Gender Differences in the Perception of Genetic Engineering Applied to Human Reproduction

A questionnaire-survey of public perception of the desirability, risks, and benefits associated with current and potential applications of genetic engineering techniques to manipulate the outcome of human reproduction was conducted on 111 male and 135 female respondents. The proportion (63%) of male respondents who hold a positive impression that genetic engineering is a socially beneficial field of scientific research was significantly higher than the corresponding proportion (46%) of female respondents (p = 0.008). Similarly, in comparing somatic (non-reproductive cells) and germ-line (reproductive cells) gene therapy, most males (58%) foresaw no detrimental impacts of somatic cell gene therapy, but most females (60%, including 49% who opted for case-by-case evaluation) disapprove of even this form of therapy (p = 0.04). Most people remain fearful of germ-line therapy, but significantly more men (23%) than women (16%) support the development of genetic engineering for manipulating human germ-line cells (p = 0.04). There are no significant differences between male and female respondents with respect to genetic manipulation to correct inborn errors of metabolism or fetal deformity. The results of this study support the view that women tend to be more cautious than men with respect to acceptance of novel genetically-based procedures aimed at altering pregnancy outcome and offspring phenotype. Gender-based educational programs regarding the human genome project and human genetic engineering may be warranted to promote concordant decision-making in family planning and counseling.     

Living in the city: school friendships,diversity and the middle classes

Much of the literature on the urban middle classes describes processes of both affiliation (often to the localities) and disaffiliation (often from some of the non‐middle‐class residents). In this paper, we consider this situation from a different position, drawing on research exploring whether and how children and adults living in diverse localities develop friendships with those different to themselves in terms of social class and ethnicity. This paper focuses on the interviews with the ethnically diverse, but predominantly white British, middle‐class parent participants, considering their attitudes towards social and cultural difference. We emphasize the importance of highlighting inequalities that arise from social class and its intersection with ethnicity in analyses of complex urban populations. The paper's contribution is, first, to examine processes of clustering amongst the white British middle‐class parents, particularly in relation to social class. Second, we contrast this process, and its moments of reflection and unease, with the more deliberate and purposeful efforts of one middle‐class, Bangladeshi‐origin mother who engages in active labour to facilitate relationships across social and ethnic difference.     

Border crossings/translations: Resources of hope in community work with women in Greater Manchester

This article offers two case studies of community development work undertaken in Greater Manchester, United Kingdom, focusing on a Somali Women's Health Day and the work of a community arts project with Asian women, Black Issues in Community Arts/Karishma. The analysis of the operation of racialised borders and the role of women's work in mediating these definitions of community is taken as a critical aspect of community development. Theoretical development of ideas about community development across division and difference draws on recent feminist theory on themes of hybridity and community. In both the accounts of practice and the theoretical debates, translation is the central practice analysed. Este artículo ofrece estudios de dos trabajos de desarrollo comunitario que tuvieron lugar en Greater Manchester en el Reino Unido. Se centra en un Día de la Salud de Mujeres Somalias y en un proyecto artístico entre mujeres provenientes del subcontinente de India llamado ‘Temas de Raza Negra en Artes Comunitarias/Karishma’. Se considera que el análisis de la operación de fronteras racistas y del rol de las mujeres en mediar estas delimitaciones es un aspecto crítico de desarrollo comunitario. Se recurre a la teoría reciente femenista sobre temas de hibrididad y comunidad para el desarrollo teórico de ideas acerca del desarrollo comunitario a través de división y diferencia.     

Physical activity and fitness among midlife and older rural women

This study investigated physical activity and fitness of midlife and older rural women. Random-digit dialing was used to recruit 225 women (57.9 +/- 5.6 years old). Self-reported activity (moderate activity, flexibility, and strength) and fitness (body composition, flexibility, strength, and estimated VO(2max)) were assessed. The women demonstrated low daily energy expenditure (30.74 +/- 10.63 kcal x kg(-1) x day(-1)) and estimated VO(2max) (20.12 +/- 7.81 ml x kg(-1) x min(-1)), with 51.5% reporting fair or poor health. Few women reported meeting Healthy People 2010 targets for moderate activity (43.1%), flexibility (28.9%), or strength )14.2%). When classified by estimated VO(2max) into three categories, differences were observed for body-mass index, percent body fat, sit and reach, and timed chair stands, with the poorest performance by those with low cardiorespiratory fitness. Adherence to Healthy People 2010 targets for moderate activity and strengthening was associated with higher cardiorespiratory fitness. These rural women are targets for physical activity interventions because of their sedentary behaviors and low cardiorespiratory fitness.     

