Family Well-Being During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Risks of Financial Insecurity and Coping

During the COVID-19 pandemic, families have experienced unprecedented financial and social disruptions. We studied the impact of preexisting psychosocial factors and pandemic-related financial and social disruptions in relation to family well-being among N = 4091 adolescents and parents during early summer 2020, participating in the Adolescent Brain Cognitive Development^SM Study. Poorer family well-being was linked to prepandemic psychosocial and financial adversity and was associated with pandemic-related material hardship and social disruptions to routines. Parental alcohol use increased risk for worsening of family relationships, while a greater endorsement of coping strategies was mainly associated with overall better family well-being. Financial and mental health support may be critical for family well-being during and after a widespread crisis, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.     

Grandparent Carers,Child Protection Practice,and the Best Interests of Children: A Case Study

Increasingly, grandparents are involved in the care of grandchildren, particularly after child safety concerns. Some grandparents, because of changed circumstances, relationships, or decisions made, can experience reduced or lost contact with grandchildren. A recent qualitative, collaborative study explored how relationships between grandparents and their grandchildren could be optimised after child safety concerns. Many grandparents in that study spoke of the frustration of being overlooked in decision-making about their grandchildren, even when they had been providing primary care for the grandchildren. The purpose of this article is to provide a brief background study context, before presenting a case study of one family's ongoing struggles to maintain the children in the grandparents’ care. The presented case study has relevance for social work education and training and more widely, for all students and practitioners in the child protection field.     

At the Edge of Chaos: Poetics of American Monsters,here and there

Although we often use the term “monster” in a self‐evident way, what that term signifies is highly varied and sometimes contradictory. What, in fact, is a monster? This paper explores various beings called “monsters,” from obese bodies on reality TV to occult lizard people in conspiracy theories. Taking off from classic anthropological theories of monsters as deconstructed and reassembled natural objects, I question their affective and meaningful associations in contemporary America, and explore why the idea of the monster, which has no stable referent, is nonetheless ubiquitous in a seemingly disenchanted world.     

“I'm Still Fighting for the Two of Us”: How Partners of UK Veterans Construct Their Experience of Living with Combat‐Related Trauma

There has been little qualitative research into the experiences of UK partners of veterans with PTSD. This study therefore aimed to explore how partners constructed their experiences of living with the condition. Fifteen female partners of male UK veterans were recruited and interviewed. Using a social constructionist thematic analysis, five themes were constructed: the women's need to subdue own emotional and behavioral responses; dilemmas about whether the veteran was unwell or ‘bad’; attempts at negotiating multiple roles; challenging the narrative of veterans as heroes; and the relational struggle with the transition to nonmilitary life. This study highlighted the importance of considering the veteran as existing within a relational and cultural context, and the need to include partners in therapeutic interventions.     

Heterosexual Anal Sex Among Men and Women in Substance Abuse Treatment: Secondary Analysis of Two Gender-Specific HIV-Prevention Trials

Receptive anal sex has high human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) transmission risk, and heterosexual substance-abusing individuals report higher anal sex rates compared to their counterparts in the general population. This secondary analysis evaluated the effectiveness of two gender-specific, evidence-based HIV-prevention interventions (Real Men Are Safe, or REMAS, for men; Safer Sex Skill Building, or SSSB, for women) against an HIV education (HIV-Ed) control condition on decreasing unprotected heterosexual anal sex (HAS) among substance abuse treatment-seeking men (n = 171) and women (n = 105). Two variables, engagement in any HAS and engagement in unprotected HAS, were assessed at baseline and three months postintervention. Compared to the control group, women in the gender-specific intervention did not differ on rates of any HAS at follow-up but significantly decreased their rates of unprotected HAS. Men in both the gender-specific and the control interventions reported less HAS and unprotected HAS at three-month follow-up compared to baseline, with no treatment condition effect. The mechanism of action for SSSB compared to REMAS in decreasing unprotected HAS is unclear. More attention to HAS in HIV-prevention interventions for heterosexual men and women in substance abuse treatment is warranted.     

Missing Grandchildren: Grandparents’ Lost Contact and Implications for Social Work

The critical importance of maintaining family contact and intergenerational relationships for ongoing wellbeing is known to social work. Equally known is the damage caused by severed relationships. Recent literature has suggested an increased incidence of grandparents raising their grandchildren, often after family breakdown. Less evident in the literature is grandparents’ experience of reduced, lost, or denied contact with their grandchildren. In the qualitative, exploratory study reported here, the lived experiences of 21 Queensland grandparents were documented through in-depth interviews. The overall findings suggest that disrupted, lost, or denied contact with grandchildren was very distressing and impacted on grandparents’ health; that seeking to safeguard and support grandchildren could result in damaged family relationships and denied contact; and that a cycle of lost and regained contact can occur in some circumstances. These findings indicate that an increased role for social workers may be warranted, in listening to and including grandparents when working with families, and recognising grandparents’ need for support.     

