Associations Between Early Life Stress, Child Maltreatment, and Pubertal Development Among Girls in Foster Care

The present study investigated pubertal development in girls with maltreatment histories (N = 100), assessed at four time points over 2 years beginning in the spring of their final year of elementary school. This sample is unique, in that participants were subject to an unusual level of environmental risk early in life and resided in foster care at the start of the study. Analyses replicated the previously established association between sexual abuse and earlier onset of maturation and earlier age at menarche. Physical abuse was related to a more rapid tempo of pubertal development across the period assessed. These results strengthen previous investigations of childhood maltreatment and puberty, highlighting the complexity and specificity of early life experiences for later development.     

A withdrawn vision: art,realism and the scene of incest

Via a reading of incest survivor art, this essay explores the possibility of a political aesthetic based on the unrepresentability of trauma. Key to this essay is the idea that trauma cannot be redeemed by art and it is therefore necessary to develop a reading of art that does not seek to resolve the horror of incest. Drawing inspiration from Hal Foster’s influential notion of traumatic realism, the aim of this essay is to develop a critical language that pushes the question of representing childhood trauma beyond the models of repression and realism but doing so without collapsing the argument into an anti‐realist position. Of critical importance to this analysis is a post‐repression model of trauma that puts into jeopardy the idea that history can achieve symbolic recognition. Underpinning this essay is a conceptual move from the “return of the repressed” to the “return of the real” and in so doing I aim to demonstrate the political importance of this shift in thinking about the reality and representation of trauma.     

Women Aging Together in Community

SUMMARY

At a fiftieth birthday party 17 years ago, a group of women—lesbian, bisexual, and straight—decided to create a conscious community in which they could age together. The group, where they discuss this process and support each other, is politically and personally meaningful, and a buffer against the isolation and powerlessness many aging women experience. They meet monthly, and at weekend retreats twice a year. They have become a “family of choice,” sharing holidays and celebrations and supporting each other when necessary and possible. After several years, they decided to commit for life. In the group, each feels held and seen in the complex experience of aging in today's world.     

Evaluating the effects of full-time vs part-time educational programs for the gifted: affective outcomes and policy considerations

This study evaluates the effects of student participation in two different educational programs/settings for the gifted, i.e., full time homogeneous classes vs mixed ability classes (with a part-time extension program), on a variety of affective outcome. Data on academic self-concept, test anxiety, achievement motivation, perceptions of giftedness, school attitudes, and satisfaction with school were gathered on a sample of 1020 Israeli gifted elementary school children in grades 4–6. Analyses of the data pointed to a less positive personal-social profile in students partaking in special full-time homogeneous classes, compared to their mainstreamed counterparts, as evidenced by lower evaluative anxiety, higher academic self-concept, and more positive labeling in the former setting. However, compared to their mainstreamed counterparts in mixed ability classes, students in special homogeneous classes for the gifted held more favorable attitudes towards various facets of the school/classroom environment (school atmosphere, level of instruction, teacher-student relations, teacher characteristics) and were also more satisfied with school in general when compared to their gifted counterparts partaking in mixed ability classes. The tradeoff between a more positive perception of the school environment and less effective personal-social adjustment for students in special gifted classes should be given due consideration by program planners and evaluators in any cost-benefit analysis of educational programs for gifted students.     

Choices and Challenges: A Qualitative Exploration of Professional Women's Career Patterns

With the rapid changes occurring in the role of work in women's lives, this research project was designed to examine the career planning, career decision making, and work history of women in both female‐dominated and gender‐neutral careers (U.S. Department of Labor, n.d.‐a). A qualitative analysis of structured interviews identified 6 emerging themes: variations of career/family patterns, career encouragers, career obstacles, personal compromises, career changes, and career decision‐making patterns. Insights for strengthening the exploration process and strategies for supporting career management are presented based on the emerging themes.     

Social Entrepreneurship in Communities

The United States ranks low on many measures of population health. In addressing this societal problem, nonprofit health conversion foundations are emerging as important, local social entrepreneurs. We investigated the processes by which these organizations create and implement locally situated innovative approaches to promote health and wellness. Using an inductive, qualitative approach, we identified central themes by which conversion foundations, as social entrepreneurs, developed collaborative solutions to health. We found that they defined the social problem, generated social capital in the community, and educated potential partners. These mechanisms helped build a groundwork for collaboration among community actors. Conversion foundations then convened partners with complementary competencies to develop creative solutions. This research contributes to the literature on social entrepreneurship and nonprofits by expanding understanding of how foundations can foster community collaborations to develop innovative solutions to social problems. Further, this study sheds light on the activities and processes of nonprofit health conversion foundations as actors with the potential to improve population health.