What Does Parental Divorce or Marital Separation Mean for Adolescents? A Scoping Review of North American Literature

Parental divorce in North America and the resulting changes to the traditional family unit as seen in current academic literature are troubling. These changes are especially worrisome as they relate to adolescent life and development. This scoping review examines the past 11 years of North American English language literature concerning adolescents who have experienced parental divorce. Literature was taken from health-related databases using the search terms adolescent and divorce. The resulting articles were analyzed and pared down to 53 papers that adhered to predetermined criteria. Analysis revealed trends in how the studies are conducted as well as seven themes throughout the literature. The authors suggest future research directions based on the trends, themes, and found knowledge gaps in the recent literature.     

The Use of Tobacco as Gambling Currency by Federal Offenders in Canada Before and After a Tobacco Ban

In 2008 tobacco was banned in federal correctional institutions in Canada. In this paper we compare the use of tobacco as currency for gambling in two studies that we conducted, one before and one after the tobacco ban. The data from two studies were compared. The questionnaires were administered to offenders in federal and provincial institutions in Ontario. Study 1 included 254 male offenders and study 2 included 395 male offenders. The focus in this paper is on one questionnaire about the type of wager made while incarcerated. It was found that the use of tobacco as a currency in gambling went from 28.6% of those offenders who gamble to 2.3% of those offenders who gamble. In addition, there was an overall decrease in the number of federal offenders who reported gambling while incarcerated. However, information gained from the questionnaire and from interviews with incarcerated offenders suggests that there has been a shift to money wagers and that gambling inside has become more serious since the tobacco ban. The results suggest that the ban on smoking has resulted in a change in the type of currency used for gambling inside correctional institutions in Ontario Canada.     

Stability in the Social Support Networks of Homeless Families in Shelter: Findings From a Study of Families in a Faith-Based Shelter Program

The following article outlines a longitudinal study tracking changes of the social support networks of 28 homeless families in shelter. Weekly changes in support networks of homeless mothers were tracked including 482 dyadic ties between mothers and supportive persons. Findings suggested that informal social support and persons who provided emotional support were significantly more stable forms of support in the mothers' lives throughout their shelter stay. Time was found to be a significant predictor of financial well-being and housing stability at shelter exit, but characteristics of the supportive ties were not. Implications for family social work and research practice are presented.     

Gratitude to an Unknown Mentor: Bostrom's Influence on Janusik

Many people influence us throughout our lives, and sometimes we are fortunate enough to have the opportunity to reflect upon the influence. Often, this is more challenging than it sounds, as some people become a part of our DNA, inextricably linked to who we are, what we believe, and how we work. Such is the case of the influence of Robert (Bob) N. Bostrom on my work. Though I met Bostrom only once, his work became a part of what I believe about listening and how I choose to approach listening and listening research. Through the process of examining both my work and Bostrom's work, I was able to identify the two main influences he had on me. They are pursuing listening from a cognitive-based perspective and not struggling to define the construct of listening.     

Self-determined goals in a solution-focused batterer intervention program: Application for building client strengths and solutions

ABSTRACT

The present study explores the content and characteristics of self-determined goals developed by violent offenders as part of a court-mandated treatment program. Data were collected from 89 domestic violence offenders enrolled in a solution-focused batterer intervention program. The data were analyzed using content analysis, and the emergent themes included (1) emotional regulation, (2) personal growth, (3) improve family relationships, and (4) improve communication. The findings from this study offer preliminary insight into the type of goals, the usefulness and importance of developing goals, and how goals might be helpful in reinforcing the change process while in treatment.     

Health Risk Behaviors among Adolescents in the Rural South: A Comparison of Race,Gender, and Age

Risky behaviors contribute to many of the physical and mental health problems of today's adolescents. The present study surveyed more than 2,500 high school and middle school students in a rural county in southwest Georgia in an attempt to identify differences in health risk behaviors, including tobacco, alcohol, and other drug use, violence and gang-related behaviors, and student assessment of high-risk behaviors, based on three demographic characteristics: race, gender, and age. Results show that Caucasian students are more likely to use tobacco and alcohol, whereas African-American students are more likely to engage in violent activities. In addition, older students (aged 15+ years) were more likely to use tobacco, alcohol, and drugs and to participate in violent behaviors, and male students are more likely to use tobacco and drugs and to participate in violent behaviors than female students.     

Why Adoption? Gay,Lesbian, and Heterosexual Adoptive Parents’ Reproductive Experiences and Reasons for Adoption

This study aimed to explore the experiences of gay, lesbian, and heterosexual adoptive parents from 130 families. Parents’ reproductive experiences prior to adoption and their reasons for choosing to adopt were compared. Heterosexual couples were more likely to have experienced infertility than same-sex couples. Same-sex couples were more likely to prefer adoption over other routes to parenthood. Parents in all three family types selected their route to parenthood according to normative expectations, attitudes to biogenetic parenthood, ease of access, and moral reasoning. Same-sex couples’ decisions were enabled by the non-discriminatory sociolegal context of the United Kingdom.     

Veiled references: Constructions of gender in the Bush administration discourse on the attacks on Afghanistan post-9/11

Understanding the ways in which the discursive construction of gender allowed for the US-led attacks on Afghanistan to be considered a legitimate response to the attacks of 9/11 is vital to the study of international relations and for the reclaiming of a feminist politics of the attacks. Through the identification and exploration of various representations of identity in the period after 9/11 and before the attacks on Afghanistan, I will illustrate the centrality of narratives of gender to the production of a recognizable and legitimate narrative of war. I focus on the identities of ‘the nation’, ‘the enemy’ and ‘the intervention’, with each exploring not only the ways in which they are created and perpetuated, but also the ways in which they make certain responses, actions and attitudes permissible and censor others. In conclusion, I draw attention to the economic concerns of the USA that were marginalized within the discursive construction of identity post-9/11, and the ways in which the tensions created by this marginalization can be used as a critical tool to begin to unpick gendered constructions that were represented as seamless at the time.