Family-based approach to the child welfare system: an integration of Bowen family theory concepts

The purpose of this article is to apply Bowen family systems theory to work with families involved in the child welfare system. An overview of family systems theory is provided, and then specific tenets of Bowen family systems theory are presented. The authors highlight incidents within the child welfare setting that can be conceptualized through Bowen family therapy terms and concepts. A case study is used to highlight how this theory could be applied in practice. Furthermore, recommendations for child welfare practice and policy implications are discussed, utilizing the lens of a Bowenian family systems approach.     

Schulman's Urban Lesbian: A HoboSexual Pedestrian Rhetoric

The following article reads the protagonist in Sarah Schulman's Girls, Visions and Everything as not only lesbian, but as hobosexual—a concept representative of anti-capitalist practices in both sex and labor. The hobosexual is developed as an extension of the lesbian flâneur, as a concept that requires reading Schulman's urban lesbian at the intersection of class and sexuality. Lila Futuransky's sexual identity is suspended and complicated through an emphasis on her desire for queer mobility; her urban movements connect her to hobo history, but also expose the effects of capitalism that thwart her urban movement.     

Association between employee department and responsible gambling program perceptions

ABSTRACT

Academic studies of employee perceptions of and engagement with responsible gambling (RG) provide important insight into how employees engage with RG, but typically treat employees as a singular entity. Employees in different departments, however, have different work experiences that affect their likelihood of directly interacting with gamblers. It is conceivable that degree of contact with gamblers affects employees’ opinions about RG. To examine this possibility, we surveyed cohorts of employees at MGM Resorts International (MGM) (N = 2,192) regarding their (1) perceptions of RG programs, (2) behaviors and beliefs about gambling, and (3) comfort with MGM’s corporate RG environment. Using MANCOVA, with years employed in the gambling industry as a covariate, we observed that employees in departments with less direct contact with gamblers were more likely to perceive RG programs to be effective at MGM than employees who have more direct contact with gamblers. In addition, employees who work in the Food, Beverage, & Retail departments were more likely to hold misconceptions about gambling than employees in Back of House operations. The differences in how departments view RG programs suggest that one-size-fits-all approaches to employee training might not be suitable for RG topics, and that position-based training might be necessary.     

About the contributors

The paper reports secondary analysis of data from the 2010 British Gambling Prevalence Survey, a household survey of a representative sample of the population aged 16 years and over (N = 7756). Responses to questions about frequency of gambling and average monthly spend on each of 15 forms of gambling, and responses to two different problem gambling screens (DSM-IV and PGSI), were used to derive estimates, for each form of gambling separately, of the percentage of (1) all days play (two estimates), and (2) all spend (four estimates), attributable to problem gamblers. Although these estimates must be treated as approximations only, they demonstrate that problem gamblers make a far greater contribution to total gambling attendances and losses than problem gambling prevalence figures would suggest. There are certain forms of British gambling to which problem gamblers may be contributing as much as 20–30% of all days play and spend, and moderate risk gamblers a possible further 10–20%.     

On being moved

In this paper, drawing on Henri Bergson's writing knowledge is seen as a virtual asset, i.e. , a resource that transgresses the distinction between past, present and future. Knowledge is never solely related to the actual present, but is continuously related to and associated with previous experiences and anticipated futures. By conceptualizing knowledge as a virtual asset, the notion of knowledge is freed from its commonplace metaphor of being a stock of skills and know-how that the organization can make use of. In this perspective, knowledge can never be fully conceived of as a stock, but must always be related to practices and activities. As a consequence, knowledge management theory needs to redirect its attention towards practices, rather than theorizing in terms of the taxonomies of knowledge employed by organizations.     

Parenting During Childhood Predicts Relationship Satisfaction in Young Adulthood: A Prospective Longitudinal Perspective

Using three waves of data drawn from the National Survey of Families and Households (n = 438 young adult children) we examined the process by which parental warmth and harsh parenting during childhood influences children's romantic relationship satisfaction in young adulthood. Harsh parenting was directly associated with children's relationship satisfaction, independently and in conjunction with parental warmth, whereas parental warmth was indirectly associated with relationship satisfaction through family cohesion during adolescence. Results were consistent across male and female young adults involved in married, dating, and cohabiting relationships. Findings from this prospective, longitudinal study coincide with previous research using adult children's retrospective reports of parenting behavior and highlight the importance of family of origin influences on romantic relationships in young adulthood.     

Preparation for practice: embedding the development of professional identity within social work curriculum

Newly qualified social workers often enter challenging interdisciplinary settings where they need to be able to clearly articulate a distinctive professional identity. To prepare for these realities, this paper discusses how the development of professional identity has become increasingly central to qualifying social work curriculum at an Australian university. Preparation for social work practice has long been the focus of research in a number of countries, with a significant emphasis on knowledge and skill acquisition, rather than on the development of an overarching professional identity that is also underpinned by shared values and sense of professional purpose and expectations. Against this backdrop, the paper describes initial changes that have been made within core social work courses to progressively embed the development of professional identity more consciously across their studies, to be better prepared for contemporary challenges in the workplace. It is concluded that further changes are needed to fully transform the curriculum, and that the impacts of these changes be systematically evaluated in relation to preparedness for practice.     

Untreatable families? Suggestions from literature

The purpose of this paper is to highlight insights from literature, which suggest that some families are unable to respond to intervention and treatment. Discussion of this aspect of family functioning is notably missing from the discourse on family preservation. There will be an outline offered of the factors that may be contributing to this reality, one consequence being that children wait indefinite periods of time for lasting arrangements to be formulated for their future. Suggestion will be offered as to how concurrent planing approaches may help to achieve timely decision-making and lasting outcomes for children.     

Changing compatibility of cohabitation and childbearing between young British women born in 1958 and 1970

We investigate the effect of parenthood on whether non-marital unions led to marriage or parting for two cohorts of British women when they were aged between 16 and 29. We compare the effect of conceptions leading to births and the presence and characteristics of children on the odds that a cohabitation was dissolved, or that it was converted to marriage, for women born in 1958 and 1970. A multilevel, multiprocess, competing-risks model allows for multiple cohabitations per woman and endogeneity of fertility status. We find that cohabiting couples’ response to impending parenthood and the presence of children changed over time. In particular, the proportion of cohabiting couples who married before a birth decreased and, in the 1970 cohort only, the risk of dissolution declined during pregnancy. There is also evidence that the presence of a child cemented a cohabiting union for women from the 1970, but not the earlier, cohort.