Giving voice to experiences: parental maltreatment of black children in the context of societal racism

ABSTRACT This paper seeks to explore the ways in which black children who have been maltreated within their families come to voice to tell their stories. A discussion of black children's recovery from maltreatment necessitates understanding how they interpret and name their experiences as abusive. Research indicates that while many factors mediate the effects of abuse on children's development, telling your story about childhood trauma is critical in the healing process for promoting psychological well‐being. However, what does the naming and speaking of trauma entail for black children when the broader context of their lived realities is embedded in racism that confers on them a stigmatized status? Where black children's lived experiences encompass the complexity of societal racism as a mutually reinforcing and contradictory reality in their lives, their capacity to name the maltreatment they experience will be particularly problematic. Essentially, parents’ issues silence children and can encourage them to block out painful emotions, ultimately putting their emotional and psychological well‐being at risk. Taking race and gender as benchmarks for analysis, the complexities involved in giving voice to childhood maltreatment are discussed to consider how these dynamics contribute to black children's resilience and adaptive behaviours in the aftermath of abuse.     

Disaster and Development Paradigms: Too Close for Comfort?

The familiar distinctions between the disaster and development paradigms have become increasingly blurred. Yet, conceptual and policy dilemmas continue to pose challenges for the integration of the two paradigms into a single framework. Drawing on the literature and Ethiopia's Institutional Support Project, this article argues that the increased convergence of the two constructs may be too close for comfort, thus rendering the assertion that disaster‐risk reduction can help achieve sustainable development and vice versa mere rhetoric. Unless there is a shift from focusing on the hazard event to also recognising that disasters are not politically neutral, there is a danger of being locked into the hazard paradigm, despite the different labels, titles or metaphors that may be assigned to it.     

Kurt Lewin's Field Theory: A Review and Re‐evaluation

Field theory was central to Kurt Lewin's work yet, after his death, interest in it declined significantly until the 1990s when a variant, force field analysis, became widely used. This paper examines the origins, purpose and continuing relevance of field theory. It especially looks at the influences of gestalt psychology, topology and Ernst Cassirer's philosophy of science on its development. It argues that Lewin's attempt to replace conventional topology with his own Lewinian mathematics‐based topology in pursuit of scientific rigour resulted in the undermining of its relevance. The paper also compares force field analysis with Lewin's original conception of field theory and shows that it has significant weaknesses in terms of rigour. It concludes that a return to Lewin's original conception of field theory, based on gestalt psychology and conventional topology, can provide academics and practitioners with a valuable and much‐needed approach to managing change.     

Teaching Causation in History

Social studies teachers have an obligation to help students grapple with and thoughtfully examine controversial issues, often in a contemporary context. One such issue is the U.S. use of unmanned aerial vehicles, generally known as drones. Whether for surveillance purposes or military missions, the use of drones by the U.S. government has preceded the development of clearly articulated policy guidelines. This article examines the use of drones in U.S. policy, the argument for and against their deployment, and the manner in which social studies educators may effectively teach their students about such a complex, challenging topic. Toward that end, the article also advocates for the use of an ethical and analytical framework, the “just war” doctrine, which can assist students in critiquing how drones are used, under what conditions, and the social impact that may entail.     

Field Practica in Social Work Administration: Tasks,Auspice, Selection Criteria and Outcomes

Abstract

This evaluative study of the field practicum in one MSW program in social work administration is based on data collected over a period of ten years on tasks performed by students, auspice of field placement agency and student prior experience in relation to outcomes of student performance and satisfaction. The findings revealed that better outcomes are associated with tasks performed on upper organizational levels, working with line staff, performing interactional tasks, interorganizational functions, in agencies under voluntary auspices. Data on age and prior experience of students indicate no support for using these criteria for selection of students for this type of education. The policy implications for social work education are discussed.     

Election Day Registration's Effect on U.S. Voter Turnout

Objective . Early voter registration deadlines make voting more difficult for many American citizens. In an attempt to facilitate voting, several U.S. states now permit registration on election day, at the height of the campaign. This article examines the turnout effects of adopting election day registration (EDR) and other smaller reductions in closing dates. Methods . Primarily using the Current Population Study (1972-1996), we estimate the turnout advantage of EDR for citizens having low, middle, and high socioeconomic status. Results . The elimination of closing dates, through EDR, is predicted to produce about a 7-percentage-point turnout boost in the average state. Those having a high school education and middle incomes are expected to see the largest turnout gains, with the less educated and poorer citizens doing almost as well. No evidence is found to link the implementation of EDR to subsequent changes in the electorate's partisan balance. Conclusions . Even the most dramatic easing of voter registration costs has a modest effect on the total number of voters and little impact on the long-standing skew toward greater representation of those having higher status in the voting electorate of the United States.     

Income Satisfaction Inequality and its Causes

In this paper, the concept of Income Satisfaction Inequality is operationalized on the basis of individual responses to an Income Satisfaction question posed in the German Socio-Economic Panel (GSOEP). Income satisfaction is the subjective analogue of the objective income concept. The paper introduces a method to decompose Income Satisfaction Inequality according to the contributions from variables such as income, education, and the number of children. Given the panel structure of the data, inequality may be attributed partly to permanent individual circumstances and partly to transitory changes. The paper shows that by far the largest part of the satisfaction inequality has to be ascribed to unobserved heterogeneity. Distinguishing between a structural and an unexplained part of inequality we find that income explains the largest part of structural Income Satisfaction Inequality together with household membership; for non-working individuals, the age distribution is very relevant as well.