be used when making assumptions about condom use in the general population of bisexual men from nonprobabilistic samples.     

Pelvic muscle strength of female ejaculators: Evidence in support of a new theory of orgasm

After a pilot study of two male teams at two different universities suggested that some athletes apparently had participated in homosexual activities which they would reliable answer questions about, the researchers surveyed three additional teams at three other universities. The data indicated that a fairly substantial minority of collegiate male athletes had engaged in gay actions. The results did not appear to be due to sample bias, ambiguity in defining what is “gay,” deception, or other artifacts.     

Individual Differences in the Effects of Mood on Sexuality: The Revised Mood and Sexuality Questionnaire (MSQ-R)

Previous research using the Mood and Sexuality Questionnaire (MSQ) has revealed substantial variability in how negative mood impacts sexual response and behavior. However, the MSQ does not address differences between desire for solo or partnered sexual activity, examine the effects of sexual activity on mood, or assess the effects of positive mood. This article presents the development and factor structure of the Revised Mood and Sexuality Questionnaire (MSQ-R). An exploratory factor analysis in a sample of heterosexual men, homosexual men, and heterosexual women (N = 1,983) produced eight factors. Considerable variability was found in how moods influence sexual desire and arousal, in the effects of mood on sexual behavior, and in the reciprocal effects of sexual activity on mood. Among other findings, heterosexual women were less likely than heterosexual men and homosexual men to experience increased sexual desire and arousal when anxious or stressed, whereas homosexual men and heterosexual women were less likely than heterosexual men to experience increased desire when sad or depressed. Heterosexual men and heterosexual women were more likely than homosexual men to report increased desire when in a positive mood. Intercorrelations and correlations with various sexual behaviors varied by group. Limitations and implications of the findings are discussed.