What does the pursuit of a high quality of life entail?: Grounding a theoretical model in lived experience

In response to calls for a better understanding of quality of life, we draw upon working professionals’ perspectives and experiences to introduce a theoretical model that emerged from an inductive analysis of respondents’ language. A key element of this model includes a collective picture of factors representing quality of life. Further, this model suggests interrelatedness among these factors with pursuit of a high quality of life emerging as a dynamic process with a tensional nature. Our proposed model extends existing research by more fully capturing the complex ways in which people from the United States describe quality of life and its pursuit.     

Prejudice Exposed On Stephen Mitchell's Pioneering Investigations of the Psychoanalytic Treatment and Mistreatment of Homosexuality

Stephen Mitchell's two early papers on the psychoanalytic theory and treatment of homosexuality show characteristic Mitchell qualities—an astounding intelligence, a theoretical syncretism, an unusual ability to fine tune his sense of clinical case examples to particular theories. Surprisingly, they also show a serious commitment to some of the principles of ego psychology. In these papers, Mitchell is perhaps the first analyst to challenge the distinctly unpsychoanalytic pathologizing of all homosexual orientation based on developmental origins characteristic of all sexualities, as well as the distinctly unpsychoanalytic clinical practice of trying to change sexual orientation and behavior in patients rather than helping them to achieve self-understanding and the diminution of conflict.     

Can demographic transition only be explained by altruistic and neo-Malthusian models?

Previous researches on demographic transition are based on models incorporating altruism in their utility function. These models are all neo-Malthusian in their essence, since they assume a positive relationship between income and fertility rates. This paper presents a model which departs from the neo-Malthusian frameworks in its definition of altruism. This framework better fits the data and socio-economic context of the early nineteenth century, a period where fertility rates went up. This paper stresses that the evolution of capital, wages and child labor may provide an alternate explanation for the observed pattern of fertility rates during the early European industrialization.     

Children's participation in child protection—How do practitioners understand children's participation in practice?

Children's participation is essential to achieve good outcomes for children involved in child protection systems. Despite this, research has consistently found children report low levels of participation, are poorly consulted and feel inadequately involved in decisions about their lives. To explore how practitioners understand children's participation, 18 in-depth interviews were conducted with statutory child protection practitioners in Australia. The interviews explored the ways child protection practitioners understand children's participation. Our findings show practitioners conceptualize children as rights holders and believe it is essential to hear directly from children about their needs and wishes to keep them safe. Practitioners identified the importance of transparent processes and decisions. Different understanding of participation emerged, with some participants talking about children as their central focus but not discussing meaningful participation of the child. It appeared that children's participation relied largely on the views and skills of individual workers, as well as their ability to incorporate meaningful participation in limited time and in complex practice environments where children's safety is a primary concern. Systemic changes to address time barriers, training practitioners to understand and implement participatory practice, and seeking children's input into service design, will support consistent and meaningful participation.     

Student views on campus sexual assault

Abstract

Objective: To report on college student opinions about the scope of college sexual misconduct (CSM), suggested university sanctions, and treatment of students found responsible of CSM.

Participants: In all, 23?US undergraduate students (14 females and 9 males) with a mean age of 20 years.

Methods: Students participated either in female, male, or mixed-sex focus groups that facilitated the discussion of factors related to CSM.

Results: Students provided in-depth feedback on the climate on US college campuses and factors related to CSM. They agreed upon CSM risk factors and context characteristics, but raised different male and female issues across sex groups. They further provided resolute suggestions for the solution of CSM, experienced treatment barriers, and limited victim reporting.

Conclusion: Student focus groups provide important information about the scope of CSM and offer valuable suggestions for the solution of the problem that may be crucial for the development of successful sexual assault interventions.     

