Parental health and children's economic well-being

The life course perspective emphasizes that past economic experiences and stage in the life course influence a family's ability to cope with negative life events such as poor health. However, traditional analytic approaches are not well-suited to examine how the impact of negative life events differs based on a family's past economic experiences, nor do they typically account for the potentially spurious association between negative life events and family economic well-being. We use finite mixture modeling to examine how changes in parental health affect children's exposure to poverty. We find that for some children the association between family head's health and children's exposure to poverty is spurious, while for other children family head's poor health is associated with increased risk of economic deprivation. The extent to which a family head's poor health alters children's economic well-being depends on a child's family's underlying economic trajectory and past history of exposure to disadvantage.     

Observed Infant Reactions During Live Interparental Conflict

Associations between interparental conflict and infant reactions were examined. Infants' history of exposure to interparental conflict and infant reactive temperament were examined as moderators. A community sample of 74 infants, aged 6–14 months, participated with their parents. Behavioral observations were made of parents' marital conflict and their infants' reactions. Parents reported on their emotional states during conflict, infants' history of exposure to interparental conflict, and infant temperament. Multilevel modeling indicated that infants showed differential responses to marital conflict; destructive and depressive conflict were associated with increased infant discussion attending and negative reactions, whereas constructive conflict was associated with decreased discussion attending and negative reactions. Infants' history of exposure to marital conflict and infant reactive temperament emerged as moderators.     

The over-representation of indigenous children in the Australian child welfare system

Similar to other wealthy countries with colonised indigenous populations, Australia's indigenous children, those of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander descent, are seriously over-represented in the child welfare system. The specific dimensions of this problem warrant detailed examination. It is useful to consider factors such as rates of entry to care, length of stay and the nature of services provided in order to understand the problem more fully. This article uses child protection, out-of-home care and juvenile justice administrative data to examine the levels of disproportionality at key decision points in the child welfare system. The data show that child welfare interventions are persistently more intrusive for indigenous children, and that levels of disproportionality have not improved over time. More comprehensive child and family welfare policies are needed to address indigenous disadvantage. Despite calls by indigenous community agencies for more input to decision-making, their participation in the Australian child welfare system remains marginal.     

Counting family support

Preventative family support approaches are positioned as central to child welfare policy reforms aiming to address the problems of relying upon investigation and out‐of‐home care as the main modes of intervention. Extensive claims are made for family support but relatively little is known about its scope, processes and impact. This study examines the provision of family support in one jurisdiction. A census‐type survey of family support services in one Australian state was conducted using a performance measurement framework in which inputs, outputs, processes and outcomes were measured. Family support services constituted a minor part of child welfare expenditure. They provided a narrow range of service types, and most families received short duration, low intensity services. Workers had difficulty identifying the specific child and family needs that were met by services. For family support to be a genuinely alternative response to concerns about the care of children, it must be capable of making an observable difference in the lives of families experiencing serious difficulties. The collection of aggregate performance data on family support would assist in understanding the nature and outcomes of service provision, as well as ensure family support is ‘counted’ in measurement‐orientated policy and budget processes.     

Analysis of Australian Research Council Grants Awarded for Social Work Projects 2008–2017

ABSTRACT

The quantity and quality of social work research is central to creating knowledge for the profession and maintaining social work’s presence and status in universities. This study examines Australian Research Council grants awarded for social work projects for the 10-year period 2008–2107. It investigates the quantum of grants and the topics addressed, and compares social work to related social sciences. The field of social work was awarded 84 research grants over the 10-year period, a total of $23 million and an average of 8.4 grants per year. However, this did not match the grant successes of the two comparator fields of criminology and social policy and administration. Having a clear picture of research achievements, including grants, is necessary to enable the discipline to plot a strategic way forward, addressing gaps and deficits, and building on strengths.

IMPLICATIONS

• Increasing research grant success is vital to the ongoing development of the social work knowledge base, and bolsters the standing of social work in universities.

• Maximising the use of social work Field of Research codes will increase the visibility of social work research, especially in multidisciplinary projects.

• Social work researchers should publicise competitive grant successes

     

The influence of anthropogenic resources on multi-scale habitat selection by raccoons

With the continuing spread of urban areas, gaining a greater understanding of the effect of human presence on wildlife species is essential for wildlife managers. We determined the influence of anthropogenic resources on home range size and habitat selection of raccoons (Procyon lotor) during summer (June–August) 1996–2000 for 120 raccoons at three sites exposed to varying levels of urbanization and anthropogenic resources, specifically food. Home range estimates were larger (P < 0.05) at the rural site than the suburban and urban sites for both genders. We used compositional analysis to examine raccoon habitat selection at the second-order home range, second-order core area, and third-order home range scales. Woodland was consistently a highly-selected habitat type for both sexes at every spatial scale. Relative to other habitat types, habitat associated with human-related food (human use areas) was selected most often at the urban site, intermediately at the suburban site, and not selected at the rural site. Spatial scale also affected habitat selection. Human use areas were preferentially selected at the second- and third-order level at the urban site, third-order level only at the suburban site, and at neither level at the rural site. Additionally, intersexual differences in habitat selection were reduced at the urban site, with both sexes preferentially selecting for human use areas as well as woodland habitat. Smaller home ranges in urbanized environments are often attributed to the abundant and concentrated anthropogenic resources associated with human activity, but with little empirical support. Our habitat selection analyses followed our predictions that raccoon foraging is strongly influenced by the artificial distribution and abundance of human-related food. Male and female raccoons in urban areas reduce their foraging patterns and focus their foraging activity on anthropogenic foods.     

Problematising international placements as a site of intercultural learning

This paper theorises some of the learning outcomes of a three-year project concerning student learning in international social work placements in Malaysia. The problematic issue of promoting cultural and intercultural competence through such placements is examined, where overlapping hegemonies are discussed in terms of isomorphism of social work models, that of the nation state, together with those relating to professional values and knowledge, and the tyrannies of received ideas. A critical discussion of cultural competence as the rationale for international placements is discussed in terms of the development of the graduating social worker as a self-reflexive practitioner. The development of sustainable international partnerships able to support student placement and the issue of non-symmetrical reciprocation, typical of wide socio-economic differentials across global regions, is additionally discussed.     

R&D productivity rides again?

A recent analysis of R&D productivity suggests that there are grounds for ‘cautious optimism’ that the industry ‘turned the corner’ in 2008 and is ‘on the comeback trail’. We believe that this analysis is flawed and most probably wrong. We present an alternative analysis of these same data to suggest that the industry is not yet ‘out of the woods’ and suggest that many of the systemic issues affecting pharmaceutical R&D productivity are still being resolved. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.