Exploring heterosexual women's anti-lesbian attitudes

Previous research on attitudes toward gays has mostly focused on heterosexuals' attitudes toward gay men, with little research specifically directed at anti-lesbian attitudes. Using a sample of 269 undergraduate heterosexual women, the present study tested two feminist propositions: Anti-lesbian attitudes would be associated with (1) conservative beliefs regarding the female gender-role and (2) attitudes toward men that support the differential status of women and men in the patriarchy. Findings based on a series of multiple regression analyses support these propositions across three components of anti-lesbian attitudes (contact apprehension, morality beliefs, and stereotypic beliefs). Directions for future research on anti-lesbian attitudes are discussed.     

Community-based accompaniment & social work—A complementary approach to social action

Accompaniment, or the intentional practice of presence, emphasizes processes and relationships over outcomes, with the ultimate goal of leveraging privilege and collectively changing destructive systems. Though not widely recognized in social work, accompaniment has been applied globally. Here, we outline an overview of accompaniment, including how it has been applied in social work literature and practice. We then propose community-based accompaniment as an approach to complement traditional models of social action as a necessary, yet accessible way to further advance community organizing in social work education and practice, and ultimately promote transformative social change.     

Pathways from Casual Employment to Economic Security: the Australian Experience

Casual employment is extensive and has been increasing for more than two decades in Australia. The concept of casual employment used in the Australian context is unusual, but it is directly linked to benefit and rights exclusion within the regulatory framework governing employment. The expansion in casual employment has spread across all sectors, industries and occupations. Casual employment is associated with various forms of insecurity including income and employment insecurity. There are a number of ways in which the insecurity associated with casual employment could be reduced.

Young people’s drinking spaces and Im/Mobilities: a case of ‘hyper-diversity’?

This paper draws on a ‘palette’ of interdisciplinary methods to explore young people’s alcohol consumption practices and experiences in the hyper-diverse suburban locations of Chorlton and Wythenshawe, Manchester, UK. This paper contributes to literature on the emerging theme of hyper-diversity by exposing the heterogeneity of young people’s drinking experiences, with a focus on bars, pubs, streets and parks. I demonstrate how young people’s inclusion and exclusion from such spaces is bound up with the traditional identity markers of age, gender and class, alongside more performative, embodied, emotional and affective aspects; for instance, the atmospheres, smell and soundscapes of particular drinking spaces. More than this, the paper enhances understandings of hyper-diversity by elucidating the ways in which young people’s everynight alcohol-related mobilities and diversity interpenetrate each other. Through analysing young people’s alcohol consumption practices and experiences, I show how young people are hyper-diverse in terms of their alcohol-related lifestyles, attitudes, and activities.     

Engaging with families in child protection: lessons from practitioner research in Scotland

This paper reports findings from practitioner-led research on engagement with families in the child protection system in Scotland. Engagement is here defined in a participative sense, to mean the involvement of family members in shaping social work processes. Key findings include the importance of workers building trusting relationships; the value of honest and clear communication, information, and explanation; and the potential for formal structures such as reports and meetings to hinder family engagement. These findings contribute to a growing critique of managerialism in social work.     

From old school hunches to departmental lunches*

Despite the steady supply of books on management we still have very few sociological accounts of managerial work and organisation within particular firms and industries. Through first-hand observation and over twelve months intensive interviewing, the authors were able to uncover a virtual anthropology of managerial ideology, generational conflict, career and intra-managerial politics and arbitration in four manufacturing firms. One such case-study firm is presented here. Despite being riven with conflict between an Old School and a New School ascendant, and between conflicting patterns of industrial bureaucracy, ‘Parkers’ is a highly successful company. The use of an external firm of management consultants has helped keep the peace, but beneath the surface there is persistent instability, barely concealed by official euphemisms. Under pressure from the trade unions, from instrumental young managers, and above all from external control by overseas HQ, the Old School believed it is making its last stand. All names and places have of course been changed.     

Integration and Its Future: a case study of primary education and physical disability

This article describes a case study of the integration into mainstream schooling in two LEAs of children of primary school age with physical disabilities. Levels of disability are compared with the location of the children in the school system and any special provision made for them. Quality of provision is also explored. Factors affecting the overall levels of integration in the LEAs and differences between them are examined and the wider implications of recent legislation for the future development of integration are discussed in the light of the findings of the study.