Achieving permanency for LGBTQ youth

This article brings together two significant efforts in the child welfare field: achieving permanence for youth in out-of-home care and meeting the needs of lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and questioning (LGBTQ) youth. During the past several years, a national movement has taken place to assure all children and youth have a permanent family connection before leaving the child welfare system; however, LGBTQ youth are not routinely included in the permanency discussions. At the same time, efforts in addressing the needs of LGBTQ youth have increased, but permanency is rarely mentioned as a need. This article offers models of permanence and practices to facilitate permanence with LGBTQ youth and their families. It also offers a youth-driven, individualized process, using youth development principles to achieve relational, physical, and legal permanence. Reunification efforts are discussed, including services, supports, and education required for youth to return to their family of origin. For those who cannot return home, other family resources are explored. The article also discusses cultural issues as they affect permanence for LGBTQ youth, and, finally, addresses the need for ongoing support services to sustain and support permanency.     

Was Gandhi “charismatic”? Exploring the rhetorical leadership of Mahatma Gandhi

This study explores a deceptively simple question: was Gandhi a “charismatic” leader? We compare Gandhi's rhetorical leadership to social movement leaders and charismatic U.S. presidents to examine whether any consistencies in charismatic rhetoric emerge across historical and cultural contexts. Our findings indicate that charismatic themes of articulating the intolerable nature of the present and appealing to values and moral justifications emerged in similar levels across all three samples. In addition, Gandhi's speeches contained comparable levels of language that emphasized his similarity to followers, followers’ worth, links between the past and future, and abstract, intangible themes as compared to other leaders. In contrast, themes of collective focus and active, aggressive speech varied significantly across the three samples. Recognizing that content analysis should be utilized with caution across cultural settings, we suggest a number of possible explanations for Gandhi's pervasive appeal and implications for future research into the universality of visionary rhetoric.     

The Economics of Equal Value

Equal pay for work of equal value has come to be seen as the policy most likely to reduce the gender earnings gap. This paper explores the theoretical basis for widespread undervaluation of women's work and argues that institutionalised discrimination in the labour market also affects internal pay and grading structures. Recent recognition of the scope for discretion in pay determination undermines the “market forces” argument against equal value. The current wage structure reflects an outdated model of social and family organisation. Much poverty is now the result of women seeking economic independence in a market which rewards them as subordinate family members. However, the main obstacles to equal value lie in labour market institutions. The increasing fragmentation of pay bargaining and moves to performance-related pay will reduce rather than promote the relationship between pay and job content.