Book Review

Abstract

Social Work in Rural Communities, 2nd ed., edited by Leon H. Ginsberg. Alexandria, VA: Council on Social Work Education. $13.00 (paper).     

Etiological Patterns of Child Abuse and Neglect

A review of the various etiological possibilities for child abuse and neglect, designed to offer an additional and different possibility. Consideration is first given to problems, namely the lack of universal definition, heterogeneous effects, and retrospective research. The probability of multifactor models is noted, and sexual abuse is given separate consideration, followed by an exploration of the existing models termed ecological, transactional, transitional, and attachment. An interactive aggression model is then offered as the new possibility. Empirical evidence for cultural and/or ethnic predispositions suggests that society can be a supporting or inhibiting factor in terms of promoting or opposing violence.     

A Psychosocial View of Mental Illness: An Introduction to Part II

Increasingly, grandmothers are parenting grandchildren in homes where parental presence is sporadic or nonexistent. A disproportionate percentage of African American grandparents fall in this category. The author reviews the literature on the African American grandmother in the context of the African American family and describes a practice model for service provision to those women who seek support as they “parent again.”     

Talking while Computing in Groups: The Not-So-Private Functions of Computational Private Speech in Mathematical Discussions

Students often voice computations during group discussions of mathematics problems. Yet, this type of private speech has received little attention from mathematics educators or researchers. In this article use excerpts from middle school students' group mathematical discussions to illustrate and describe “computational private speech.” We analyze four examples of computational private speech using lenses from neo-Vygotskian psychology, sociolinguistics, and distributed cognition. Our analyses of computational private speech challenge the individualistic developmental assumptions of some neo-Vygotskian theories of private speech, and we show how this form of private speech can serve socio-cognitive functions during group mathematical discussions.     

Emerging Forms of Formative Intervention Research in Education

This article focuses on emerging forms of formative intervention research in educational settings in the United States. The examples presented share three key features with cultural-historical activity theory (CHAT) formative intervention research: (a) a focus on historically accumulating structural tensions within and across activity systems, (b) use of double-stimulation as a method of intervention, and (c) expanding agency as the object of intervention. The examples differ from CHAT approaches in that they employ theories and tools from research on subject-matter learning and organizations. In presenting these examples, I aim to renew dialogue between CHAT researchers and learning scientists about intervention research.     

The use of population‐level data to advance interdisciplinary methodology: a cell‐through‐society sampling framework for child development research

The authors argue that population‐level data should be used to advance interdisciplinary research about community effects on early development. These data permit the identification of neighborhoods in which development patterns deviate from predictions based on local socioeconomic status (SES). So‐called ‘off‐diagonal’ places signal where researchers are likely to discover processes that either deflect the risks of low SES or dampen the salutary impact of favorable SES. Since such neighborhoods will be best understood relative to nearby ‘on‐diagonal’ neighborhoods where macro‐economic and/or public policy factors are constant, the authors present a methodology for illuminating these regional clusters. The method is deployed in British Columbia, Canada, where a team has collected developmental observations from two censuses of kindergarten children (n = 82,632). The article discusses how these clusters can be used to coordinate sampling decisions among academics representing the range of disciplines needed to study child development from cell‐through‐society, as is recommended in the literature.     

Modes of Cognitive Praxis in Transnational Alternative Policy Groups

Abstract

Transnational alternative policy groups (TAPGs) are networks and centres within and around which counter-hegemonic knowledge is produced and mobilized among subaltern communities and critical social movements. Based on in-depth interviews with practitioners at 16 TAPGs, this article presents eight modes of cognitive praxis and discusses how they appear in the work of alternative policy groups. The eight modes are not sealed off from each other, but overlap and interpenetrate. In combination, these modes of cognitive praxis strive to produce transformative knowledge concomitantly with knowledge-based transformation. The analysis evidences tracings of a double dialectic in the cognitive praxis of alternative policy groups: a dialectic of theory and practice, and one of dialogue. It is in a forward movement—fostering solidaristic dialogue among counterpublics in combination with the iterative integration of theory and practice—that alternative knowledge makes its indispensable contribution to counter-hegemony.