Walking with video

In this article the author discusses the idea of ‘walking with video’ as a phenomenological research method that attends to sensorial elements of human experience and place‐making. As a simple method this means walking with and video‐recording research participants as they experience, tell and show their material, immaterial and social environments in personally, socially and culturally specific ways. Her aims are twofold. First, in relation to recent anthropological work on sensory experience and on walking, she articulates the theoretical and methodological basis for this idea; why is it that walking with another person should allow researchers to learn empathetically about their experiences? Second, in relation to established and recent work in visual anthropology, she discusses how the integration of video into this method can serve as a catalyst for creating ethnographic understandings of other people's experiences, and representing these experiences to a wider audience.     

CREATING ‘CHILD‐FRIENDLY’ COMMUNITIES: A STRATEGY TO RECLAIM CHILDREN FROM RISK

A review of the scope and characteristics of the problems facing Australian children and adolescents. Such issues as poor mental health, substance use and abuse, delinquency, violence, school drop‐out rates, youth unemployment and suicide are explained in terms of shortfalls in community endeavour to protect families from risk factors associated with structural and social change. A strategy to reduce vulnerability is proposed, which would involve mobilising government, independent and informal local community sectors to support parents and encourage healthy, pro‐social development. Sustaining the quality of social environments close to children and families requires a process of community capacity‐building, including a renewed emphasis on participation and democracy and better coordination between local service agencies.     

South Asian immigrants' experience of child protection services: are we recognizing strengths and resilience?

Ethno‐racial minority families who come in contact with child protection services face unique challenges that include different ideas about appropriate child rearing practices, possibly different definitions of child maltreatment, the possibility of racial biases and service provision that does not address their particular needs. Ethno‐racial minority immigrants encounter additional barriers to services associated with the challenges of settlement in a new cultural environment. Although considerable research has explored these issues, knowledge of the experiences of ethno‐racial families who have been in contact with child protection is limited. The current paper provides insights from a qualitative study that explored the experiences of one ethno‐racial group (South Asians) in Canada. Findings suggest a variety of reasons that families come into contact with the child protection system, and the characteristics of the sample highlight their difficult financial and employment circumstances. Themes include participants' desire to be better informed about the reasons for child protection involvement and about what they can expect from the worker and the agency. They also identified a wish for services that not only recognize their cultural diversity but also respond to the needs of the whole family. In‐home services were especially appreciated. The findings reveal the resilience and personal agency among participants that can be enhanced through strength‐based approaches to practice. Helping others, establishing community networks and developing needed services were avenues of resilience identified.     

Social (dys)welfare within a hostile state

Beneath the wide differences between Australian Aborigines and British Gypsies lie similarities in their experiences of the state in general and the 'welfare' state in particular. Both groups' history of oppression includes persecution, assimilation and genocide, all variations on the theme of the destruction of a minority group's existence and culture. Their relationships with land which diverge from the dominant capitalist/colonialist norm are treated as a threat by the majority. Cultural genocide has taken the form of state control of children, leading Aborigines and Gypsies to fear state social work services. These services fail to understand, respect and respond to different cultural values, lifestyles and strengths, and the resulting 'dyswelfare' has had damaging impacts, including the devastation of Aboriginal family structures, and collusion with the failure to provide sites for Gypsies. Social work educators have a responsibility to consider these experiences and their implications. In any attempt by social work to promote rather than undermine these minorities' rights, the voice of the groups must be at the forefront of change, and organisational structures and priorities transformed at local and national levels. Theoretical tools to assist these changes are available from anti-oppressive and cross-cultural practice, and citizenship and human rights perspectives.     

Gender and the Glass Ceiling at Work

The glass ceiling is a popular metaphor for explaining the inability of many women to advance past a certain point in their occupations and professions, regardless of their qualifications or achievements. In this article, we review sociological research on glass ceiling effects at work. We discuss the current state of the glass ceiling, methodological and theoretical concerns with research in this area, and a number of the key factors that contribute to the creation and maintenance of glass ceiling effects, including selection effects, cultural capital, homophily, networking, gender stereotypes, gender discrimination and occupational segregation, and characteristics of organizations. We conclude with a discussion of research that is aimed at lessening gendered glass ceiling disparities in the workplace.     

A Study of Alcohol Use by Designated Drivers Among College Students

Abstract

Objective: College students tend to drink while serving as a designated driver (DD). The predictors of alcohol use by DDs among college students were examined. Participants: Participants were 119 undergraduate students in introductory psychology courses who had experience with DD use. Methods: Survey data were analyzed to examine the predictors of planning components of DD use, such as choosing a DD before drinking and choosing an abstinent DD, and the relations of these components to alcohol use by DDs. Results: History of DD use, friends’ willingness to be the DD, frequency of riding with a driver who drank and drove, and age of drinking onset were associated with planning components of DD use. Among the planning components of DD use, choosing a DD before drinking was significantly related to less alcohol use by DDs. Conclusions: Increasing awareness of the planning components of DD use could deter alcohol use by DDs among college students.     

Building a youth-led movement to keep young people out of the adult criminal justice system

Through the lens of the Youth Art & Self-empowerment Project (YASP), this article explores the impact that the adult criminal justice system has on young people and how young men and women in Philadelphia are organizing to challenge that system. YASP has developed an innovative model for supporting and training young people in Philadelphia's adult jails and recently released from the adult jails to build a youth-led movement to repeal adult transfer laws in Pennsylvania. Through stories of personal experience and collective struggle, this chapter illustrates the power of young people taking back control of their city, their state, and their own destinies.