Supporting the Sexual Rights of Women Living With HIV: A Critical Analysis of Sexual Satisfaction and Pleasure Across Five Relationship Types

In the context of human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), a focus on protecting others has overridden concern about women’s own sexual well-being. Drawing on feminist theories, we measured sexual satisfaction and pleasure across five relationship types among women living with HIV in Canada. Of the 1,230 women surveyed, 38.1% were completely or very satisfied with their sexual lives, while 31.0% and 30.9% were reasonably or not very/not at all satisfied, respectively. Among those reporting recent sexual experiences (n = 675), 41.3% always felt pleasure, with the rest reporting usually/sometimes (38.7%) or seldom/not at all (20.0%). Sex did not equate with satisfaction or pleasure, as some women were completely satisfied without sex, while others were having sex without reporting pleasure. After adjusting for confounding factors, such as education, violence, depression, sex work, antiretroviral therapy, and provider discussions about transmission risk, women in long-term/happy relationships (characterized by higher levels of love, greater physical and emotional intimacy, more equitable relationship power, and mainly HIV-negative partners) had increased odds of sexual satisfaction and pleasure relative to women in all other relational contexts. Those in relationships without sex also reported higher satisfaction ratings than women in some sexual relationships. Findings put focus on women’s rights, which are critical to overall well-being.     

Love and Hooking Up in the New Millennium: Communication Technology and Relationships among Urban African American and Puerto Rican Young Adults

Communication technology is a central feature of young people's lives, but its role in romantic and sexual relationships has not been thoroughly examined. This article describes how young adults use communication technology for partnering across relationship stages (formation, maintenance, and dissolution) and types (serious/casual), and proposes implications of usage in relationships. This study analyzed qualitative data from a five-week, prospective, coital diary method with related debriefing interviews (N = 70) of African American and Puerto Rican men and women aged 18 to 25 years in Hartford and Philadelphia. Cell phones, including calls, text messaging, and mobile Internet, were the most common forms of communication technology used for partnering goals. Participants reported using cell phones to pursue partnering goals across all relationship stages, including formation (meeting, screening, and getting to know new partners), maintaining existing relationships, and breaking up. Cell phone uses depended on the type of relationship (serious/casual) and the participants' intentions and desires. Results indicated that cell phones are an important element of communication among young adults in romantic and sexual relationships. Specific features of cell phone communication shape the process and context of partnering. Future research should explore emerging communication technologies and implications for psychosocial development, dating violence, and sexual behavior.     

Managing moods and parenting: Perspectives of former system youth who struggle with emotional challenges

Young adults who were served in public systems of care as children are much more likely than their peers to be parenting in adolescence and young adulthood. They are also more likely than their counterparts to have a history of mental health problems. This study examined the perspectives of young adult parents with mood problems who had been involved in public systems of care before age 18. Qualitative interviews with twenty-eight participants were analyzed to examine the experience of managing moods and parenting. Young parents described how their symptoms impact their parenting and how parenting impacts their coping. They also described the strengths and challenges of using mental health services while parenting. Findings highlight the need to provide interventions that include supports for both parenting and symptom management and for providers to include both tangible and emotional support in their interventions.     

WORDS V. DEEDS: A COMPARISON OF RELIGIOUS BELIEF AND ENVIRONMENTAL ACTION

Abstract

In 1967 Lynn White, Jr. proclaimed that “Human ecology is deeply conditioned by beliefs about our nature and destiny…that is, by religion” (p. 1205). White attributed environmental problems to the Christians' adherence to the Genesis account of creation which provides an injunction for humans to use nature to their advantage and to have dominion over the Earth. His proclamation generated a debate among sociologists, theologians, philosophers, and historians about the role of Christianity in the environmental crisis. Much research has explored the current religion and environment relationship using data from statewide surveys, the General Social Survey, and the Gallup Poll but there has been no work that compares the relationship between ministers' knowledge of official church statements on the environment and environmental actions of congregants. This work seeks to address this void. The population for this study is the 307 churches in the state of Georgia that are a part of the Presbyterian Church, United States of America (PCUSA). Results from 158 completed surveys show that while the ministers overwhelmingly support the ideology of stewardship rather than domination, it is their environmentally friendly actions that have the most significant impact on the congregation.     

