Workers' Protest in Egypt: Neo-liberalism and Class Struggle in 21st Century

From 1998 to 2008 some 2 million Egyptian workers participated in 2,623 factory occupations, strikes, demonstrations, or other collective actions. This social movement does not have a national leadership or program and has not been supported by the Egyptian Trade Union Federation. It is propelled by locally generated grievances that have been produced by the acceleration of the neo-liberal transformation of Egypt since 2004. This workers movement has not changed the existing structures of power that constrain Egyptian working people because the informal, local networks that have sustained the movement are, by their nature, unable to organize a national-scale political movement on their own.     

Children-at-Risk from Poor Nutrition: Advancing the Approach and Practice of Students of Social Work

Limited attention has been given in the social work profession to working with children-at-risk from poor nutrition despite the detrimental effect that lack of proper nutrition can have on the development of children. A study examining the extent of inclusion of nutrition-related-components in work with children-at-risk, the frequency of inclusion of these components and the barriers hindering their inclusion was conducted with 126 social work students in Israel. The findings indicate that there is less emphasis on nutrition-related components than on psycho-social components, a low frequency of including this subject in assessment and intervention of children-at-risk, and a low level of collaboration with specialists in the area of nutrition. In addition, it was found that knowledge-based barriers and, to a lower extent, institutional-related systemic barriers may hinder future professionals' capabilities to incorporate those components, despite their favorable approach towards this subject. The findings illuminate a need to advance a more balanced approach between the bio and the psycho-social aspects in academic and training programs. There is also a need to reduce the barriers about knowledge relevant for social workers in situations of poor nutrition and to advance an interdisciplinary orientation with specialists in this area.     

WHATEVER HAPPENED TO SOCIAL PATHOLOGY? CONCEPTUAL FASHIONS AND THE SOCIOLOGY OF DEVIANCE

Social scientific concepts go in and out of fashion. Social pathology was once a popular title for undergraduate sociology courses and textbooks, but it fell out of favor about fifty years ago. Similarly, there is evidence that fewer contemporary sociologists are using the concept of deviance in their analyses. This article sketches a natural history of sociological concepts that denote categories of troubling conditions; it argues that such concepts pose definitional problems that make them pedagogically helpful but analytically problematic.     

The racialisation of African youth in Australia

In this paper I argue that patterns of reporting on ‘African youth’ in Australia show how both the constraints under which the media operates and the wider sources of institutional racism contribute to new applications of racialising frames. I seek to establish specific patterns of racialisation through an analysis of newspaper articles appearing in Melbourne over a roughly two month period when media attention was focused on a series of violent incidents in which African refugees were identified as either victims or perpetrators. Initial reporting is determined by journalistic reliance on police accounts of incidents involving a racially defined ‘problem group’ as evidence of the predispositions of this group within a wider narrative of worsening gang crime. The racialising premises established by police are retained even in subsequent coverage framed by the problematic of ‘integration’. Despite racism being identified and named in the course of reporting, it remains subsumed under the weight of frames which assume that the problem lies essentially with the ‘problem group’.     

Mechanisms of religious trauma amongst queer people in Australia’s evangelical churches

Clinical Social Work Journal - Christian communities teaching traditional theology and ethics, which treat diverse sexualities and gender expansive identities as sinful, can be places where...     

Symposium: Neuroergonomics, technology, and cognition

This symposium describes collaborative research on neuroergonomics, technology, and cognition being conducted at George Mason University and the US Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) as part of the Center of Excellence in Neuroergonomics, Technology, and Cognition (CENTEC). Six presentations describe the latest developments in neuroergonomics research conducted by CENTEC scientists. The individual papers cover studies of: (1) adaptive learning systems; (2) neurobehavioral synchronicity during team performance; (3) genetics and individual differences in decision making; (4) vigilance and mindlessness; (5) interruptions and multi-tasking; and (6) development of a simulation capability that integrates measures across these domains and levels of analysis.     

Development of Sexual Expectancies among Adolescents: Contributions by Parents,Peers and the Media

To expand the scant research on sexual expectancies development among non–sexually active adolescents, we examined the relationship between adolescents' exposure to four socializing agents—mother/female guardian, father/male guardian, peers, and television programs with high sexual content—and their endorsement of four sexual expectancies: social benefit, pleasure, social risk, and health risk. Data are from Waves 2 and 3 of a three-wave annual longitudinal study conducted among California adolescents, the majority of whom were not sexually active (N = 914, 84%). Structural equation models were conducted to examine cross-sectional and longitudinal associations between the socializing agents and the sexual expectancies. Cross-sectional results indicate associations between peer sexual communication and social benefit, pleasure, and social risk expectancies. A positive association was found between exposure to music videos and social benefit expectancies, and a negative association was found between exposure to music videos and health risk expectancies. Longitudinal results suggest that communication with peers positively predicted pleasure expectancies and negatively predicted social risk expectancies. No other socializing agents were associated with any sexual expectancies. An invariance test found that significant correlations were similar across the different age groups. Results suggest that efforts to support positive sexual decision making among non–sexually active adolescents should target peer sexual communication.     

Ethnic Coexistence in Deeply Divided Societies: The Case of Arab Athletes in the Hebrew Media

This article examines the various elements affecting reconciliation and coexistence in deeply divided societies through the case of Arab soccer players in the Israeli media. We analyze the discourse surrounding the concept du‐kium (coexistence) in the Israeli media between the years 2002 and 2008. Our findings reveal that Jewish journalists and public figures interpret coexistence as Arab citizens' complete acceptance of the Jewish perspective and narrative. Arab soccer players are expected to underplay their Palestinian identity, master Hebrew, and identify with the Jewish narrative and views. We contrast the Israeli case with two other cases of prolonged conflict—Rwanda and Bosnia‐Herzegovina. The study highlights that cognitive perceptions and schemes may hinder genuine reconciliation even when various groups reject overt racism and profess candid desire for coexistence.     

Joseph Gusfield and Social Problems Theory

Joseph R. Gusfield was a key figure in the emergence of constructionist social problems theory. His approach was characterized by: his determination to identify the cultural, structural, and historical context of claims; attention to the choices among alternatives that shaped how problems were defined; and the rhetoric used by advocates. He highlighted the role of ownership–the ability to define the terms in which social problems are constructed. His work is also notable for its skepticism regarding social scientists’ theorizing.