Gambling Behaviour in Adolescents with Learning Disorders

The present study examined the prevalence of disordered gambling behaviours in a community-based sample of adolescents (N = 532) living in eastern central Ontario. Of particular interest was examining the hypothesis that adolescents with learning disorders are at elevated risk for disordered gambling. Rates of disordered gambling in male adolescents with learning disorders were found to be significantly higher than adolescents without learning problems, even after controlling for negative affectivity and ADHD symptomatology. The implications for treatment and intervention of gambling problems in adolescence are discussed.     

The Poetry of Social Distress

>This paper discusses the varied ways Christian fundamentalists think about Jews and Israel in their theology and in their daily lives. Topics include the continuing significance for fundamentalists of Jewish responsibilities for the death of Jesus, the place of the Holocaust imagery and especially the importance of the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, and the instrumental role fundamentalists believe Jews play in the end-time story leading up to the return of Jesus to Mount of Olives and the making of a new Jerusalem and the beginning of the millennium. The paper suggests that in these ambivalent images lies much social distress in the form of anti-semitism, distortion of our Middle East policy, and the erosion of efforts to create a human ecumenism.     

Participation in LGBTQ Organizations in Colombia: Motivations and Impacts

Studies on sexual minorities have shown the positive impact of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, trans, or queer (LGBTQ) community on the well-being of individuals. Few studies, however, have been interested in the role that LGBTQ organizations specifically play. Using a qualitative approach, this article examines individuals’ motivations to participate in LGBTQ organizations and how they think such participation impacts their lives. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 self-identified LGBTQ adults living in the Andean region of Colombia. Thematic analysis with inductive coding was used, and six themes were identified. Within these, two findings are particularly relevant to the existing literature. First, organizations play an important role as educational spaces where individuals can learn about their sexual identity. Second, organizations can also impact families of origin by promoting a better understanding and acceptance of participants’ sexual identity, and by promoting solidarity with LGBTQ community members.     

Use of visitors’ perception in urban reserves in the Buenos Aires metropolis

Urban nature reserves (UR’s) fulfill unique functions for society and are irreplaceable, satisfying human needs particularly in urban and periurban areas. The aim of this paper was to use a perception based approach to analyze whether the urban nature reserves in the metropolitan area of Buenos Aires, Argentina were principally used by visitors according to their main conservation mission. Five hundred written surveys designed to evaluate users’ profile and their perceptions of the selected reserves were conducted during the summer of 2009 to visitors selected at random. Collected data was analyzed by multivariate analyses. The results discriminated two groups (1 and 2) of reserves showing that people chose to visit a nature reserve for two contrasting motivations: the contemplation of nature (group 1) or active recreation (group 2). Both groups of reserves, the respondents participated in environmental programs. All respondents knew about plants whereas knowledge of the fauna was related to the visitors’ level of education. In all reserves respondents considered that nature enhance the quality of human life in the first place, and valued biodiversity en second place. Visitors in group 1 considered nature as very important, while respondents in group 2 thought that is important as a place for having fun. Our findings can potentially assist administrators to understand better how visitors perceive the reserves.     

Book reviews

The Significance of Schooling: Life‐Journeys in an African Society. Robert Serpell, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1993. 361 pages, $59.95.

Response to Patricia M. Greenfield's Review of The Significance of Schooling: Life‐Journey's in an African Society

Artifical Experts: Social Knowledge and Intelligent Machines. H. M. Collins. Cambridge, MA: Massachusetts Institute of Technology Press, 1990. 266 pages, $15.95 (paper).     

An interprofessional internship model for training master’s level social work and counseling students in higher education settings

ABSTRACT

The mental health needs of college students are steadily on the rise, which compels mental health service providers and educators to explore innovative ways to provide more collaborative, supportive, and interdisciplinary service models of practice and professional training. Graduate programs in social work and counseling are at the crux of producing internship training programs to help accommodate the influx of students with persistent mental health concerns across a variety of needs and cultures. This article describes an interprofessional internship program structured and designed to meet the clinical training needs of master’s level students matriculating in social work and counseling who aspire to provide mental health services in higher education settings. The interprofessional internship training model proposes an innovative interdisciplinary approach to field education which may result in positive training outcomes and learning experiences for social work and counseling students. This paper discusses the model’s emphasis on individual and interdisciplinary group supervision, objectives of the internship experience, internship site criteria, and professional and personal benefits to pre-service social workers and counselors. Recommendations for training and limitations of the model are provided.     

Adoption Competent Clinical Practice: Defining Its Meaning and Development

The need for adoption competent mental health services has been well documented. However, the term “adoption-competent” has lacked a standardized, broadly accepted definition. This article reports findings from two related studies. The first examines how adoption competencies are demonstrated in practice by clinicians participating in an evidence-informed adoption competency training program. The second is an online survey designed to determine whether members of adoption kinship networks agree with a definition of an adoption competent mental health professional developed by experts. Both studies contribute to our understanding of what constitutes “adoption competent” clinical practice.     

Gender and post-conflict civil society

Abstract

Women have historically participated in revolutionary/liberation movements. A consensus among scholars working in the field suggests that once the broader aims of the movement have been achieved, women's public role and the concern for gender differentiated interests diminish in the post-conflict society. The aim of this study is to apply this hypothesis using the case study of Eritrea. Eritrea offers an opportunity to study a modern, successful revolutionary movement that relied heavily upon women's contributions both as support personnel and as front-line soldiers. Preliminary evidence suggests that Eritrea is following the pattern of many other post-conflict societies. Several questions are addressed here: Does the hypothesis which suggests women's participation is welcomed during a revolutionary struggle, but discouraged in post-conflict society, hold true in the Eritrean case? What role did women play in Eritrean independence and what role do they currently play? Have the reforms enacted by the Eritrean People's Liberation Front (EPLF) carried forward under the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ)? What role does women's inclusion play in creating a viable civil society? How has the generational aspect of women's military service affected society's overall perception of women?     

Lessons Learned From Using Adobe Connect in the Social Work Classroom

Adobe Connect is synchronous web conferencing software available to colleges and universities. This pilot study sought to understand student and faculty participation in use of this software as part of an already established hybrid master's level social work curriculum. This software was utilized in two courses: concentration year field practicum and advanced social work practice. Student feedback and satisfaction are presented. Lessons learned for using such software are explored.     

A Psychoanalytic Reading of Transsexual Embodiment

Theories of transsexuality developed by cultural theorists tend to ignore the psychic dimension of subjectivity. This article draws on Lacanian psychoanalytic theory, transsexual and transgender theory, and autobiographical narratives to reflect on what ought to be included in a psychoanalytically informed theory of transsexuality. Highlighting the work of Jay Prosser (1998), I discuss the importance of sexed embodiment, the problem of sociopolitical and biological reductionism, and the need to analyze, not to pathologize or to normalize, complex psychosexual processes. I suggest that the refusal to construct psychoanalysis and surgery as mutually exclusive constitutes the promise of recent clinical practice.