Dating Violence Among Chinese American and White Students

SUMMARY

A sample of 289 Chinese American and 138 White students from a university campus was recruited from social science courses to complete a survey on perceptions of and experiences with dating violence and gender role beliefs. White students were more likely to define dating violence as physical and sexual aggression compared to the Chinese American students. Although the majority of students from both ethnic groups did not agree that dating violence is justified under various circumstances, the Chinese American students were more likely to provide a contextual justification for the use of dating violence. Findings also indicated that 20% of Chinese American students and 31.3% of the White students have experienced some form of physical dating violence since they started dating. For both the Chinese American and White students, those who were more likely to agree that various acts of physical aggression are considered dating violence were less likely to perpetrate physical dating violence in the last 12 months. The sociocultural context of dating violence and implications for practice and research are discussed.     

Entrance and Exit from the Military

Abstract

The literature that addresses the reasons for entering military service is limited and generally does not report on the experiences of ethnic minority populations. This article reports on findings from a qualitative research study that examined health utilization and health status for a sample of 86 American Indian and Alaska Native veterans. The study generated data that provide interesting insights about the reasons for entering military service and experiences post discharge for this population. The data indicate that cultural material plays a significant role in the decision to enter the military and in the reentry experience of the veterans who participated in this research study. The analysis supports the proposition that despite the diversity that characterizes the American Indian and Alaska Native experience, there are overarching values and belief systems that are held in common across tribal communities which influence the social construction of life and the interpretation of life events.     

Revamping Family Preservation Services for Native Families

ABSTRACT

FamilyPreservationServices(FPS) have become widespread among child pro tection agencies to pre vent the un nee es sary removal of chil dren from their fam i lies and fam ily homes. Native chil dren, who are over-rep re sented in pub lie care sys terns, are largely ab sent from re ports eval u ating the ef feetive ness of FPS. This pa per ex am ines the FPS philosophy and pro gram structures in the con text of Native culture. The authors provide practical sug gestions for changing FPS in hopes that such pro grams will im prove sue cess in serving and pre serving Native fam i lies with child pro tection concerns.     

An Ecological Assessment of Drug-Related Problem Situations for American Indian Adolescents of the Southwest

ABSTRACT

This study examined difficult situations related to drug and alcohol use as identified by American Indian youth in the Southwest. Sixty-two contextually based items were developed from focus group data, and were administered to 71 American Indian youth. The items measured the frequency in which youth experienced specific drug-related situations, as well as the perceived difficulty in resisting drug use offers in those situations. The results indicated that the most frequent and difficult drug and alcohol situations occurred primarily with friends or cousins at their homes or after school. Implications for culturally specific assessment, prevention, and treatment are discussed.     

Policy Implications of Supporting Women of Color in the Sciences

ABSTRACT

This research suggests that, contrary to popular perception, there exists a pool of women of color with avid interest in science, and the academic skills to pursue that interest. It further suggests that these women, if given the support necessary to persist in science, will choose careers that address many other needs, domestic and international, including schooling and science education; rural and urban health care, public health and medical research; the environment; and other public service fields. Investing in the retention of high-achieving women of color in science yields returns on multiple levels. This conclusion is based on a study of high-achieving women of color interested in studying science, and an evaluation of a university enrichment program for science students of color.     

‘Pain on Top of Pain,Hurtness on Top of Hurtness’: Social Discrimination,Psychological Well-Being,and Sexual Risk Among Women Living With HIV/AIDS

ABSTRACT

This qualitative study explored how a subsample (n = 26) of participants in Protect and Respect (N = 184), a safer-sex intervention for women living with HIV/AIDS (WLH/A), discussed their experiences of social discrimination and the impact of discrimination on their lives, psychological well-being, and risk behaviors during group intervention sessions. The majority of participants was Black (83%), earned less than $10,000 per year (80%), and acquired HIV through heterosexual sex (58%). Analyses demonstrated that social discrimination manifested in the women's lives as poverty, HIV/AIDS-related stigma, and gender inequality. These experiences caused intense psychological distress and limited WLH/A's ability to implement the safer-sex skills that they learned during the intervention. We discuss the applied and theoretical implications of our findings, advocating for HIV and sexual risk-reduction interventions that are based on an ecological framework that addresses holistically the individual, relational, and sociostructural factors that affect women's sexual risk behaviors.     

Masturbation and Sexual Health

Abstract

In this study we applied research examining the hypothesized benefits of masturbation in dealing with sexual problems to the urgent health crisis posed by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. This is the first study to test the hypothesized relationship between masturbation and HIV risk as predicted by the Sexual Health Model, a sex-positive approach to sexual health developed in response to the need for a more explicit focus on sexuality and relationships in HIV prevention. This is also the first study to examine the relationship between several masturbation variables (i.e., masturbation guilt, lifetime masturbation, and current masturbation) and HIV-related sexual behaviors and attitudes in a sample of African American women (N =239). Data was collected using face-to-face structured interviews as part of the Women's Initiative for Sexual Health (WISH), a randomized, controlled trial of an HIV prevention intervention based on the Sexual Health Model, targeting low income, adult African American women. Contrary to expectations, results showed that participants who reported masturbating were more likely to report having multiple partners, being in a nonmonogamous relationship and engaging in high-risk sexual behaviors. There was no significant relationship between level of masturbation guilt and HIV risk nor between masturbation and consistent condom use or attitudes toward condoms. This study adds to the growing empirical support for associations between sexual health variables and safer sex and argues for a more explicit focus on sexuality in HIV prevention.     

历史人类学视阈下的认同冲突与“改土归流”初探——兼论昭通彝族地区的“改土归流”与社会秩序“中原化”历程

文章以历史人类学为视阈,结合史料典籍,从明清时期昭通彝族地区"改土归流"的个案研究入手,通过对土司文明与核心文明的互动过程以及中华文明内部子文明对"多元一体"的认同变迁之分析,认为:"改土归流"的原因在于土司文明与核心文明之间日益加剧的认同冲突,其结果是将土司文明纳入"中原化"的历史进程中。     

师范院校英语本科英美文学课程教学模式改革研究

教学实践表明,英语专业本科学生的英美文学课程大多遵循以教师为中心的授课传统,缺乏启发性和创造性。将建构主义学习理论和英美文学课程相结合,在文学课堂上使用Lecture PLUS法改革教学模式,可以发挥教师的主导作用和学生的主体作用,并充分体现师范院校的特色。     

Kinship Care: A Cultural Resource of African American and Latino Families Coping with Parental Substance Abuse

SUMMARY

This paper examines kinship care as a cultural resource used by African American and Latino families coping with substance abuse by a family member. Although there is a growing body of literature on kinship care, there are no conceptual or empirical studies that have drawn or built on cultural similarities between these two groups of ethnic minority families. A framework that prioritizes cultural assessment and relevance in using familial and cultural resources is proposed to assist practitioners confronted with the demographic realities of working with social, clinical and ethnocultural complexities when serving ethnic minority families. The framework is based on practice implications raised by recent studies on kinship care and from the perspective of pertinent cross-cultural and anthropological literature.