The changing face of the ‘good mother’: trends in research into families with a child with intellectual disability,and some concerns

This article reviews changing perspectives in recent social science research into families of children with intellectual disability. These latest trends emphasise family resilience, adaptation, and transformation, with the focus predominantly on mothers and their ability to psychologically adjust to their caring challenges. A concern is that by concentrating on the adaptive strategies of mothers, researchers risk minimising the socio-political dimensions of this experience. The theme of the ‘good mother’ figures strongly in this research, linked to the limiting socio-cultural narratives available to mothers of children with intellectual disability that, it is argued, may condone their continuing marginalisation.     

Infants' discrimination of consonant contrasts in the presence and absence of talker variability

To learn speech-sound categories, infants must identify the acoustic dimensions that differentiate categories and selectively attend to them as opposed to irrelevant dimensions. Variability on irrelevant acoustic dimensions can aid formation of robust categories in infants through adults in tasks such as word learning (e.g., Rost and McMurray, 2009) or speech-sound learning (e.g., Lively et al., 1993). At the same time, variability sometimes overwhelms learners, interfering with learning and processing. Two prior studies (Kuhl & Miller, 1982; Jusczyk, Pisoni, & Mullennix, 1992) found that irrelevant variability sometimes impaired early sound discrimination. We asked whether variability would impair or facilitate discrimination for older infants, comparing 7.5-month-old infants' discrimination of an early acquired native contrast, /p/ vs. /b/ (in the word forms /pIm/ vs. /bIm/), in Experiment 1, with an acoustically subtle, non-native contrast, /n/ vs. /ŋ/ (in /nIm/ vs. /ŋIm/), in Experiment 2. Words were spoken by one or four talkers. Infants discriminated the native but not the non-native contrast, and there were no significant effects of talker condition. We discuss implications for theories of phonological learning and avenues for future research.     

Estimation of the Stochastic Volatility Model by the Empirical Characteristic Function Method

The stochastic volatility model has no closed form for its likelihood and hence the maximum likelihood estimation method is difficult to implement. However, it can be shown that the model has a known characteristic function. As a consequence, the model is estimable via the empirical characteristic function. In this paper, the characteristic function of the model is derived and the estimation procedure is discussed. An application is considered for daily returns of Australian/New Zealand dollar exchange rate. Model checking suggests that the stochastic volatility model together with the empirical characteristic function estimates fit the data well.     

Limit theory for autoregressive-parameter estimates in an infinite-variance random walk

We consider the asymptotic behaviour of least-squares and M-estimates of the autoregressive parameter when the process is an infinite-variance random walk. It is shown that certain M -estimates converge faster than least-squares estimates and that they are also asymptotically normal.     

Finite sample comparisons of the distributions of the ols and gls estimators in regression with an integrated regsorad correlated errors

We compare the finite sample distributional properties of the OLS and GT,S mtinialors 11 a rcgrassior wilh arl inl,cgrd,ctl rcgrtssor ant1 corrctifical errors of the form of AR(1) and MA(1) processes. The approach is one of first deriving the joint characteristic function of the quadratic forms in the clefiriit,on of t,hc est,irrial,ors and then rurrierically inverting these 1.0 find the distributions. When the characteristic functions are intractable, Monte Carlo integration is employed. We find substantial differences in the finite jarriplc ditributiorls of OLS ant1 C:LS dthough lsynlptotically thee distributions are equivalent.     

Exchange curves for fixing batch quantities

The problem considered is that of choosing batch quantities to minimize costs, subject to the constraints that neither overall set-up costs nor overall set-up time can be increased beyond certain limits. Theoretical and graphical solutions are obtained for two possible formulations of the problem, and a simple practical procedure is suggested.     

What date/acquaintance rape victims tell others: a study of college student recipients of disclosure

The authors surveyed 828 college students and found that approximately one third (n = 282) of the respondents reported that one or more women had told them that they had been raped by their dates or acquaintances. The 282 respondents who knew 1 or more victims of date/acquaintance rape reported on a total of 396 victims. The number of victims identified by respondents ranged from 1 to 3 or more (1 = 73%; 2 = 19%, 3 = 5%, > or = 4 = 3%). Reactions to disclosure offered by these respondents were generally supportive of the victim. The respondents' reactions suggested that there is a continuing need to educate students about the incidence and risks associated with date/acquaintance rape and the possibility of disclosure, particularly by friends or dating partners, and brought out some possible helpful and some counterproductive reactions to such disclosures.     

Patterns of positivity: Positive affect trajectories among infants of mothers with a history of depression

This study examined positive affect (PA) trajectories over the first year of life among infants of mothers with a history of depression (N = 191) as well as predictors (i.e., maternal prenatal and postpartum depression symptoms, maternal parenting behaviors) of those trajectories. Infant PA was observed in play and feeding tasks during laboratory visits at 3, 6, and 12 months of age; parenting behaviors were observed at 3 months. Mothers completed questionnaires regarding their symptoms of depression throughout the prenatal period and during the first 3 months postpartum. Growth curve analyses indicated that infant PA increased across time, and this finding replicated across both the play and feeding tasks, though increases slowed over time. Neither maternal prenatal nor postpartum depression symptoms predicted infants' PA trajectories, but mothers' PA, positive parenting, and disengaged parenting were associated with infant PA during the play task. Our finding that infant PA increased over the first year postpartum suggests PA trajectories among infants of mothers with a history of depression may be indices of resilience, despite risks associated with their mothers' history of depression. Furthermore, this study highlights parenting behaviors that may be important targets of prevention and early intervention efforts to bolster infant PA.     

The Gudaga Research Program: A Case Study in Undertaking Research with an Urban Aboriginal Community

This paper presents the Gudaga Research Program as a case study describing the practice principles used to implement a successful research partnership with an urban Aboriginal community in south-western Sydney. This is one of few papers that address research issues unique to working with urban Aboriginal communities, in which the Aboriginal culture of the community is not homogenous. The authors argue that the relationships between the researchers and key community members and research participants underpin the research success. Throughout, the authors show that ongoing processes to nurture and reaffirm these relationships are important and require ongoing investment. A proposed practice framework demonstrates the relationship between knowledge and understanding of Aboriginal history and culture, the underpinning values including trust, respect, and reciprocity, and shared skills and communication. Examples of how these were built into the research are provided. These are important skills that have application beyond the research process.     

Promoting Resilience Through Social Work Practice with Groups: Implications for the Practice and Field Curricula

The realities of contemporary social work practice often push social workers toward a deficit-focused orientation. The article begins with an overview of the major tenets of resiliency and adversarial growth theories and related research findings. We suggest that the group modality epitomizes the application of resiliency theory and adversarial growth to social work practice. A primary focus of this article is on articulating and illustrating the unique contribution group work makes for promoting client resilience. The article provides a theoretical and empirical framework that students, practitioners, and educators alike can use to identify, understand, and capitalize on client strengths through group work. Implications for social work education, specifically the practice and field curricula, are discussed.