“The clock has been ticking,the calendar pages turning,and we are still waiting”: Infertile couples' encounter with time in the adoption waiting period

In this paper, the authors draw from sociological explorations of time and narrative theory to interpret the problem that time posed for 37 infertile couples waiting for a child to adopt. We also address their emotional and behavioral responses to their problematic encounter with time. The adoption waiting period can be usefully conceived of as a: a) temporal irregularity in social life; b) temporally unmarked transitional stage in the passage to parenthood; and as a c) special kind of social construction and product of the imagination. Confronting empty time, waiting couples humanized time spent in waiting and maintained hope by creating a temporal framework for the waiting period. They established a timeline, plotted the end of the wait, and created a rhythm for the duration of the wait. Short-waiting couples were able to maintain a sense of making progress toward their goal of a child. Long-waiting couples increasingly felt as if they were standing still or moving away from their goal. The findings contribute to the understanding of temporality in infertile couples and affirm the uncertainty and discomfort that the lack of temporal order can engender.The study described here, The transition to parenthood of infertile couples, is supported by Grant #NRO1707 from the National Center for Nursing Research, National Institutes of Health, 1988–1993. The authors thank the QS reviewers for their helpful critique of an earlier draft of this paper.     

一类非线性过程的自适应神经模糊控制（英文）

本文应用神经模糊技术解决了一类非线性系统的建模与控制问题,对系统的主要假设是最小相位性,文中给出了一个仿其例子说明该方法的有效性．     

Beyond School to Work: Continuing Contributions of Theory and Practice to Career Development of Youth

This response (a) makes a few comments about the articles as a group, (b) briefly highlights the historical context of previous theory-based models for career guidance in schools, and (c) argues that school to work (STW) is not an intellectual but an economic and a political strategy that needs to be examined carefully, especially in relation to students' career needs and theory-based interventions of the recent past.     

Youth participation in ‘post‐secular’ times: young Muslim and Buddhist practitioners as religious citizens

Recently there has been renewed interest in the role of religion in the public sphere in the context of a ‘post‐secular’ age characterized by the resurgence of religious identities and communities in increasingly diverse, multi‐faith societies. Young people's active political and civic engagement has also emerged as a core challenge for robust democracies. While an interesting body of current research suggests that religious commitment may cultivate participation amongst youth by acting as an incubator of civic and political engagement, such literature often positions religiosity as outside of, and consequently at odds with participation in a secular public sphere. We suggest that while religiosity may indeed act as an incubator for civic and political engagement, we propose greater attention to an emergence of alternative, entwined conceptualizations of religious citizenship evident in the practices, performances and dispositions of young Muslim and Buddhist religious practitioners in Australia, whereby processes of individuation contribute to greater fluidity within and across the domains of the religious and the civic.     

International Student Exchange in Australian Social Work Education

International student exchange is pursued by Australian schools of social work as a strategy to engage with the internationalisation agenda set by government, universities, and the profession. However, little concrete information about the nature and scope of these activities exists. The study reported here aimed to address this gap. Twenty-seven of the 30 Australian universities that offer social work programs participated in an online survey about international student exchange activities. The results indicate that a majority of schools (n?=?23) do engage in such activities, with international field placements the most frequent form of exchange. Exchanges are most likely to be facilitated and managed by social work staff. The findings, and their implications for the development of good practice in international student exchange, are discussed. This research provides a “point-in-time” snapshot of international exchange in Australian social work education and a benchmark for future analyses of this expanding practice in the profession.     

A Critical Review of the Harm-Minimisation Tools Available for Electronic Gambling

The increasing sophistication of gambling products afforded by electronic technologies facilitates increased accessibility to gambling, as well as encouraging rapid and continuous play. This poses several challenges from a responsible gambling perspective, in terms of facilitating player self-awareness and self-control. The same technological advancements in gambling that may facilitate a loss of control may also be used to provide responsible gambling tools and solutions to reduce gambling-related harm. Indeed, several harm-minimisation strategies have been devised that aim to facilitate self-awareness and self-control within a gambling session. Such strategies include the use of breaks in play, ‘pop-up’ messaging, limit setting, and behavioural tracking. The present paper reviews the theoretical argument underpinning the application of specific harm-minimisation tools, as well as providing one of the first critical reviews of the empirical research assessing their efficacy, in terms of influencing gambling cognitions and behaviour.     

Social Support and Parental Nurturance among Asian Indian Families in the US: Mediating Role of Parenting Self-Efficacy

Asian Indians in the United States are one of the fastest growing ethnic groups, yet empirical research on this population remains extremely scarce. This might be partly due to the “model minority” assumption that implies research on this population is not needed. This study is one of the first studies to examine the effects of social support on parental nurturance of children in a sample of Asian Indian parents and investigate the mediating role of parenting self-efficacy in this relationship pathway. We used newly available data from the Survey of Asian American Families and conducted analyses in the Asian Indian sub-sample (N?=?211). The regression models controlled for a rich array of parent and child characteristics and family socioeconomic status. We found that parental nurturance was positively associated with family support but not with support from partner or friends. Parenting self-efficacy played a significant mediating role in the relationship between family support and parental nurturance. These findings have important implications for social work practice and policy interventions that address the needs of the growing ethnic minority population of Asian Indians in the US.