Training the workforce following a serious case review: lessons learnt from a death by fabricated and induced illness

In England, when a child dies as a result of suspected maltreatment, the Local Safeguarding Children Board is required to establish whether lessons can be learnt about collaborative working to safeguard children. These reviews usually include recommendations for both inter and intra‐agency training. In this paper, the authors argue that it is crucial, when planning and delivering training in this situation, to recognise the emotional impact on the workforce of the death of a child from maltreatment. This is particularly important when the child has died as a result of fabricated and induced illness (FII) by a carer and professionals may have inadvertently contributed to the child's suffering. Drawing on a case example of training following the death of a child from FII, this paper considers the challenges encountered by those responsible for commissioning and providing training. Attention is given to managing logistics, such as time delays between the death of the child and the eventual publication of the serious case review. The particular knowledge and skills required by trainers, not only in relation to the subject matter but also in managing complex group processes, are discussed. The support required by course participants and the trainers themselves is explored. The paper concludes with a checklist for those commissioning and providing training. Copyright © 2009 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

"Body-As-World": Kenneth Burke's Answer to the Postmodernist Charges Against Sociology

Postmodernism charges that sociological methods project ways of thinking and being from the past onto the future, and that sociological forms of presentation are rhetorical defenses of ideologies. Postmodernism contends that sociological theory presents reified constructs no more based in reality than are fictional accounts. Kenneth Burke's logology predates and adequately addresses postmodernism's valid charges against sociology. At the same time, logology avoids the idealistic tendencies and ethical pitfalls of radical forms of postmodernist deconstruction, which acknowledge neither pretextual and extratextual worlds nor the ways in which experience is embodied. While not fully articulated, Burke's logology gives primacy to an embodied, social world prior to text (Body-as-World). Sociology can strengthen both its theoretical arsenal and its response to postmodernism by reacknowledging and reclaiming Burke's logology.     

Fatherhood, cohabitation, and marriage

In “Fatherhood, Cohabitation, and Marriage,” Wade F. Horn, Assistant Secretary for Children and Families at the Department of Health and Human Services, summarizes the importance of fathers to child well-being. He explains that “fatherlessness is a significant risk factor for poor developmental outcomes for children.” This connection has led some observers to view cohabitation as a substitute or at least an alternative to marriage. Horn argues, however, that marriage is the best option for children and that cohabitation is a weak family structure compared with marriage. Children in households with married parents do better on almost every measure of child well-being, even after controlling for income.     

Migration in Namibia: Combining Macro and Micro Approaches to Research Design and Analysis1

In adopting a framework that applies both macro and micro variables to the study of migration in Namibia, the analysis of the findings of the Namibia Migration Project emphasizes the utility of combining different scales and methods of data collection in terms of explaining migration dynamics and extending trends and patterns to future scenarios. It is argued that the contextual and explanatory macro factors such as political history, poverty, population, environment, epidemics and culture are crucial to the understanding and interpretation of the micro data collected through the standardized questionnaire survey and the case study material. Equally important is the iterative relationship that the macro/micro approach fosters in the research design and in the analysis of the data between the macro and micro scales of investigation.     

Life-course effects on marital disruption

Using the Panel Study of Income Dynamics, between 1969 and 1978, the change in the percentage of marital disruption among 3372 families is decomposed into: (1) an increase of 1.7 percent due to the direct effects of age at first marriage; (2) a decrease of 1.1 percent from changes in the relative age at first birth; and (3) a 2.7 percent increase stemming from changes in the internal structure of the families. The maldaptation of concepts from the life-course perspective is demonstrated to have led to the expectation of somewhat different findings, and for the confusion regarding the roles of life-cycle and life-course events in precipitating marital instability. The results strongly suggest the use of greater discretion in the formulation and use of different classes of events within the life-course framework.     

Fertility in China 1982–1990: Gender equality as a complement to wealth flows theory

Some scholars claim there is little variation in Chinese fertility because of coercive family planning policies. This research, however, demonstrates that other factors contribute to significant variation in fertility rates among China's 30 provinces/administrative divisions. Although family planning and socioeconomic development are found to explain significant amounts of variation in fertility for both the 1982 and 1990 census cross-sections, it was also found that gender equality in education had become significant by 1990. Path model results that lag the effects of 1982 socioeconomic development and gender equality in education also indicate that they both have sizable direct effects and moderate indirect effects through family planning behavior on 1990 fertility rates. Discussions include the possibility that the recent free market and institutional reforms, e.g., the decollectivization of agriculture, have contributed a social structure whereby many Chinese families have increased awareness of the opportunity costs associated with their reproductive decision making.     

Cohorts,education, and the evolution of tolerance

Normative and social structural explanations for changes in tolerance are tested using racial attitude items from 11 surveys between 1958 and 1978. Over the 20 years, while there were changes in the overall levels of racial tolerance, there were also changes in the upper and lower ends of a tolerance spectrum which differentially depended on cohort and educational effects. Regardless of the position in the tolerance spectrum, most of the change in racial attitudes resulted from across-the-board changes in all cohort and educational groups. The most racially conservative end of the spectrum was slightly eroded by increased educational attainment in the population, while the most racially liberal position was somewhat advanced by cohort replacement. In the final analysis, the normative perspective demonstrated the greater potential for applications to other, more complex, configurations of tolerance.     

Mothers' and Fathers' Work Hours,Child Gender,and Behavior in Middle Childhood

This study examined the association between typical parental work hours (including nonemployed parents) and children's behavior in two‐parent heterosexual families. Child behavior was measured by the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) at ages 5, 8, and 10 in the Western Australian Pregnancy Cohort (Raine) Study (N = 4,201 child‐year observations). Compared to those whose fathers worked fewer hours per week, children whose fathers worked 55 hours or more per week had significantly higher levels of externalizing behavior. This association was not explained by father–child time during the week, poorer family functioning, or overreactive parenting practice. Further, when stratifying the analysis by child gender, this association appeared to exist only in boys. Mothers' work hours were unrelated to children's behavioral problems. The role of parent and child gender in the relationships between parental work hours and children's behavioral problems, together with mediating factors, warrants further investigation.