'Where are the lesbians in Chaucer?' Lack, opportunity and female homoeroticism in Medieval Studies today

This article explores the study of lesbians in the Middle Ages and proposes that the unstable construct of lesbian poses a problem for traditional Medieval Studies that can lead to the development in Medieval Studies of more nuanced and productive theorizing.     

The Role of Behavioral Theory in Model Development Research with Single Parent Families

In this paper, the authors critically examine the plight of single parent families with young children. Next, they lay out in detail the contributions of the behavioral perspective to practice model development research with single-parent families of children under the age of 12. The authors discuss implications for future theory driven practice model development research with cultural specific single parent families. They believe that future model development research efforts with culturally diverse single parent families will aid in advancing the state of cultural competence research in social work while assisting single parents relieve suffering and enhance child and family well-being.     

Care without coercion – mental health rights,personal recovery and trauma‐informed care

Australian mental health services continue to use involuntary measures in response to consumers' mental distress. Regardless of the intent behind these practices, the experience of being forced to receive treatment, be secluded or restrained is traumatic and can cause further distress and harm. Other parts of the health or social service system have shifted to approaches that emphasise agency, social context, prevention, and rights. Three frameworks currently used in mental health services – human rights, personal recovery, and trauma‐informed – are consistent with a shift away from the use of force. We applied these frameworks to the text of the National Standards for Mental Health Services 2010 to analyse the degree to which it reflects a shift. We also analysed the public text of speakers' notes from the Care Without Coercion Conference 2012 concerning lived experiences of force in mental health services. The analysis highlights force in many aspects of policy. The findings have implications for directions of change, including freedom from violence; support for decision making; access and choice about community and inpatient options; safety and risk management; and greater understanding of current policy frameworks through engagement with people with lived experience about the options and impact of support processes that exclude the use of force.     

Sustainable Caregiving? Demands Upon and Resources of Female Carers of Adults with Intellectual Disability

Female carers of adults with an intellectual disability are increasing in our communities as those with intellectual disability live into middle and old age. Twenty-seven carers between the ages of 45 and 85 years responded to questionnaires about demands, resources, and their health. Almost all were in the clinical range on the measure of psychological functioning. Demands contributed significantly to poorer functioning; however, other measures did not. The women in this study appeared to underreport the level of difficulties they experienced. The caregiving role undertaken by these women does not appear to be sustainable under their current circumstances.     

Adolescent Weblog Use: Risky or Protective?

Weblogs, or personal websites updated in time-based fashions, are common media used for expressing thoughts and networking socially online (Lenhart et al. in Teens and social media, Pew Internet and American Life Project, Washington, DC, 2007). This qualitative study describes the content of 100 adolescent weblog users’ communications through a risk and resilience framework. These users primarily utilized weblogs for community building, as most of their postings involved communications designed to foster and nurture relationships with peers via the weblog. The majority of the content posted involved the discussion of common prosocial behaviors, such as doing homework, hanging out with friends, or planning for events such as dances. A surprisingly small amount of weblog content included text about risk factors and related problem behaviors. Findings are described in relation to adolescent use of the Internet. Specific implications are drawn for social workers and other professionals involved in youth work.     

On square ordinal contingency tables: a comparison of social class and income mobility for the same individuals

Summary.  Square contingency tables with matching ordinal rows and columns arise in particular as empirical transition matrices and the paper considers these in the context of social class and income mobility tables. Such tables relate the socio-economic position of parents to the socio-economic position of their child in adulthood. The level of association between parental and child socio-economic position is taken as a measure of mobility. Several approaches to analysis are described and illustrated by UK data in which interest focuses on comparisons of social class and income mobility tables that are derived from the same individuals. Account is taken of the use of the same individuals in the two tables. Additionally comparisons over time are considered.     

Gendered Congregations,Gendered Service: The Impact of Clergy Gender on Congregational Social Service Participation

Using data from the 1998 National Congregations Study, I present empirical evidence that shows that the gender of a congregation's leadership makes a difference in the likelihood that a congregation will participate in a social service programme. The results from binary logistic regression indicate that the odds of congregations with women head clergy participating in a social service programme are four times greater than those with men head clergy. In addition, as the percentage of women on a congregation's governing board increases the probability that a congregation will participate in a service project also increases. The specific types of social service programmes a congregation pursues also differ by gender of leadership, with women‐led congregations significantly more likely to pursue service projects that could be labelled feminine while avoiding programmes that are clearly feminist. To explain this gendered behaviour I incorporate Acker's (1990 ) theory of gendered organizations.     

Model-Based Classification via Mixtures of Multivariate t-Factor Analyzers

A model-based classification technique is developed, based on mixtures of multivariate t-factor analyzers. Specifically, two related mixture models are developed and their classification efficacy studied. An AECM algorithm is used for parameter estimation, and convergence of these algorithms is determined using Aitken's acceleration. Two different techniques are proposed for model selection: the BIC and the ICL. Our classification technique is applied to data on red wine samples from Italy and to fatty acid measurements on Italian olive oils. These results are discussed and compared to more established classification techniques; under this comparison, our mixture models give excellent classification performance.     

Canadian Campus Smoking Policies: Investigating the Gap Between Intent and Outcome From a Student Perspective

Abstract

Background: Young adults remain the earliest legal target for the tobacco industry. Against this, the existence of smoking policies would appear to offer some protection to students on campus. However, little research has been conducted into the outcomes of such policies from a student perspective. Methods: The authors conducted 8 focus groups at 4 selected Canadian undergraduate campuses to investigate student perceptions and behaviors resulting from campus smoking policies. Results: Results indicated that student smoking behaviors are minimally impacted by campus smoking policies due to seriously compromised implementation and enforcement. Conclusions: These findings imply that the presence of campus smoking policies and claims of “smoke-free” campuses should not be misinterpreted as achievement and without renewed focus and adequate tobacco control infrastructure, it will remain possible for young adults to initiate and maintain tobacco smoking on campus.