Reducing Prejudice Within Community-Based Organizations

ABSTRACT

Efforts to help community-based organizations (CBOs) develop interventions that reduce prejudice within the workplace and during service provision can be informed by social psychological prejudice reduction techniques, which tend to be successful in controlled laboratory settings but have limitations that inhibit utility in applied settings. Alternatively, the use of diversity training to reduce prejudice has increased within the for-profit sector, but is rarely applied to CBOs. This article discusses the overlap between the basic and applied literatures, and how community practitioners can use the information gained from both to support CBOs who encounter challenges with diversity.     

Do male and female gamblers have the same burden of adversity over their life course?

The objective of this research is to investigate gender difference and the burden of adversity during the life course of people who develop gambling problems. A sample of 86 adult participants met the criteria for at-risk problem gambling over the last 5 years. Data were obtained from informants during semi-structured face-to-face interviews, using SCID I and II, SOGS, Module K and a recount of life trajectories methodology. The results showed a high level of adversity throughout the life trajectories of the men and women studied. The results indicated that the major load of mental health disorders, the presence of anxiety disorders and co-morbid mental health disorders are more significant among women. Results also indicated a significant presence of violence in the lives of both men and women during early childhood and adolescence. During adulthood, women are more likely to be victims of intimate partner or marital violence whereas men tended to cumulate difficulties in social fields and especially in their professional lives. This significant burden of adversity creates a number of difficulties which makes it complicated to isolate gambling activities. Clinicians might have difficulty detecting female gamblers during consultation, especially when they present with co-morbid mental health disorders and violence issues.     

Gambling over the life course and treatment-seeking

The purpose of this study is to investigate change in gambling behaviours over the life course, and, correspondingly, the treatment-seeking behaviours of 86 people who met the criteria for at-risk (participants endorsing two to four items on the South Oaks Gambling Screen [SOGS]) and problem gamblers (participants endorsing five or more items on the SOGS) over the last five years. Data were obtained from informants during semi-structured interviews using Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV axis I and axis II disorders (SCID I and II), SOGS and treatment-seeking interviews. The results showed three groups of gambling behaviours over the life course. A first group started gambling early on and continued participating in recreational gambling until its participants were between 40 and 50 years of age, during which time they became problem gamblers. A second group transitioned from recreational gambling to problem gambling over a short period of time; its participants were aged between 40 and 50. Lastly, a third group which was exposed to gambling later on in life, mostly after retirement, developed gambling problems quickly. Psychopathology was prevalent in all groups, given that 98% suffered from a mental health problem during their life, and 62% within the last six months. Participants who made use of the services available mostly turned to medical and specialized mental services for brief periods, usually when in crisis. In terms of problem gambling, the results argue in favour of maintaining dedication toward treatment, especially in the presence of co-morbidity.     

Contraceptive Method Choice Among Young Adults: Influence of Individual and Relationship Factors

Because decisions related to contraceptive behavior are often made by young adults in the context of specific relationships, the relational context likely influences use of contraceptives. Data presented here are from in-person structured interviews with 536 Black, Hispanic, and White young adults from East Los Angeles, California. We collected partner-specific relational and contraceptive data on all sexual partnerships for each individual, on four occasions, over one year. Using three-level multinomial logistic regression models, we examined individual and relationship factors predictive of contraceptive use. Results indicated that both individual and relationship factors predicted contraceptive use, but factors varied by method. Participants reporting greater perceived partner exclusivity and relationship commitment were more likely to use hormonal/long-acting methods only or a less effective method/no method versus condoms only. Those with greater participation in sexual decision making were more likely to use any method over a less effective method/no method and were more likely to use condoms only or dual methods versus a hormonal/long-acting method only. In addition, for women only, those who reported greater relationship commitment were more likely to use hormonal/long-acting methods or a less effective method/no method versus a dual method. In summary, interactive relationship qualities and dynamics (commitment and sexual decision making) significantly predicted contraceptive use.     

Death Rites as Birthrights in Atlantic New Orleans: Kinship and Race in the Case of María Teresa v. Perine Dauphine

In 1789, a New Orleans free woman of colour named María Teresa initiated legal proceedings against Pelagia ‘Perine’ Dauphine dit Demasillier, another free woman of colour living in the city. More than a question of inheritance, the case of María Tereza, grifa libre v. Perine Demasillier, mulata libre was a dispute between two women over the meanings of and obligations to family in late eighteenth-century New Orleans. Their legal battle exemplified ways free women of colour constructed kinship beyond biological ties, gradations of race and bonded status even while seeking redress from institutions with imperial definitions of the same.     

A Comparison of Out-of-home Care for Children and Young People in Australia and Sweden: Worlds Apart?

Abstract

In this paper we present a comparative analysis of out-of-home care in Australia and Sweden. We compare the age structure of the out-of-home care population and the types of out-of-home care services provided to children and young people in both countries. Our analysis reveals that in Australia the out-of-home care service system is focused mainly on children who are deemed to be abused or neglected within their families, while in Sweden the majority of the out-of-home care population are teenagers who cannot live with their families for emotional or behavioural reasons. These population differences intersect with variations in the forms of service provision in both countries, with a much greater reliance on home-based care in Australia than in Sweden, while there is more extensive use of residential care in Sweden. We envisage that this paper will demonstrate how the age structure of the out-of-home care population, though rarely considered in international comparative child welfare research, reveals much about the assumptions on which State intervention with children and young people is based. We intend that this analysis will assist social workers to better understand and address the gaps in the quality and comprehensiveness of out-of-home care service provision to children and young people in both countries.