Unpacking the Power of the Mommy Wars

In recent years, Mommy Wars discourse, or an expressed judgment between mothers who work for pay and those who stay at home with their children, has emerged as a significant part of American culture. Yet knowledge about both its substantive underpinnings and the breadth of its influence across racial groups is limited. On these points, some research has suggested that racial differences regarding adherence to particular mothering ideologies will drive Mommy Wars discourse among white, middle‐class mothers but not among African American, middle‐class mothers. This study investigates 125 middle‐class yet racially diverse mothers about the content and prevalence of Mommy Wars discourse among their peers. Contrary to expectations, Mommy Wars discourse, although based on strong beliefs regarding appropriate maternal practices, was limited in its scope. In addition, Mommy Wars discourse was a minority perspective among the peers of white, middle‐class mothers, but a plurality perspective among the peers of African American, middle‐class mothers.     

“Moved on”? An exploratory study of the Cashless Debit Card and Indigenous mobility

What is the relationship between the first two trials of the Cashless Debit Card (CDC) and Indigenous mobility? In Ceduna, Vincent conducted ethnographic research into lived experiences of the first CDC trial. In the East Kimberley, Klein conducted 51 structured interviews with people on the card and 37 semi-structured interviews with key informants. Markham used regression analysis of net migration rates at the Statistical Area 2 level to determine whether the CDC trial sites were associated with greater net population loss in 2016 census data than comparable locations. Our exploratory study finds significant local talk of displacement arising from the introduction of the CDC, as well as discussion of short-term trips away from the trial sites being made more difficult. The regression analysis found that the net migration rate was 9.3 per cent points (95% CI: 2.0, 16.5) lower in Ceduna, Wyndham and Kununurra when compared with a group of comparable towns, and 5.2 per cent points (95% CI: 0.9, 9.5) lower when compared with Australia as a whole, meaning that the populations of these towns declined faster than those of comparable towns. Policy effects on mobility should be taken seriously by researchers and policymakers when considering place-based welfare policy.     

Electronic cigarette and combustible cigarette use following a campus-wide ban: Prevalence of use and harm perceptions

Abstract

The current study examined changes in prevalence of e-cigarette use and perceptions of the harmfulness of e-cigarette and combustible cigarettes following a campus-wide tobacco ban. Undergraduate students completed surveys of tobacco use and perceived product harmfulness. Four samples were collected: in 2013 prior to the ban (n?=?792) and in fall 2014 (n?=?310), 2015 (n?=?208), and 2016 (n?=?417). E-cigarette use increased in the years following the ban (p?=?.01) while combustible cigarette use decreased from 2013 to 2016 (p?=?.02). Men were more likely than women to use both products (ps?<?.05). Students’ perceptions of the harmfulness of combustible and electronic cigarettes remained stable in the years following the ban (p?>?.05). This study is the first to examine the impact of including e-cigarettes in tobacco free policies. Combustible cigarette use declined, but e-cigarette use increased in the years following the e-cigarette ban. Prospective research is needed to understand the long-term impacts of e-cigarette bans.     

Profiles of Emotion Deficits and Adolescent Nonsuicidal Self‐Injury in an Inpatient Sample

This study examined profiles of specific emotion deficits, including poor emotion awareness, reluctance to express emotion, sadness inhibition and dysregulation, and anger inhibition and dysregulation. Self‐report questionnaires assessed adolescents’ emotion skills and nonsuicidal self‐injury (NSSI) engagement, frequency, severity, methods, and age of onset. Latent profile analysis yielded a three‐profile solution: Low Deficit (LD; n = 49), Unaware/Anger Dysregulated (UAD; n = 24), and Anger Inhibited (AI; n = 20) profiles. Adolescents in the UAD profile were more likely to engage in NSSI, displayed a higher NSSI frequency, and reported a higher number of NSSI methods when compared to adolescents in the LD profile. No links emerged for NSSI severity or age of onset.     

