An Analysis of Atlanta's Ordinance Prohibiting Urban Camping: Passage and Early Implementation

In November 1996, the Atlanta City Council passed an ordinance to prohibit certain Urban Camping behaviors on public lands. This paper analyzes the development, passage, and early implementation of Atlanta's Urban Camping and Improper Use of Public Places ordinance. The ordinance prohibits lying down, sleeping, regular meal preparation, and storing belongings on public property. The ordinance is controversial because it criminalizes behaviors of homeless individuals who have no private property and therefore no choice but to perform tasks necessary to life on public lands. The ordinance's passage in Atlanta is at least partly the result of a post Olympic private sector growth in power that capitalized on growing concerns about public safety and urban economic vitality. During its first year, the ordinance disproportionately impacted homeless persons. Arrests occurred primarily in parks and during daytime, summer hours. Arrests trends reflect continuing tension between Atlanta's various users of public space.     

Policy development: An analysis of disability inclusion in a selection of African Union policies

Contemporary debates in international development discourse are concerned with the non‐tokenistic inclusion and participation of marginalized groups in the policy‐making process in developing countries. This is directly relevant to disabled people in Africa, which is the focus of this article. The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities delineates the principles of inclusion in society. Furthermore, the African Union (AU) plays a key role in advising its Member States about disability issues, and this advice should be reflected in disability‐inclusive policies. This article analyses nine policy or strategy documents produced by the AU, covering the policy domains of education, health, employment and social protection that are crucial to the inclusion of disabled people in international development. These were analysed according to seven discrete elements (rights, accessibility, inclusivity, implementation plans, budgetary allocations, enforcement mechanisms or disaggregated management information systems) using a rating scale of one to four, with four being the highest level of inclusion. The process (for example, level of consultation), the context (for example, the Sustainable Development Goals) and actors involved in the policy development were reviewed as far as was possible from the documents. None of the policies reached even 50% of the total possible score, indicating poor levels of genuine inclusion. Rights scored a highest rating, but still at a low level. This suggests that there is recognition of the rights of disabled people to inclusion, but this is not generally integrated within inclusive implementation plans, budgetary allocations, enforcement mechanisms or disaggregated management information systems for monitoring. The limited socio‐economic inclusion of disability within AU policies is a lost opportunity that should be reviewed and rectified. The findings have broader ramifications for the non‐tokenistic and genuine involvement of poor and marginalized groups in the international policy‐making arena.     

How many Australian veterans are homeless? Reporting prevalence findings and method from a national study

This article presents findings from an Australian study of veteran homelessness (Hilferty, Katz et al. 2019). The AHURI Inquiry into Homelessness Amongst Australian Veterans was funded by the Department of Veterans' Affairs (DVA) to estimate the number of homeless veterans and to examine veterans' pathways into homelessness, service usage patterns and ways that service responses may be improved. This article presents the prevalence findings and describes the method employed by the research team. Drawing on primary data and extrapolating results to a larger sample of veterans, the researchers estimate that approximately 5,800 contemporary veterans experience homelessness over a 12‐month period in Australia. This estimate – the first ever to be based on primary data – indicates that veteran homelessness is a much larger problem than previously estimated and deserves priority attention from policymakers and sectoral representatives.     

Gender Similarities and Differences in Sexual Arousal,Desire, and Orgasmic Pleasure in the Laboratory

Relatively little is known about gender differences in the orgasm experience. The objectives of this study were to compare men's and women's patterns of sexual arousal and desire before and after orgasm, and the predictors of their orgasmic pleasure. Using their typical technique, where masturbation enjoyment was similar to that experienced at home, 38 men and 38 women masturbated to orgasm in the laboratory. Physiological sexual arousal (genital temperature) and subjective sexual arousal and desire measurements were taken at baseline, after masturbation almost to orgasm, and immediately and 15 minutes after orgasm. In both genders, all measures increased significantly during masturbation, with a greater buildup leading to a more pleasurable orgasm. After orgasm, however, sexual arousal and desire decreased more quickly and consistently in men than in women, thereby replicating Masters and Johnson's (1966 Masters , W. H. , &; Johnson , V. E. ( 1966 ). Human sexual response . Boston , MA : Little, Brown . [Google Scholar]) observations. More men than women exhibited resolution of subjective sexual arousal and sexual satiation; their genital temperature also decreased more than women's but did not return to baseline. Women's orgasmic pleasure was related to a postorgasmic decrease in genital temperature but, unexpectedly, the maintenance of subjective sexual arousal and desire. Future studies should explore whether this pattern explains gender differences in the pursuit of additional orgasms.     

Student perspectives on disclosure of mental illness in post-compulsory education: displacing doxa

This paper reports findings from a 12-month Australian study exploring beliefs and experiences of disclosure and course success in post-compulsory education for 20 students with mental illness. Enrolled students with disclosed or non-disclosed mental illness, teaching and support staff, and institutional practices across four sites providing vocational education and training were the three cases selected for this collective case study. Students participated in two semi-structured interviews over the course of one academic year. Disclosure was not preferred by students, most fearing that it would negatively impact upon their capacity to obtain employment in the occupation for which they were training. Further research exploring the processes, timing and outcomes of disclosure, in a wide range of post-secondary settings and with larger numbers of students, would allow for a deeper exploration of issues raised by this small study.     

Research Productivity of Social Work PhD Candidates Entering the Academic Job Market: An Analysis of Pre- and Postadmission Productivity Indicators

ABSTRACT

Besides traditional admissions criteria, research-intensive social work PhD programs may rely on personal interviews and curriculum vitae or resumes to gauge prior research experience to determine applicants’ fit for the research-related productivity expected in their programs. Case record review of social work PhD candidates (n=56) entering the job market (fall 2007 to spring 2016) aimed to explore preadmission demographic, academic, and research productivity characteristics as correlates of postadmission research productivity and time-to-degree. Race and ethnicity, residency, master’s degree type, Graduate Record Examination analytical score, and preadmission research productivity were significantly, yet differentially, related to postadmission research productivity. Only master’s degree type was significantly related to time-to-degree. Implications for prospective applicants and admissions committees at research-intensive social work schools are discussed.     

A Taxonomy of the Dimensions of Accreditation Systems

Unlike those in the USA, Canada and Australia, the UK National Health Service has no single dominant accreditation system. The Department of Health and the NHS Executive commissioned Keele University to study the organization and processes of accreditation and the potential impact of the introduction of a national accreditation system into the NHS. This paper discusses the policy questions involved in the construction of accreditation systems.     

Gambling decisions: an early intervention program for problem gamblers

An implementation and one-year follow-up of the Gambling Decisions program attempted to answer several important questions. First, is controlled gambling a viable treatment option for some gamblers? Can earlier stage problem gamblers be separated for treatment from those with more severe problems? Finally, would problem gamblers utilize a community health agency for treatment of their excessive gambling? A pretest/posttest design was chosen where the efficacy of the program was assessed using repeated measures ANOVA analysis. Results showed that an average loss of $608 over a 4-week period was reduced to $113 immediately after the 6-week program and to a loss of $73 at 12 months. The average number of hours spent gambling per 4 weeks was significantly reduced from 23.5 at pretest to 6.5 at the 12 month posttest. Significant decreases were also observed in the number of days per week that clients gambled, and clients reported significant reductions in everyday life problems related to gambling after completing the program.