Life Expectancy during the Great Depression in Eleven European Countries

The recent global economic recession has renewed interest in knowing whether a declining economy affects population health. Understanding the extreme case of the Great Depression may inform the current debate as well as theory regarding biological and behavioral adaptations to unwanted economic change. We test the hypothesis, recently suggested in the literature, that period life expectancy at birth improved during the Great Depression. We applied time‐series methods to annual period life expectancy data of the civilian population from eleven European countries. Methods control for trends and other forms of autocorrelation in life expectancy that could induce spurious associations. We cannot reject the null hypothesis that period life expectancy at birth during the Great Depression remained within the interval forecasted from historical values. Additional analyses using an automated, rule‐based methodology also cannot reject the null hypothesis. During the most severe phase of the Great Depression, period life expectancy in eleven European countries generally did not rise above expected levels.     

Editors' Introduction

For the professional middle class in information industries, “working from home” is an increasingly common feature of the employment landscape, resulting from the affordability and portability of information and communication technologies (ICTs). The phrase invokes a sense of freedom from the banality of the traditional office, offering flexibility in both working hours and location when other commitments prevail. In recent debates in Australian politics, working from home is also offered as an empowered choice for women who seek to combine paid work and childcare duties, thereby consecrating a preferable version of (post)feminist subjectivity suited to neoliberal economics and ideologies. This paper shows how these subjectivities have been represented in recent ICT advertising for two purposes: firstly, to highlight the role of mainstream media in normalising preferred uses of new media technology for work purposes; and secondly, to note how this process contributes to wider discourses limiting the aspirations of middle-class feminist politics to an individual level. In doing so, the paper seeks to question the ethical horizon of new media advertising as well as the feminist and labour politics upon which its appeal relies.     

Educating undergraduate group workers: increasing confidence through experiential learning

This article documents the results of a study examining the extent to which undergraduate social work students attained increased confidence in group work facilitation. Social work students participated in 8-week experiential groups with the expressed purpose of exploring their own viewpoints and experiences of diversity. The study highlights the application and effectiveness of experiential learning theory in social work education Results indicate students perceived enhanced self-assurance in group leadership. Outcomes also denote increased sensitivity to issues of diversity. As a consequence, students expressed a commitment to continuing their education regarding cultural diversity. Implications for group work training and culturally competent practice are incorporated.     

Playing,Sitting Out,and Observing the Game: An Investigation of Faculty Members’ Perspectives on Political Behavior in Ethical Decision Making

Ethical dilemmas are inherently ambiguous, complex, and ill-defined. Additionally, these dilemmas involve multiple stakeholders. These characteristics may induce political behavior as a resolution tactic. Thus, the goal of the present effort was to investigate perspectives on politics among researchers in an ethical decision-making context. A qualitative analysis of interviews with university faculty members revealed that faculty members’ perspectives on political behavior in an ethical decision-making context fall into a number of categories, including positive, negative, and realistic views of political activity. The implications of these varying perspectives on ethical decision making are discussed.     

Cross cultural comparisons of quality of life of Thais and Americans

Comparisons of quality of life (QOL) measures across cultures of countries in different stages of economic development have been very scarce. This study attempts to fill the void in the literature by investigating the level of overall life satisfaction and satisfaction with various domains of lives of Thais and Americans. Additionally, the relationships between satisfaction with domains of life and overall life satisfaction in each culture have been explored. The results of this study indicate that Thais are less satisfied with their lives in general and most of the domains of their lives than Americans. However, both Thais and Americans tend to be more satisfied with their personal domains of lives than environmental domains of lives. In addition, satisfaction with material possessions is found to contribute significantly to overall life satisfaction of Thais but not Americans. This suggests that material wealth or economic development is still a vital mechanism for enhancing QOL of people in Thailand, but is not important for enhancing QOL of people in the U.S.     

Explaining the association of race and ethnicity with the HIV/AIDS-related attitudes,behaviors and skills of high school students

This study deals with intervening factors such as family composition, religiosity, and HIV/AIDS knowledge in understanding the association of race and ethnicity with HIV/AIDS-related attitudes and behaviors. Data represent Wave 1 of a five-month panel design involving 10th grade students in eight public high schools in Dade County (greater Miami) Florida. Significant differences in attitudes and behaviors were found among racial/ethnic groups. Specifically, Hispanics had more negative attitudes about condom use than blacks or whites. Whites had the most permissive, and blacks the least permissive, sexual attitudes. Hispanics felt least confident and blacks felt most confident about interpersonal sexual skills. Blacks were most likely to have had sexual intercourse, and whites least likely. Religiosity was found to be a significant intervening variable in the less permissive sexual attitudes of both blacks and Hispanics. The most significant implication of this study is that racial/ethnic differences in sexual behavior can be explained more fully by socio-environmental factors such as family structure or religiosity than by knowledge or attitudes. Thus, interventions directed toward minority populations should focus on the development of alternative social environments that would support more positive behaviors. More specifically, extended family, religious youth groups, and other community organizations should be brought into the HIV/AIDS risk-reduction arena.