A citizen science survey: perceptions and attitudes of urban residents towards vervet monkeys

A diversity of indigenous and alien wildlife persists in suburbia, and provides residents with the opportunity to experience wildlife. Suburban gardens may serve as refugia and foraging grounds for many primate species allowing them to populate within a largely urbanized landscape. However, this has led to the increasing human interactions with them, resulting in conflict. Our study investigated the perceptions of suburban residents towards urban vervet monkeys Cercopithecus aethiops pygerythrus within the Msunduzi and Ethekwini municipalities, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. We assessed how these related to the monkeys’ presence, activities and interactions in residential gardens, and the value of wildlife to residents. Assessment was conducted through an online questionnaire survey. General attitudes of residents to vervet monkeys were canvassed by assessing the respondents’ level of active engagement in wildlife watching within their properties. We analyzed 603 surveys submitted online using logistic regression and ordinal regression models. We ascertained that vervet monkeys were disliked by 29% of residents due to their aggressiveness, destructive behaviour in gardens and households, and perceived threat to native wildlife. Frequency and duration of foraging vervet monkeys in residents’ gardens was influenced by the presence of pet dogs, fruiting trees, tall trees (>2 m), ratio of indigenous to alien vegetation of gardens, residency type, and active and passive food provisioning. Despite conflict, the majority of respondents appreciated urban wildlife (67%) and actively engaged in wildlife watching (88%), emphasizing the importance of incorporating human dimension values into the management of urban biodiversity. Our study highlights the value of citizen science in providing mechanisms for identifying priority management and conservation efforts at the highly complex human-wildlife interface in an urbanized landscape.     

Factors determining the occupancy of Trumpeter Hornbills in urban-forest mosaics of KwaZulu-Natal,South Africa

Understanding the factors determining the occupancy and detection probability of birds in human dominated environments is important for their conservation. In this study we investigated various environmental variables believed to influence the site occupancy and detection probability of Trumpeter Hornbill (Bycanistes bucinator) in urban-forest mosaics of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Presence/absence data were collected from a total of 50 point count stations established between September 2014 and March 2015 in urban-forest mosaics of Durban, Eshowe and Mtunzini. Mean occupancy rate of Trumpeter Hornbill was 0.40 ± 0.09 with a low detection probability of 0.28 ± 0.04. For Trumpeter Hornbills, large trees influenced their occupancy positively (sum AIC weight (ω _i ) = 79%) while relative human abundance negatively influenced their occupancy (ω _i = 91%). Model selection suggested that housing density had a strong negative influence on detection probability of Trumpeter Hornbills (ω _i ?=?82?%?) and availability of fruiting trees influenced their detection positively (ω _i ?=?29%). With continued changing land use in KwaZulu-Natal, these finding are important for conservation of Trumpeter Hornbills as we provide insight into landscape variables or features that influence Trumpeter Hornbill’s occupancy and detection in areas of urban-forest mosaics.     

Youth Perspectives on Being Adopted from Foster Care by Lesbian and Gay Parents: Implications for Families and Adoption Professionals

ABSTRACT

This article presents findings from a qualitative study on the perspectives of youth who were adopted from the United States foster care system by lesbian and gay parents and includes focus group data from adopted persons and survey data from adoptive parents. This study fills a unique gap in the literature by hearing directly from the youth through focus groups. Findings indicated that children use a variety of strategies for sharing or not sharing that their parents are gay or lesbian and that many experience bullying and teasing that may be different than experienced by other children. The children adopted by lesbian and gay parents often perceive themselves as being more accepting of others, having more understanding of people, and being more compassionate toward people than those not raised by lesbian or gay parents. Suggestions are provided for training of adoption professionals and prospective families about the challenges and benefits for youth adopted by lesbian and gay parents.     

Philosophy of Communication and Umberto Eco’s Infinity of Lists: The Interplay of the Poetic and Pragmatic

This article conceptualizes the importance of Umberto Eco’s understanding of lists for philosophy of communication. Philosophy of communication is understood as the necessary and insightful interplay of the poetic and pragmatic through which meaning emerges. In The Infinity of Lists, Eco offers an essay-length interpretation of lists presented alongside a collection of art and literature that represent his theoretical work in action. Eco articulates lists as a means for cultural order and form in the attempt to convey what is otherwise beyond articulation. Although philosophers of communication have recognized the importance of Eco’s philosophical and semiotic project for human communication, his work on lists has received little attention within and outside of the field of communication. This article assumes that lists are significant to Eco’s project and to philosophy of communication, situated in the interplay of the poetic and the pragmatic.