‘King's inheritors': understanding the ethnic discourse on the Rajbanshi as an indigenous community

The rise of ethnic struggles in various parts of the world, particularly in the post-colonial period, is an intriguing phenomenon. Having the consciousness of primordial origins, indigenous communities have pursued ethnic mobilizations along different lines in order to achieve the goals of social and economic uplift. This paper focuses on the Rajbanshi, one such community living in northeast India, as they offer an opportunity to study history and ethnic identity formation as the dynamics behind their current situation. From the standpoint of applied anthropology, processes of social change and activism intended to improve the lot of Rajbanshi communities are evaluated. Given their obscure origins, cultural diversity and divided political struggle, the Rajbanshi are far from achieving their goal of pursuing better lives. Strategies of Sanskritization and ‘sons-of-the-soil’ indigeneity have not reaped the desired results in terms of social and economic development. Furthermore, discourses rooted in immigrant-aboriginal binaries and theoretical dichotomies of primordialism–constructivism fail to make sense of this community's experience and are not helpful in guiding them toward meaningful and fruitful political and social change.     

Competition for Resources: A Reexamination of Sibship Composition Models of Parental Investment

The predictions of resource dilution and sibship gender composition models of educational investment are tested using the Japanese Nationwide Survey on Families (N = 6,985). Japan is an important case because of its postindustrial economy, coupled with high levels of dependence on parental investment to attend a university and persisting gender inequality in educational attainment. In previous between‐family analyses of educational attainment in Japan, boys were found to drain resources from their sisters. The within‐family, multilevel models of parental educational investments in this analysis show that girls with college‐educated brothers fare better than their peers without brothers. An alternative model incorporating the educational investments received by brothers in the same family is proposed.     

Evaluating the Impact of Trauma-Informed Care (TIC) Perspective in Social Work Curriculum

A trauma-informed care (TIC) curriculum was integrated into a school of social work master’s level program. Measures assessed the impact of the curriculum on first and advanced-year students’ knowledge, attitude, self-efficacy, and behavioral intention at the beginning and end of a semester. Initial comparisons show advanced-year students as having more knowledge about TIC, more positive attitudes toward TIC, higher levels of self-efficacy to use TIC approaches, and greater likelihood to engage in TIC behaviors than first-year students. However, by the end of the semester, the latter were equivalent with advanced students on all measures. Results suggest the first-year curriculum provides sufficient background in TIC approaches to allow for significant gains across all areas assessed. However, integration of the TIC perspective within advanced courses needs further assessment.     

Effects of Alternative Policies on Income Redistribution: Evidence from Brazil

Despite recent successes, Brazilian income (cash) transfer policies remain controversial, and alternative approaches to income redistribution are being actively considered. This article contributes to this debate, analysing the effects of several alternative policies for income redistribution in the Brazilian economy using a computable general equilibrium model. Simulations were conducted consistent with the following policies: direct transfer of income, reduction of taxes, and incentives to agricultural exports. The results suggest that transfer of income is the most effective in promoting redistribution of income, with a positive impact on the level of welfare of the poorest households.     

Activating adult allies from a rural community on lesbian,gay, bisexual,transgender, and queer student issues in school using photovoice

Purpose: Many students who are lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, or queer (LGBTQ) face hostile school environments that can negatively impact their mental health and education. This study involved a photovoice project where high school students from a gay-straight alliance in the rural southeastern United States took photographs that depicted the issues LGBTQ students were facing and then exhibited their photographs and stories to individuals from the school system and local community to promote awareness, dialogue, and action. Methods: Twenty adults who attended the photovoice exhibit responded to an online survey about their experiences with the intervention. Results: Eighty-five percent of adults reported that the intervention made them think about issues they had not previously considered, including the struggles LGBTQ youths face, gender issues, and living in a rural community. Common emotions experienced at the intervention included feeling excited, concern for the youths, and proud of the youths. Furthermore, 81% of the adults indicated that they would take action or behave differently as a result of the intervention, including supporting and affirming LGBTQ students, using gender-neutral and -inclusive language, and confronting bias in themselves and others. Conclusions: Photovoice is a promising strategy for LGBTQ students to activate adult allies in their community.     

Recent Happenings in the Social Studies

This article details the “journey box” project process enacted by two elementary preservice teacher cohorts. Engaging in activities and projects that promote a sense of investment in not only consuming but producing historical narratives, preservice teachers potentially become interested in sharing this type of learning with their students.     

International Adoption: Counseling and the Adoption Triad

Despite a 60-plus–year history of international adoption (IA) placements, the body of research exploring counseling and psychological interventions for those affected by IA is still in its infancy. This critical review of the state of the literature addresses research, theory, and practice relevant to the international adoption triad (adoptive parents, birth parents, and adoptees). We highlight the lack of empirical attention to the clinical needs of birth parents, the tendency to overlook the clinical needs of adoptive parents both pre- and post-adoption, early childhood vulnerability in international adoptees, and adolescent identity challenges and the attendant clinical issues.     

Towards more productive industrial relations

The author suggests that a critical factor in bringing about an overall improvement in the UK's economic performance is an improvement in Industrial Relations—with the aim of achieving levels of productivity which match the best in the world. The article asks how this is to be done; what has gone wrong; and, more importantly, what can be done to improve the situation in the future.     

The industrial athlete?

Many similarities can be drawn between the athletic and industrial population. It is time for a shift in the approach toward injured workers utilizing a sports medicine perspective. We must think of workers as industrial athletes and recognize that the sports medicine model can be appropriately adapted to the injured worker. This model includes prevention, early intervention/identification, training and conditioning, and progressive treatment. Sports medicine rehabilitation concepts include treating the entire kinetic chain that is associated with a specific injury and the SAID principle (Specific Adaptations to Imposed Demands).