Should It Be Easy? Divorce Process Attitudes Among Those Who Have Split Up in Midlife

This grounded theory analysis examines the gray divorced population’s attitudes about the divorce process, that is, whether those who have experienced a divorce at age 50 or older believe divorce should be easier or harder to obtain in U.S. society. Among the 40 men and 40 women interviewed in this analysis, there were divorce delayers, who wanted to make divorce laws stricter; divorce facilitators, who championed more flexible divorce laws; divorce ambivalents, who held mixed views; and marriage gatekeepers, who advocated on behalf of status quo divorce laws but tougher relationship-strengthening requirements before marriage. The diversity of these participants’ views reflects those voices in the general population who continue to see divorce as a complex decision for most couples.     

Missionary Kid Career Development: A Consensual Qualitative Research Investigation Through a Social Cognitive Lens

Repatriated, young adult children of international missionaries (missionary kids [MKs]) face unique challenges in education and career development. The authors conducted a consensual qualitative research investigation, grounded in social cognitive theory (Bandura, 1986 ), as it informs social cognitive career theory, of career planning and decision making with 11 repatriated MKs. Participants ranged in age from 19 to 23 years (58% female, 67% Caucasian) and had repatriated to the United States between the ages of 14 and 19 years, spending between 4 and 19 years abroad. The authors' interpretation of the study findings led to a context‐specific revision of Bandura's ( 1986 ) Triadic Reciprocality Model. That is, regarding career development, faith intersects environmental variables, personal attributes, and overt behaviors in unexpected and multidimensional ways. Recommendations for researchers and practitioners include (a) attending to issues of sociocultural adaptation, (b) continuing to offer empirically supported (standard) career services to MKs, (c) using contextual and developmental approaches, and (d) inquiring about faith and calling.     

Introduction to the special issue on welfare conditionality in Australia

Conditionality in Australia’s welfare state has sustained a significant academic critique, including the critique published in this journal. In this Special Issue of the Australian Journal of Social Issues, we contribute to the existing critical literature on welfare conditionality. This Special Issue aimed to provide empirical scrutiny into welfare reform and conditionality in Australia. The articles extend our understanding of welfare conditionality’s underpinnings and its lived effects. These case studies illuminate the aspects of welfare conditionality that have not received enough attention: the role of technology, the question of mobility, the relationship with housing and the little thought given to the state’s role in mutual obligation. What is clear is that the individualisation of structural problems is not just a theoretical and political misstep ripe for critique, but leads to the formulation of policies that impact marginalised people’s capacity to shape life on their own terms. Through different empirical foci, all papers in this Special Issue demonstrate how welfare conditionality is put forward as a solution to address the consequences of structural disadvantage.     

Why do working relationships not change? The need for a new approach to disability partnership research and social change

Although researchers, service providers, and clients are determined to improve partnerships within disability services, a lack of partnership persists. Using our research as a case study, we reflect on three limitations of common research methods and social change techniques in this area. We suggest that typical approaches struggle to move beyond taken-for-granted ideas, common-sense solutions, and established ideology in the field of disability. Consequently, they often fail to reveal important barriers to collaboration, identify innovative solutions, or initiate meaningful improvements in partnership. We propose a new approach to partnership research and reform grounded in a pragmatic model of social change and argue that projects based on isolated or simplistic data, majority-rule decision-making, simple and efficient planning, and restricted inside perspectives (where storytelling is limited) must be complemented by observational studies, socio-cultural analyses, and critical investigations. In short, we must understand why working relationships do not change to improve disability services.     

Modeling initiation into drug injection among street youth

This study aimed at examining the predictors of initiation into drug injection among street youth using social cognitive theory framework. A prospective cohort study based on semi-annual interviews was carried out. Psychosocial determinants referred to avoidance of initiation. Other potential predictors were: sociodemographic characteristics, relationships with injectors, parent's substance misuse, drug use patterns, homelessness, survival sex, sexual abuse. Independent predictors were identified using Cox proportional hazards regression models. Among the 352 participants, high control beliefs about avoidance of initiation was protective while younger age, daily alcohol consumption, heroin use, cocaine use, and survival sex all increased risk of initiation. Preventive strategies targeting street youth should both enhance youth's control beliefs and actual control over their substance use and improve their life conditions.