Divorce and Mid- and Later Life Families: A Phenomenological Analysis with Implications for Family Life Educators

ABSTRACT

A growing number of mid- and later life individuals and families are experiencing divorce and remarriage. Mid- and later life families are those who have begun to or may have launched their adult children. As a result, these families may include in-laws and grandchildren. Limited research has addressed the potentially unique experiences of these families whose lives are made more complex and complicated by divorce, remarriage, or both. The purpose of this article is to examine, from a phenomenological perspective, the lived experiences of individuals and families experiencing divorce in mid- and later life. In so doing, four case studies are presented that represent four common pathways through divorce and remarriage in mid- and later life: career divorced, seasoned divorced, newly divorced, and interrupted career divorced. Using these case studies and our interpretation of them based on a phenomenological approach, we offer implications for family life educators for improving the delivery of educational services to families facing mid- and later life divorce and remarriage.     

“If Rainbows Were Everywhere”: Nonmetropolitan SGM Youth Identify Factors That Make Communities Supportive

ABSTRACT

Sexual and gender minority (SGM) youth in nonmetropolitan communities face marginalization due to their SGM identities. Community support may mitigate the negative outcomes associated with marginalization. Using the strengths perspective, this study investigated the factors SGM youth identify as making their communities supportive. Interviews were conducted with SGM youth to explore their perceptions of their community, community climate, and the factors that contribute to making communities supportive to SGM youth. Findings revealed four supportive community factors: supportive people, SGM visibility, SGM resources and education, and SGM-inclusive policies. Implications include creating SGM resources and providing professional training on SGM issues.     

Explicit Versus Implicit Family Decision-Making Strategies Among Mexican American Caregiving Adult Children

Changing U.S. demographics make it increasingly vital to investigate experiences of Latinos caring for aging parents, with specific emphasis on how these families, who often value family closeness, make decisions about caregiving. This study investigates relationships among use of implicit versus explicit decision-making strategies, generation since immigration, and orientation toward family. Findings suggest that those with more recent immigration to the United States were more likely than those who immigrated longer ago to describe family decision making about their parents' care as implicit. Those that were classified as using predominately implicit decision making were also found to be not significantly different from those classified as predominantly explicit with regard to their overall support of a collective orientation toward family. There were exceptions to this, however, regarding two specific aspects of orientation toward family: engagement in shared activities with family members and avoiding family conflict by making choices that are consistent with the family values. In both cases those categorized as implicit expressed stronger endorsement of these specific values. These findings suggest that the relationship between family decision-making strategies, generation since immigration, and orientation toward family is more complex than suggested previously in the literature. Implications for future research and practice are offered.     

“Grandma,Tell Me Another Story”: Family Narratives and Their Impact on Young Adult Development

The transmission of family stories provides insight into the personal and emotional lives of individuals, and sharing stories allows older generations to impart wisdom and family values to developing young adults. The current research explored how gender variation in content and perception of family stories differentially affected identity development in young adults. Young adults from a large northeastern private university shared a written family story about a grandparent and described how that story had impacted their values, behaviors, and identity. Three hundred twenty-five stories, from 238 women and 87 men, were qualitatively analyzed. The stories had much greater impact on young adults' values and attitudes than either their identity development or behaviors. Women shared more relationship stories, whereas men most frequently relayed humorous anecdotes. In addition, women indicated stories most often taught them to be appreciative, loving, or courageous, whereas more men shared stories that emphasized having a strong work ethic or being appreciative of and respectful to others. Although family narratives have been shown to help shape the younger generation's individual identity and character, it is important to differentiate between which stories might impact different genders as they seek to discover their own sense of self.     

A parallel analysis of individual and ecological data on residential radon and lung cancer in south-west England

Parallel individual and ecological analyses of data on residential radon have been performed using information on cases of lung cancer and population controls from a recent study in south-west England. For the individual analysis the overall results indicated that the relative risk of lung cancer at 100 Bq m⁻³ compared with at 0 Bq m⁻³ was 1.12 (95% confidence interval (0.99, 1.27)) after adjusting for age, sex, smoking, county of residence and social class. In the ecological analysis substantial bias in the estimated effect of radon was present for one of the two counties involved unless an additional variable, urban–rural status, was included in the model, although this variable was not an important confounder in the individual level analysis. Most of the methods that have been recommended for overcoming the limitations of ecological studies would not in practice have proved useful in identifying this variable as an appreciable source of bias.