Another Way of Talking About Substance Abuse: Substance Abuse Screening and Brief Intervention in a Mental Health Clinic

This article provides experiential evidence on the transportability of the Alcohol, Smoking, and Substance Involvement Screening Test (ASSIST) screening tool and brief intervention in a mental health clinic. There is very little published information on implementing screening and brief intervention (SBI) in a mental health setting. Moreover, few SBI projects have reported on clinicians' experiences using the ASSIST. The article documents a successful attempt at implementing the ASSIST and discusses the benefits and challenges of doing SBI in a mental health setting.     

‘Sperm Milkshakes with Poo Sprinkles’: The Challenges of Identifying Family Meals Practices through an Online Survey with Adolescents

This article contributes to a long‐overdue discussion about research with adolescents. While young people are now recognised as competent and reliable participants, there are particular difficulties associated with using adolescents as respondents. Furthermore, it is rare for young people’s reactions to the research process to be heard. This article reports on some of the methodological challenges faced in designing and administering a Web‐based survey to 15‐year‐old school students in Perth, Western Australia, in an attempt to gain insight into meals practices and beliefs among adolescents and their families. Using empirical data, we discuss issues concerning the competence of adolescents to participate in social research. We conclude that using a Web‐based survey actively facilitates high levels of adolescent engagement in the research process, allowing them to be both subject and object of the research.     

Social Exchange Theory and the Division of Household Labor in Same-Sex Couples

Same-sex couples are often not seen as a family unit and are excluded from research, including family research on topics such as household division of labor. The author examined division of household labor, using social exchange theory, among 165 survey respondents in a same-sex relationship. Division of labor was measured by the percentage of tasks performed according to the respondent. Status differences between partners (e.g., higher, equal, lower) in terms of income, education, hours spent on paid labor outside the home, employment status, age, and race (here, only same or different races) were the independent variables. In general, as predicted by social exchange theory, partners with greater resources or power performed fewer household tasks. Satisfaction with division of labor and sense of being appreciated for one's contributions to household tasks were positively correlated with global relationship satisfaction. However, some inconsistencies indicate gaps in social exchange theory and that other factors may be important in understanding division of labor among same-sex couples.     

Competing demands,competing solutions,differing constructions of the problem of recruitment and retention of frontline rural child protection staff

Abstract

This article reports on a study conducted in rural Victoria. It examines the problem of recruitment and retention of frontline staff in the Victorian Child Protection program. The article delineates those factors identified by managers and supervisors as influencing workers to enter, stay and leave the program. Managers and supervisors have collective responsibility for recruiting and retaining staff. It is for this reason that their viewpoints are considered crucial in responding to the problem. What this study found was that, while managers and supervisors recognise that the problem is complex, they differ in the emphasis placed on facets of the problem, thus their approaches to solving it. As solutions are contested the problem is exacerbated. The argument advanced is that any response should recognise the complexity of the problem and solutions be considered in a coordinated way.     

College students’ use of transportation networking companies: An opportunity to decrease substance-impaired driving

Abstract

Objective: To examine the use of transportation networking companies (TNCs) (eg, Uber) among substance-using students in rural and urban college settings. Participants: Students at two large state universities were randomly selected and screened for substance use. Participants reported use of TNCs generally and after substance use and whether TNC use was on or near campus or in other environments. Methods: Data were evaluated using chi-square test, t-tests, and Fisher’s exact tests. Results: Most (85%) participants (n?=?99, 61% response rate) had used a TNC. Among students who used TNCs on/near campus, 98% of rural students used them after substance use compared to 85% of urban students (p?=?.037). We did not detect differences in TNC use by gender or age. Conclusions: Results indicate that TNC use is common after college student substance use and may play a particularly important role in preventing impaired driving for rural campuses where existing transportation options are limited.     

‘Why is our love an issue?’: same-sex marriage and the racial politics of the ordinary

This article analyzes the implicit white racial normativity underpinning the socio-legal struggle for same-sex marriage in Canada. I argue that discursive representations of ‘ordinary lives’ require alignment with terms of neoliberal citizenship – the privacy of property and intimacy – that hold whiteness as the unspoken yet aspirational ideal. As a contestation of heteronormative citizenship, same-sex marriage is not simply a politics of sexuality but also a politics of race.     

Toward the Development of a More Integrated Aged Care Assessment Process for Rural Older Australians: Practitioners’ Perspectives

There is an identified need for more effective assessment processes in rural Australia, with prior research revealing little knowledge sharing and even duplication across existing services. This article aims to explore the challenges to more closely integrated assessment processes, drawing on interview data with practitioners from three agencies located in the same rural region. Findings highlight the challenges of rural assessment, both demand-driven (more older people with complex needs, geographic isolation) and supply issues (time and distance, funding formulae, workforce shortages). The need for closer collaboration is recognized but significant systemic issues require addressing if it is to be achieved.     

Till Death Us Do Part? A Critical Analysis of Obligation and Choice for Spousal Caregivers

Research demonstrates a significant number of carers identify obligation or lack of other alternatives as the reasons they undertake informal care. By utilizing critical discourse analysis, this research explores choice for informal caregivers in contemporary Australian social policy. Analysis demonstrates increasing shifts in policy toward choice in consumer-directed care, a feature absent for those who provide care. Familial care is a central pillar of Australian social policy, as it is in many liberal and conservative welfare regimes. Analysis reveals that these core social policies are fundamentally incongruent, with significant implications for individuals and social work practice.     

Library Binding

Abstract

Open Data (OD) is an emerging term in the process of defining how scientific data may be published and re-used without price or permission barriers. Scientists generally see published data as belonging to the scientific community, but many publishers claim copyright over data and will not allow its re-use without permission. This is a major impediment to the progress of scholarship in the digital age. This article reviews the need for Open Data, shows examples of why Open Data are valuable, and summarizes some early initiatives in formalizing the right of access to and re-use of scientific data.     

Pennsylvania′s Periodicals

Abstract

Perceptive readers may have observed, and regretted, the absence of any discussion of card catalog closings, abolition of serials departments, changes in clerical procedures, or minutiae or any of the other concrete details of library operations so dear to the hearts of us all. The craft of serials management has scarcely been mentioned. Those topics discussed — the nature of organizational change, influencing change, communication, planning for the optimum impact of automation and for flexibility throughout the development and implementation phases — are concepts difficult to introduce into the pragmatic world of libraries. It is difficult to identify causes, to predict effects, and to deal with them. These are, however, critical elements in the success or failure of a serials automation project and a library administration which addresses these issues will manage the changes brought about by automation rather than passively submitting to its consequences.