Broadening the Study of Infant Security of Attachment: Maternal Autonomy‐support in the Context of Infant Exploration

Although security of attachment is conceptualised as a balance between infants' attachment and exploratory behaviours, parental behaviours pertaining to infant exploration have received relatively little empirical attention. Drawing from self‐determination theory, this study seeks to improve the prediction of infant attachment by assessing maternal autonomy‐support during infant exploration, in addition to maternal sensitivity. Seventy‐one dyads participated in two home visits. Maternal sensitivity was assessed when the infants were 12 months old, whereas maternal autonomy‐support and infant attachment were assessed at 15 months. The results revealed that autonomy‐support explained an additional portion of the variance in attachment when maternal socioeconomic status and sensitivity were controlled. These results speak to the relevance of a theory‐driven approach to examining maternal behaviours in the context of child exploration.     

Wage and nonwage outcomes in collective bargaining: Determinants and tradeoffs

Using unskilled labor wage rates and union contract scores derived from a sample of 500 U.S. manufacturing contracts, this study finds that in 1975 there was considerable variation in unions’ abilities to deliver higher wages and desirable nonwage contractual provisions to their members (though it is clear that the stronger unions have bargained high levels of both wages and nonwage items). There are a variety of union power, employee quality, union preference, and employer cost variables which impact upon the bargaining choices made between wages and nonwage provisions, and it appears that union strength tilts the compensation package toward wages. The authors, associate professors at the University of Illinois, are very grateful to Christopher Pawlowicz, Ronald Seeber, and Roger Wolters for their help in gathering data. They also are grateful to the Office of the Assistant Secretary for Policy, Evaluation and Research of the U.S. Department of Labor and to the Research Board of the University of Illinois for financially supporting this research. Such support in no way implies, however, that the Department or the University endorses the methods or conclusions in this study.     

Social Inclusion and Sport: Culturally diverse women's perspectives

Sport and recreation can help communities to build social inclusion and celebrate diversity. Yet some sport and recreation activities require conformity to social and cultural norms, risking suppressing difference and reinforcing inequality and exclusion. This paper explores these tensions by examining access and barriers to sport and recreation for a large group of Australian women: those from culturally diverse backgrounds. Qualitative data shows that while sport industry representatives justify catering primarily for a mainstream participant base, culturally diverse women identify barriers requiring strategic and targeted policy and program intervention. Implicating the spatial organisation of sport and recreation as sources of marginalisation, culturally diverse women highlight how access‐enhancing initiatives in public, commercial and community sport facilities can play key roles in promoting social inclusion.     

Adolescent fathers involved with child protection: social workers speak

This study examined adolescent paternity through structured interviews with their social workers. It adds to the literature by exploring if there were young men involved with the child protection services (CPS) system who are fathers, identifying their unique needs, and beginning discussions on working with these young men. CPS social workers from six area offices and one juvenile detention facility completed surveys for each father on their caseload. A 3.5% rate of adolescent paternity was observed across these offices. Information about the nature of the young men's involvement with CPS, their involvement with their children, and their unique needs as fathers are provided. This paper also identifies some practice and policy implications for adolescent fathers and CPS charged with their care.     

Heterosexism,racism, and mental illness discrimination: Experiences of people with mental health conditions and their families

Experiencing discrimination related to race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, or having a mental health condition is associated with negative outcomes. Research comparing types of discrimination or considering intersectionalities is lacking. This study reports findings from interviews with people with mental illnesses (PWMI) or family members of PWMI; all study participants also are of color and/or lesbian, gay, or bisexual. Findings include the following: participants experienced multiple forms of discrimination, mental illness discrimination shares characteristics with racism and heterosexism, and heterosexuals and people of color reported more mental illness discrimination than their counterparts. Implications for change advocates, mental health providers, and researchers are offered.     

A Psychosocial Understanding of Child Sexual Abuse Disclosure Among Female Children in South Africa

Child sexual abuse is endemic in South Africa, driven by high levels of gender-based violence and underscored by structural and social factors. This article aims to develop an understanding of the process of disclosure in a sample of female children and their caregivers. In-depth semistructured interviews were conducted with 31 female children aged 8–17 years and their caregivers at 3 intervals after presentation to a sexual assault treatment center. Nearly half of the children failed to disclose the sexual abuse immediately, fearing caregivers’ reaction. Most children purposefully disclosed to a confidant through a process of identifying an intermediary to tell caregivers on their behalf. The process of disclosure was influenced by multiple factors, such as a fear of the caregiver’s reaction and disbelief, which is related to parental style. Disclosure was found to be a dynamic process that unfolds and not a single or static event and influenced by multiple factors which all impact on recovery. Our findings highlight the need to address social norms on sexual abuse in order to improve responses to disclosure to facilitate post-sexual-abuse adjustment for the child and the family.     

Editorial note: referees

Abstract

This study investigates three methods to handle dependency among effect size estimates in meta-analysis arising from studies reporting multiple outcome measures taken on the same sample. The three-level approach is compared with the method of robust variance estimation, and with averaging effects within studies. A simulation study is performed, and the fixed and random effect estimates of the three methods are compared with each other. Both the robust variance estimation and three-level approach result in unbiased estimates of the fixed effects, corresponding standard errors and variances. Averaging effect sizes results in overestimated standard errors when the effect sizes within studies are truly independent. Although the robust variance and three-level approach are more complicated to use, they have the advantage that they do not require an estimate of the correlation between outcomes, and they still result in unbiased parameter estimates.     

Masculinity and Class in the Context of Dirty Work

Through an ethnographic study of ‘dirty work’ (refuse collection and street cleaning), this article explores how masculinity and class intersect — how, in a mutually constitutive sense, they produce attitudes and practices, strengths and vulnerabilities, which are shaped by shifting relations of privilege and power. We find resistance to class subordination through adherence to traditional forms of masculinity and through esteem‐enhancing social comparison (e.g., with women; with migrant workers). Men also mobilized powerful nostalgic themes around the loss of traditional jobs as well as trade union power. We argue that displays of masculine resilience in the face of devaluation are less indicative of a culture of masculine dominance but more an expression of vulnerability and social dislocation, serving both as a source of resistance whilst simultaneously reinforcing anchors of social disadvantage that characterize forms of dirty work. We suggest that combining social comparison with intersectionality can potentially highlight how categories of difference are strategically deployed in response to varied and unequally valued social positionalities.