How is a sense of well-being and belonging constructed in the accounts of autistic adults?

This small-scale exploratory study sought to develop an understanding of the meaning of well-being and social belonging as represented within the narratives of adults on the autism spectrum. Employing an interpretivist approach facilitated the investigation of potential contributory factors to these lived experiences in order to inform further research regarding both this topic, and service provision for adults on the autism spectrum. The project involved a thematic analysis of issues of the magazine Asperger United (AU). Four broad main themes were identified: meeting personal needs, living with the consequences of an ‘othered’ identity, connection and recognition, and relationships and advocacy. Autistic adults reported many barriers to feeling that they belonged in a number of social spaces and the detrimental effect this had on their wellbeing. Fundamental to positive narratives of wellbeing, were feelings of connection and recognition from others and positive accepting relationships, with autistic-led spaces, particularly the Autscape conference, being frequently cited as of central significance in increasing feelings of wellbeing and belonging. This study has demonstrated a need for less focus on remediation and more on limiting the social isolation of autistic people.     

Development of the Contentment with Life Assessment Scale (CLAS): Using Daily Life Experiences to Verify Levels of Self-Reported Life Satisfaction

On average, Anglo-Americans report that they are satisfied with their lives, but their global evaluations tend to deviate from their daily experiences (e.g., Oishi [2002, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 28(10), 1398–1406]). We explored the hypothesis that the average life satisfaction of Anglo-Americans is better characterized as neutral than satisfied. In Study 1 we developed the five-item Contentment with Life Assessment Scale (CLAS), which focuses on contentment, fulfillment and self-discrepancies. Normative data based on three general population samples demonstrated that the CLAS produces a close to normal distribution of scores, has excellent reliability, and is sensitive to differences in life conditions (e.g., income, marital status). In two daily diary studies we tested whether global life satisfaction measures corresponded to people’s daily subjective well-being. The CLAS was the best predictor among three self-report life satisfaction measures of daily escapist behaviors including television watching and alcohol consumption, and daily stress-related physical symptoms (Study 2). In Study 3, participants recorded their level of life satisfaction daily for two weeks. Average daily life satisfaction scores clustered close to the neutral rather than satisfied point of the measurement scale.     

Forest soils adjacent to urban interstates: Soil physical and chemical properties,heavy metals,disturbance legacies,and relationships with woody vegetation

While urban ecology is an expanding field of study, some natural areas within the urban environment remain under-examined. These include naturally regenerating forest communities adjacent to urban interstates. In addition, the status of interstate soils and their relationships with the community composition of forested interstate verges has received little ecological study. The purpose of this study was to examine variation in soil conditions along forested interstate corridors in Louisville, KY and to explore the extent to which soil characteristics (e.g., bulk density, pH) and heavy metals (e.g., Pb, Zn) vary with respect to three factors: interstate (e.g., traffic density), surrounding urban environment (e.g., industrial land use), and interstate construction legacies. Additionally, we explored the relationships between several edaphic factors and woody vegetation structure in these forested verges. We found that the degree and direction of the slope of land towards the interstate and the distance to the interstate pavement were strong determinants of soil characteristics and heavy metal concentrations, suggesting that the movement of de-icing salts, heavy metals, and other pollutants from the interstate was important in determining forest soil conditions along urban interstates. Since within our study area these highways did not extend into rural lands, variation in urban land uses and cover within 26 km of the city center was not large enough to explain variation in soil characteristics or heavy metals, except for a positive correlation between chromium and surrounding industrial land use. We did find that past physical soil disturbance caused by interstate construction (e.g., imported fill) left an important legacy on soil characteristics, heavy metal retention, and woody plant growth patterns in forests adjacent to urban interstates. The legacy of interstate construction on the current forest community structure (e.g., lower species richness) and the future forest (e.g., reduced tree regeneration) may further alter ecosystem productivity and ecosystem services provided by these forests and their soils.     

From after-school to expanded learning: a decade of progress

Following a decade of rapid expansion of afterschool enrichment programs, leaders in the field are rethinking how those programs can be designed to play a larger role in supporting student achievement and development and in strengthening school reform initiatives.     

Social capital as social relations: the contribution of normative structures

This paper presents a framework for social capital that highlights the normative structures through which it is manifested. The primary focus is on the ways that norms structure the relationships in which social capital is embedded. To this end, we introduce four types of normative structures which condition social capital: market, bureaucratic, associative, and communal. A field site in Japan is used to illustrate how different aspects of social capital interact. This case analysis also serves to make an important distinction between the availability and use of social capital. The central arguments are that 1) social capital is organized in different ways by the normative structures in which it is embedded; 2) there are important interactions between these different aspects of social capital that are often overlooked by simpler frameworks; 3) a useful distinction can be made between available social capital and used social capital; 4) access to social capital can be used to analyze power relations; and 5) distinguishing different aspects of social capital makes areas visible that are overlooked by other understandings of social capital. We conclude by identifying the utility of our perspective for informing public policy and guiding future research.     

Precursors of Young Women's Family Formation Pathways

We used latent class analysis to create family formation pathways for women between the ages of 18 and 23. Input variables included cohabitation, marriage, parenthood, full-time employment, and attending school. Data (n = 2,290) came from Waves I and III of the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health (Add Health). The analysis revealed seven latent pathways: college-no family formation (29%), high school-no family formation (19%), cohabitation without children (15%), married mothers (14%), single mothers (10%), cohabiting mothers (8%), and inactive (6%). Three sets of variables distinguished between the groups: personal and social resources in adolescence, family socioeconomic resources and adolescent academic achievement, and conservative values and behavior in adolescence.     

Making it on the Outside: Understanding Barriers to Women’s Post‐Incarceration Reintegration

The increasing rate of imprisonment in the United States over the past few decades resulted in record numbers of individuals reentering society upon release. As men and women exit through prison gates, they encounter a range of obstacles that complicate their efforts to “make it” on the outside. Given the gendered impact of recent punitive prison policies, this essay focuses on women and traces their steps as they navigate the many complex, interrelated, and competing obstacles to successful reintegration post‐incarceration. In particular, this essay describes how many barriers, and women’s reentry experience more broadly, are shaped by gender, race, and class. Further, drawing on the feminist pathways perspective, we examine women’s reentry in light of their pathways into offending focusing, in particular, on their victimization history.