Barriers to Training for Disabled Social Work Students

Disabled people wishing to enter Higher Education are confronted with a number of barriers, yet relatively little research has been carried out to identify the level and nature of such obstacles. The short study reported here was designed to examine policy and practice within a number of social work training institutions in Scotland. Interviews were held with disabled students and ex-students, course tutors and practice teachers. Barriers to training are identified in five main areas: first, the disabling physical environment; secondly, problems of typification (whereby global assumptions of impairment are made about individuals); thirdly, failure of equal opportunities policies; fourthly, the practice of treating all students in the same way, resulting in discrimination against a few; and, finally, self-censorship on the part of students. It is argued that the reluctance of some students to 'declare' an impairment is a rational response to the disabling policies pursued, albeit inadvertently, by institutions. The implications of these findings for policy and practice are discussed.     

Accounting for Everyday Incivility: an Australian study

The question of how we live among strangers in daily life is an established concern in contemporary social analysis. A key topic has been the achievements of the individual in rendering daily life among unknown others possible. Yet, questions of residual failure await full development. The study aims to describe the results of an Australian study that examined the significance and meaning of interactional breakdown with strangers in everyday life for the contemporary individual. Focus group methodology is used to describe common threads of understanding that ordinary people have developed around such events in terms of prevalence, reasons and remedies. Noteworthy findings are (i) the use of period and generational kinds of historical thinking in lay reflections on the state of everyday incivility (ii) the materialization of excessive individualism, runaway capitalist values and diminished community as key ideas within lay talk about the generators of everyday incivility, and (iii) the articulation of communitarianism as a preferred panacea to everyday incivility for lay actors.     

Out of the shadows?: Grandfatherhood,age and masculinities

Recent years have witnessed an increasing recognition of the role of grandparents in contemporary families. However, there has been little if any research which emphasises the roles and relationships of grandfathers. And while the more limited contribution of grandfathers compared to grandmothers remains a widespread perception, recent studies suggest that the importance of grandfatherhood for men has been considerably underestimated. Through reviewing the place of grandfathers within grandparenthood research, the article argues that understandings of grandfathers in terms of gender difference can be seen to reflect a feminised conception of grandparenting derived from the experience of grandmothers. The article then builds on this review by exploring how intersections of age identity and masculinity may influence the different ways in which grandfatherhood is understood and enacted.     

A Hint of Risk: Tradeoffs Between Quantitative and Qualitative Risk Factors

Risk-perception research plays an active role in discussions of risk-management alternatives. However, little guidance is provided regarding how public concerns should be weighed against other sources of cost and benefits. This paper reports the results of two experiments that measure tradeoffs among cost (in dollars), a quantitative risk measure (number of deaths or injuries), and several qualitative characteristics associated with perceived risk. Most subjects were willing to make the requested trade. However, the perceived risk information led others to reject the proposed technology.     

Stigma Happens: Social Problems in the Siting of Nuclear Waste Facilities

The paper by Metz challenges the view that stigma associated with a nuclear waste repository might lead to significant economic losses to the host region. We have been invited to comment on the general issues raised by this paper. We find that much of the evidence presented in the paper consists of factual and conceptual errors and misrepresentations of the research literature. Based on our review of evidence documenting the social and economic impacts of perceived risk, we conclude that stigma is an important phenomenon that is symptomatic of fundamental problems with the way in which nuclear waste facilities are sited.     

Gender dynamics and rural household strategies

La forme que prend le ménage en milieu rural semble dépendre de facteurs structuaux tel l'accès aux ressources sans toutefois en être déterminée. Contrairement aux analyses qui soulignent seulement la présence d'un concensus au sein du ménage, nous considérons le ménage rural comme une unité politique qui implique des négotiations quotidiennes entre ses membres. Le concept d'hégémonie du ménage' est un outil analytique utile permettant d'aller au-delà des catégories 'conflit' et 'consensus' pour caractériser les dynamiques internes du ménage rural. Cette perspective est développée à l'intérieur d'une analyse de la dynamique entre les sexes dans le ménages ruraux de la côte de l'Équateur. Cet essai identifie certaines implications de cette approche en ce qui concerne les femmes et le développement.
Structural criteria such as access to land may condition the form the rural household takes but they do not determine it. It is suggested here, in contrast to analyses which emphasize household consensus, that we appreciate the farm household as a political unit involving daily negotiations between household members. The concept of 'household hegemony' is introduced as a helpful analytical tool which goes beyond conflict versus consensus dynamics. This approach is developed through a consideration of the gender dynamics within rural households in coastal Ecuador. Specific implications for women and development issues are considered.     

The use of savings as a family resource management strategy to meet child rearing costs

This study examines the effect of children on family savings decisions over the life cycle. The model used is a multinomial logit budget share allocation model. The data are from the 1982 Canadian Family Expenditure Survey Data. Results indicate that the addition of a child to a family results in fewer assets being accumulated than if the child was not present. As much as 43% of direct child rearing costs may be met through this substitution out of future consumption. Closer analysis reveals that accrual of housing equity is relatively unaffected by child's presence and that substitutions occur primarily out of other types of savings instruments.The authors would like to acknowledge financial support from the Social Science and Humanities Research Council of Canada (Grant #1498-85-0005), the Department of Consumer Science, University of Wisconsin, Madison and the College of Home Economics, University of Saskatchewan. However, all opinions expressed are our own and do not necessarily reflect the views of our sponsors. Special thanks is due Susan Bruns for outstanding research and computer programming assistance. The authors accept responsibility for any errors or omissions. All correspondence should be directed to Prof. Douthitt at 1300 Linden Drive, University of Wisconsin, Madison, Wisconsin 53706.Robin A. Douthitt received her Ph.D. from Cornell University. She is an Associate Professor, Department of Consumer Science and the Institute for Research on Poverty, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI 53706. Her research interests include the relationship between child support awards and child rearing costs, and family time use.Joanne M. Fedyk received her M.S. from the University of Saskatchewan. She is currently an Assistant Professor in the College of Home Economics, University of Saskatchewan S7N OWO, Canada. Her research interests include both the cost of raising children and the valuation of homemaking services.     

Cross-Cultural Supervision

A multicultural perspective is essential in the twenty-first century. It is projected that by the year 2010 twelve of our most populous states will have significant minority populations. Thus, the supervision triad of patient, psychoanalyst, and supervisor will most likely contain persons of differing racial-ethnic backgrounds who are confronting problems and concerns in a diverse social environment. This paper uses examples to illustrate how this diverse triad is played out.     

Popular and Rejected Children's Reasoning Regarding Negative Emotions in Social Situations: The Role of Gender

Two studies compared popular and rejected children's reasoning regarding social interactions involving negative emotions. The first study, with 23 rejected and 23 popular 10‐ to 11‐year‐olds, involved hypothetical social scenarios where a classmate ‘victim’ was likely to experience a negative emotion. Although popular and rejected children both recognized negative emotions and were equally likely to suggest helping behaviour to aid the victim, there were gender effects on the type of helping behaviour suggested. Specifically, popular girls were significantly more likely to offer comforting behaviour than advice whereas popular boys offered advice more than comfort; no such preferences were exhibited by the rejected children. Furthermore, popular girls were significantly more likely than other children to refer to emotional states when justifying their helping response. In the second study, 30 popular and 30 rejected eight‐ to 10‐year‐olds identified the motives behind story characters' efforts to mask negative emotions. Popular girls were more likely to identify the target motives than rejected girls, but no such difference was apparent for the boys. The results are discussed in the light of evidence regarding gender differences in peer interaction patterns.