WHAT IT TAKES TO BE A GRANDPARENT IN A NEW COUNTRY: THE LIVED EXPERIENCE AND EMOTIONAL WELL‐BEING OF AUSTRALIAN‐VIETNAMESE GRANDPARENTS

This study attempts to understand the lived experience and emotional well‐being of Australian‐Vietnamese grandparenthood. Thirty‐six grandparents participated in four focus group interviews while three grandparents took part in individual in‐depth interviews where the experiences of the grandparents were further clarified. The findings reveal that Vietnamese grandparents encounter many changes in their lives and their relationships with their children and grandchildren in their new homeland. However, many still seem to play important roles in the family, creating a vital bridge to grandchildren. According to our participants, the grandparents' most important roles are the maintenance of good emotional relationships and support, and the construction of harmony and continuity in their modified extended families. To be able to assume these roles, grandparents need to actively explore and consider accepting new values. For many, a successful grandparenthood brings happiness to the family, positively influences grandparents' life satisfaction and emotional well‐being, and this in turn enhances their quality of life.     

Using complexity theory in kinship practice

This reflective discussion draws on data from a collaborative enquiry into kinship or family and friends practice. It introduces perspectives from complexity and chaos theory as a way of re‐examining the challenges of kinship practice. The discussion highlights the enduring challenges for practitioners, not least, managing anxiety and uncertainty, sustaining continuity and containment, becoming experienced and taking account of the complex developmental needs of the children and their families. The discussion particularly raises questions about appropriate settings for practitioners to undertake such a demanding area of child and family social work.     

White international transracial adoptive mothers' reflections on race

Through the use of qualitative data analysis of in‐depth interviews with eight white international transracial adoptive mothers, four properties emerged that describe these mothers' racial views. These properties varied in the degree that they integrated perspectives different from the white dominant culture. The mothers did not experience significant changes in their perspective on race subsequent to adoption. This paper includes a discussion of white racial identity and implications for social work practice with transracially adoptive parents.     

Sociotropic Concerns and Support for Counterterrorism Policies*

Objective. An individual's personal experiences and perception of the collective experience are often linked to political attitudes, especially those concerning the national economy. In this article, we examine whether personal concern about terrorism and perceptions of public concern about terrorism affect attitudes about counterterrorism policies. In addition, we evaluate which factor is the strongest predictor across several counterterrorism policies. Method. We analyze individual‐level survey data collected during the fall of 2001. Results. Our results indicate that perceptions of public concerns are the strongest and most consistent predictor of policy attitudes about terrorism. Conclusion. The implications for theory about perceptions of public opinion and the competing role of personal interest and sociotropic concern are discussed.     

Socioeconomic inequality and adjustments in children’s perceptions of their agency as they age in South Korea

This paper explores how children's perceptions of their agency, as something that is closely associated with its exercise, appear in relation to social structural factors, especially their socioeconomic positions, as they age. Using data from 862 10–18 years old in South Korea, we examine how children's expressed optimism about their ability to achieve their occupational choices can conceal the impact of structural factors on their ‘choices’ and dispositions for (non‐)action over time. Based on the findings, we argue for a more careful interpretation of children's sense of agency that recognises its propensity to continuously adjust in contexts of structural inequality.     

‘It's not acceptable for the husband to stay at home': Taking a discourse analytical approach to capture the gendering of work

This article illustrates some of the ways in which the notion of (paid) work is actively being gendered, and how these gendering processes take place not only through organizational practices but also in discourses that circulate outside an organization in the private domain. Drawing on 15 in‐depth interviews with women who opted out of their own professional career in order to accompany their husbands on their overseas work assignment to Hong Kong, we demonstrate some of the benefits of using a discourse analytical approach to capturing and identifying the processes through which these women actively (although not necessarily consciously) gender the notion of work, thereby reinforcing the gender order and its male bias. We argue that identifying and making visible these gendered and gendering practices is an important component of, and a potential trigger for, change both in organizations as well as private contexts.     

Depressive Symptoms and Academic Achievement: The Role of Adolescents’ Perceptions of Teachers’ and Peers’ Behaviors

This present study, using a longitudinal design, investigated how depressive symptoms are related to academic achievement and whether the perceptions of teachers’ and peers’ behaviors moderated this relation. A sample of 302 adolescents (60.10% girls, M_age = 17.35) completed scales measuring the depressive symptoms and perception of their teachers’ support/equity and peers’ cooperation/cohesiveness behaviors at Time 1. The adolescents’ average grades were also collected. The adolescents’ depressive symptoms and average grades were measured again at Time 2. The results showed that depressive symptoms measured at Time 1 were negatively associated with academic achievement measured at Time 2. The adolescents’ perception of their peers’ cooperation/cohesiveness moderated the relation between depressive symptoms and academic achievement. The results’ implications for educational practice are discussed.