Mental illness etiology beliefs among African American men with serious mental illness and their social support networks

Semi-structured qualitative interviews were conducted with 26 African American men with serious mental illness who were consumers of community mental health services and 26 members of their social support networks. All participants were asked what they believed had caused the consumers’ mental illness. Consumer participants most commonly identified chronic life stressors as a causal factor, while social supports most often identified intrinsic factors such as genetics or biology as causes of mental illness. Some support participants believed that unintentional drug use had precipitated the onset of mental illness or had no causal theories. The fact that some support participants could not identify a causal explanation may indicate failure on the part of mental health care systems to engage with consumers’ social support networks and provide education about mental illness and its causes. The implications of etiology beliefs on mental health service utilization are discussed.     

Forensic Evaluation of Deaf Individuals: Challenges and Strategies

ABSTRACT

Forensic evaluation of deaf individuals presents unique challenges due to many examinees’ fund of information deficits, potential for language deprivation, and examiners’ frequent lack of creativity regarding communication methods. This article describes challenges most frequently encountered in competency to stand trial and criminal responsibility evaluations and offers strategies for overcoming them. The value of employing multiple communication methods, especially the use of illustrations, is emphasized. Suggestions also are offered regarding preparing evaluation reports and effectively communicating “key deaf fundamentals” to legal personnel. Encouragement is offered for qualified, sign-fluent professionals to engage in forensic work.     

Psychological Distress,Couple Interactions,and Parenting: A Dyadic Analysis of African American Couples

Parental depression is a well‐established risk factor for couple conflict and ineffective or hostile parenting (M. C. Lovejoy, P. A. Graczyk, E. O'Hare, & G. Neuman, 2000; L. M. Papp, M. C. Goeke‐Morey, & E. M. Cummings, 2007). Although research suggests that caregiver depression may impact parenting indirectly via increased conflict between couples (e.g., R. D. Conger et al., 2002), few studies take into account the behaviors of both caregivers in exploring these relations. The goal of the current study is to employ an actor–partner mediator model to examine the complex relations among psychological distress, negative couple interactions, and parenting. Using a sample of 162 African American couples with children, we find evidence that the psychological distress of each caregiver has an effect on couple interactions for both men and women. The effects from each caregivers' distress to parenting are mainly indirect through the interactional behaviors of the mother toward the father, consistent with the father vulnerability hypothesis (e.g., E. M. Cummings, M. Goeke‐Morey, & J. Raymond, 2004).     

Impact of support networks for breastfeeding: A multicentre study

Background

The rates of breastfeeding worldwide are slowly improving since 1996. Europe is still trailing behind the global breastfeeding incidence and prevalence rates. Thus, breastfeeding promotion, protection, prolongation and support have become an important challenge as breastfeeding sharply decreases in the first six months of life.

Varieties of political support in emerging democracies: A cross-national analysis

Political support is a multidimensional construct encompassing evaluations of political leaders and institutions (specific support) as well as adherence to basic regime principles (diffuse support). Scholars have traditionally assumed that diffuse and specific support are driven by different forces and evolve largely independently. Prior empirical work, however, has struggled to untangle the two support dimensions and focused predominantly on cross-national differences, ignoring their dynamics. This paper develops an analytical and empirical approach to examine the levels and dynamic interplay of both support dimensions and estimate their determinants, applying it to South American democracies between 1996 and 2015. Contrary to received wisdom, we show that both dimensions are quite volatile and closely linked in this region. In particular, negative economic shocks not only undermine support for government actors, but also fuel democratic disenchantment. Nonetheless, while regime support is rather fickle in South America, it can be ultimately resistant to performance fluctuations.     

Negative Religious Rhetoric in the Lives of Black Cisgender Queer Emerging Adult Men: A Qualitative Analysis

Given the intersection of racial, religious, and sexual identities for Black queer populations, the current study examines sexuality-related religious rhetoric. Twenty Black cisgender queer men were recruited to participate in a qualitative interview. Using thematic analysis, the research team identified four themes: negative religious rhetoric, personal consequences of negative religious rhetoric, social consequences of negative religious rhetoric, and growth from negative religious rhetoric. Participants explained the pervasiveness of negative religious rhetoric within their churches and family structures. Men also conveyed how negative religious rhetoric frames societal ideologies around same-sex behavior, often condoning violence toward queer populations. Although men had negative experiences, participants articulated the importance of using oppression as a platform for growth. Black cisgender queer men are present within religious institutions; however, such negative religious rhetoric may negatively affect their mental and physical health. Researchers, clinicians, and clergy should consider the ways negative religious rhetoric marginalizes queer populations.     

Fighting words? Joning as conflict talk and identity performance among African American preadolescents

This study examines how preadolescent African American students in Washington, D.C., used a linguistic practice called ‘joning,’ a style of verbal play similar to ritual insults, in peer interactions. Sociolinguists have focused on how children socialize each other into vernacular styles appropriate for peer group use but often assume that they disalign with social and linguistic norms for classroom behavior. Drawing from a nine‐month ethnographic study that the author conducted in an after‐school program, this article analyzes the structure and function of joning as a vernacular style of African American Vernacular English and its uses in constructing classroom identities. Joning often facilitated student learning, but it was perceived as a socially and physically risky linguistic practice because of its uses as conflict talk in the local community. Focusing on preadolescence as a key stage of language socialization, this article shows how minority students modify peer‐learned linguistic practices to pursue academic success on their own terms.     

Lena Finkle’s magic arc: hybrid influences in the Russian American graphic novel

ABSTRACT

The article examines Anya Ulinich’s graphic narrative Lena Finkle’s Magic Barrel and the novel’s use of visual culture from both the author’s Russian and US American backgrounds. The article interrogates the use of history and timelines, Russian art history and Russian art education in Ulinich’s text. It also analyzes other literary constructs that influenced Ulinich’s novel: US American comics/graphic novels and their use of stereotype, and novels by Russian-speaking Jewish American writers, with their thematized Jewishness.     

美国未成年人案件保密性原则及其松动

美国未成年人案件保密性原则在司法实践中比较复杂。基于"双轨制"现实,未成年人身份过错、偏差及轻微犯罪案件通常由少年法院审理;而对于较严重的未成年人刑事案件,则会移送至刑事(成人)法院审理。对于后者,因其刑事性质,被移送受审的未成年人将被视为成年人受审,其案件庭审及记录除特殊情形外原则上不予保密。而对于前者,此类案件大体上适用保密性原则。不过随着对儿童利益最佳原则及防卫社会的双向反思,对在少年司法体系内的较严重犯罪案件与虐待、遗弃及照管不良等案件,少年法院保密性原则亦有较大松动。     

The construction of South Texas masculinity: masculine space,the pico de gallo and the barbeque grill

I contend that masculinity formation in South Texas is linked to objects that have been deemed as ‘manly’. This study is significant because it examines a group in the US population that, according to census predictions, account for a large percentage of the fastest growing and largest Latino group in the United States. This autoethnography research examines how pico de gallo – a type of salsa – and the barbeque grill assist working-class Mexican American males in constructing a masculine identity known as macho. The data are based on observing 30 social events in the Rio Grande Valley. The findings reveal a pursuit for an apex status of macho through these objects and the cultural transmission of gender roles to the next generation of males. This study concludes by offering suggestions in examining how masculinity, for men of colour, might be linked to marginalisation practices within a social structure.