The experiences of African immigrant mothers living in the United Kingdom with a child diagnosed with an autism spectrum disorder: an interpretive phenomenological analysis

Interpretive phenomenological analysis was used to investigate the experiences of six African immigrant mothers living in the United Kingdom with a child diagnosed with an Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD). The mothers took part in one-off, semi-structured interviews. Four themes were identified: caring for a child we did not expect, the pain of stigma and rejection, frameworks of meaning, and negotiating conflicting cultural beliefs. Many aspects of the mothers’ experiences appear related to their position as immigrants from cultures with contrasting belief systems regarding child development and disability. Conflicts between African cultural beliefs and a western, medical understanding of ASD appeared to create a feeling of cognitive dissonance for the mothers. The strategies used to negotiate this appear to map onto Berry’s acculturation strategies, suggesting that the experience of having a child with ASD impacts upon the acculturation process. Implications for clinical practice and policy are discussed.     

Homicide Rates in a Cross‐Section of Countries: Evidence and Interpretations

This study uses a regression analysis to explore the cross‐country variation in homicide rates for a large sample of countries. It starts by identifying seven significant regional variables, to which traditional socioeconomic, cultural, and institutional variables are added and tested. The importance of institutions, culture, and other factors affecting homicide rates is discussed. One unexpected finding is a curious relationship between the level of education and homicide rates: while an increase in male education tends to reduce homicide rates, an increase in female education tends to increase homicides. Several possible interpretations for this phenomenon are proposed. The study points to relatively unexplored areas of research in order to better understand homicide variation around the world.     

Social Legislation in Australia

Despite strong public interest in law reform by both state and federal governments, very little has been written about social legislation in Australia. Discussions about social legislation frequently proceed with each participant assuming an individual and subjective definition of social legislation; rarely is there agreement about the role and purpose of social legislation. This paper examines some writings on social policy in an effort to provide a definition of social legislation; a basis for identifying legislation as ‘social’ is provided. It is argued that for legislation to be social it must have a distributional character. Further consideration is given to the role of social legislation and the motivations for introducing legislative measures to deal with social ills. Attention is focused on approach, rights and tokenism in social legislation.     

Book notes

THE SOCIETAL SUBJECT edited by N. Engelsted, M. Hedegaard, B. Karpatscholf, and A. Mortensen. Aarhus: Aarhus University Press, 1993. $26.00.

UNDERSTANDING PRACTICE: PERSPECTIVES ON ACTIVITY AND CONTEXT edited by S. Chaiklin and J. Lave. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993. $59.95.

THE CULTURAL‐HISTORICAL DEVELOPMENT OF VERBAL THINKING by Peeter Tulviste (Translated by M. J. Hall; Preface by M. Cole). Commack, NY: NOVA Science Publishers, 1991. 183 pp. + notes and references. $39.00.