Inconsistencies in reporting the occurence and timing of first intercourse among adolescents

Two types of reporting inconsistency for sexual initiation were analyzed--event occurrence and its timing--using data from two waves of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). Overall, 11.1% of those who reported they were sexually active at the time of first interview denied this at the subsequent one. Males of each race/ethnic group had higher percentages of inconsistency than their female counterparts. Being older, not living with parents, or having a highly educated mother was negatively associated with rescinding. Among those reporting sexual experience at both interviews, only 22.2% reported the same date of first sex. On average, teens revised their age at first sex to older ages, and boys, especially African American boys, had large variability in reporting dates, as did teens with lower verbal ability. Seven strategies for resolving inconsistent reports are presented and implications for substantive findings are discussed.     

A Sea of Trouble: A Relational Approach to the Culturally Sensitive Treatment of a Severely Disturbed Client

In this article we will show how a relational approach provides a conceptual framework that shapes and informs culturally sensitive practice with a severely disturbed client. We argue that a relational approach facilitates therapeutic action through the intense focus on countertransference, the close attention to enactments, and the therapist's authenticity and self-disclosure. Additionally, we emphasize that a therapeutic matrix that includes the cultural, racial, socioeconomic, and institutional factors, increases the likelihood clinicians will attend to what Perez-Foster calls their dissociated and disavowed personal values. We present a case that had a less than satisfactory outcome where the therapist found herself in a sea of trouble. The case illustrates how a relational approach enhanced the therapist's understanding of the case and allowed her to continue to work with a difficult and challenging client. We conclude by suggesting that our conceptual understanding of this case exemplifies a necessary and appropriate focus for future social work research and practice.     

The Effects of Children, Dual Earner Status, Sex Role Traditionalism, and Marital Structure on Marital Happiness Over Time

In this study, the link between marital happiness and the advent of children is demonstrated, accounting for dual earner status, sex role traditionalism, and marital structure. A subset of 1,275 respondents from a longitudinal data set (Marital Instability Over the Life Course: A Three Wave Panel Study, 1980–1988) whom remained married through the 3 waves was used to compare the level of marital happiness of respondents who added children between waves to those who did not. Although the addition of children negatively affected marital structure and thus indirectly lowered marital happiness, results showed children also had positive counterbalancing direct effects. Dual-earner status, income, and sex role nontraditionalism were shown to mitigate the negative effects of children on marital happiness.     

Examining Where We Were and Where We Are: Clinical Issues in Adoption 1985–1995

This article examines the changes in adoption practices over the past decade by referencing a series of 1985 articles published by Child and Adolescent Social Work Journal that presented theoretical considerations for maintaining closed adoptions. The author uses her own experience as an adoption professional, those articles currently published in the field of adoption and the experience of those most impacted by adoption, birthparents, adoptive parents and adoptees, in examining and presenting the benefits and value of open adoption.     

Feasibility study for collecting alcohol and other drug use data among secondary school students: a web-based survey approach

This study examined the feasibility of using a Web-based survey to collect alcohol and other drug use data from secondary school students in an urban school district in the Midwest. A Web-based survey was self-administered by a random sample of 6th through 11th grade students in the spring of 2002. The final sample consisted of 1,536 secondary school students (781 women and 755 men). The sample was 57% White, 40% African American, and 3% from other racial and ethnic groups. Several indicators of data quality were examined including response rate, absenteeism, refusals, substantive data, and data processing time. The study achieved a response rate of 89.1%. The results of the present study provide evidence that a Web-based survey can be successfully implemented in an economically and racially diverse urban sample of secondary students. While researchers conducting survey research within secondary schools should consider using Web-based survey approaches, additional research is needed to compare Web-based surveys to more traditional approaches to collecting data.