Morality and Sexual Issues in Older Adolescent Females

A follow-up study to Carol Gilligan’s work in female adolescent moral development was conducted in the presentation of a hypothetical moral sexual situation to eight older, culturally diverse adolescent females in their first year of college. The naming of a “Good Friend’s” conflict and the personal moral reasoning of the interviewees were audiotaped, transcribed and analyzed using a sequence of four readings as subscribed by Gilligan and her associates. Examples of Justice reasoning, a Care reasoning, and an Integrated moral reasoning are presented along with suggestions for educators and therapists.     

Relationship and touch in public settings

Gender differences in touch in U.S. populations have been well demonstrated. The age of participants and the setting in which touch occurs have been shown to affect the gender differences. Some investigators have concluded that a gender asymmetry exists with men touching women more than women touch men. A number of studies have shown that men and women interpret touch differently. Past research has provided little information about the effect of the relationship between a couple and the meaning of their touch. In the present study touch initiation among couples was observed in a variety of public settings and then the couples were asked to identify their relationship. It was found that men were more likely to initiate touch during courtship and women were more likely to initiate touch after marriage. A sex difference in reproductive strategies was suggested as one explanation for the phenomenon.     

The use of interpersonal touch in securing compliance

Direct gaze and a personal approach distance have been shown to increase compliance in a face to face situation. In the present study touch was varied along with gender and difficulty of request to assess the effects upon rate of compliance. The results indicated that touch was important in securing compliance, moreso if the request was more difficult, and most important in securing same gender compliance.     

Tuning parameter selection for a penalized estimator of species richness

Our goal is to estimate the true number of classes in a population, called the species richness. We consider the case where multiple frequency count tables have been collected from a homogeneous population and investigate a penalized maximum likelihood estimator under a negative binomial model. Because high probabilities of unobserved classes increase the variance of species richness estimates, our method penalizes the probability of a class being unobserved. Tuning the penalization parameter is challenging because the true species richness is never known, and so we propose and validate four novel methods for tuning the penalization parameter. We illustrate and contrast the performance of the proposed methods by estimating the strain-level microbial diversity of Lake Champlain over three consecutive years, and global human host-associated species-level microbial richness.     

IMPOSED STRUCTURES AND CONTESTED MEANINGS: POLICIES AND POLITICS OF PUBLIC PARTICIPATION

This article explores the concept of structured community participation in health, which refers to groups that are established by health decision-makers to provide a ‘community’ viewpoint of health issues and services. The imposed nature of this form of participation is, however, potentially problematic in that it may not ensure that the community's views arc heard. Rather, structured community participation may entrench dominant interests. Drawing on the experiences of District Health Forums in Tasmania, this article explores issues surrounding this form of participation and argues that the political context of participation must be fully understood if it is to be effective. A recognition of the differences between bureaucratic and community needs and interests is essential to the success of structured community participation.     

“If I Did It Over There,I Can Do It Here”: U.S. Latinx Social Work Students in Costa Rican Service Placements Deepening Their Professional Identity and Skills

ABSTRACT

Social work student participation in global experiences continues to increase despite limited research on the impacts of these educational experiences on knowledge and skill development. This article reports on professional identity and skill development for 25 U.S. Latinx students who completed internships or service-learning projects in Costa Rica while living with host families. Three groups of MSW students spent 6 weeks in full-time summer internships and one group of primarily BASW students completed two-week summer service-learning projects and language immersion course work. Through longitudinal qualitative data collected before, during, and after the time abroad, and the use of the Educational Policy and Accreditation Standards as a conceptual framework to assess learning outcomes, three key areas of professional gains emerged: demonstrate ethical and professional behavior, engage diversity and difference in practice, and engage with individuals, families, groups, organizations, and communities. This study reveals specific benefits of opportunities for students assumed to already be culturally competent with clients of related backgrounds because of language or ethnic similarities. Discussion on the findings and implications for social work educators and students is included.     

“From that Moment on My Life Changed”: Turning Points in the Healing Process for Men Recovering from Child Sexual Abuse

Recent research indicates that child sexual abuse often undermines the health of boys and men across the lifespan. However, some male survivors experience a turning point marking a positive change in their health trajectories and healing process. Although frequently discussed in reference to physical health problems or addictions, very little is known about turning points with respect to child sexual abuse for men. The purpose of this secondary qualitative analysis was to describe the different types of turning points experienced by male survivors who completed the 2010 Health and Well-Being Survey (N = 250). Using conventional content analysis, researchers identified seven types of turning points that were classified into three broad categories: influential relationships (professional and group support, personal relationships), insights and new meanings (cognitive realizations, necessity to change, spiritual transformation), and action-oriented communication (disclosure of CSA, pursuit of justice). Implications for clinical practice and future research are discussed.     

Durkheim's Concept of Anomie: Some Observations*

Most interpretations of anornie emphasize the normative aspect. However, Durkheim viewed anomie as involving more than a lack of norms or a conflict of norms. Discussions in The Division of Labor in Society and Suicide show that according to Durkheim the primary threats to social solidarity in modern societies are weak or ineffective structural constraints on individualistic needs and desires. In modern industrialized societies the primary mode of social control is not a set of rules or norms, although they do have a cohesive function, but the development of solidary, interdependent social relationships among diverse individuals. Crucial in the development of solidary social relationships is the rate and nature of social change. For modern or modernizing societies the most important form of social change is industrialization. If industrialization is too rapid then the likelihood of social inequality, economic crises, and family disruption is greater. New and solidary forms of social relationships are not allowed to develop properly. This results in weak constraints on individualistic needs and desires that have been “excited” by the industrialization.