Male Couples and Their Relationship Styles

This article presents a classification system for understanding male couples in terms of how they bond and maintain a relationship. The various roles sex plays in the development and maintenance of a relationship are also examined, as is the important influence of AIDS. In order to be helpful to male couples, social workers need to be familiar with the diversity of relationship patterns in this group.     

Community Development with Emerging Ethic Communities

With the approach of the twenty-first century, community professionals will find minority communities an emerging phenomenon of increasing importance. Professionals need to relate to these communities in new and creative ways. This paper builds on the analysis of Rivera and Erlich (1984), describing a number of recent events and changing conditions significant to minority communities. The importance of ethnic competence is discussed in terms of community practice. Finally, a proposal for a national and local strategy to improve practice and professional education is described.     

Lesbian-Headed Stepfamilies

Abstract

This paper examines the lesbian stepfamily. It considers the family structure, parenting roles, gender composition of the couple, the distribution of family labor, and the impact of familial and community support. It discusses some of the challenges facing lesbian-headed stepfamilies, their strengths, capacities and competencies, and the strategies these families use for coping with stigma and intolerance. The paper concludes with implications for policy and practice with lesbian stepfamilies.     

Local Rites and Body Politics

The growing awareness of violence against women has resulted in endorsement of various international codes and conventions relating to physical, psychological and sexual violence. Female genital mutilation is one form of violence against women that has polarized people within and across national borders. Here, I explore its popular representation, consider how activism against genital mutilation has been confounded by sex and race and how activism to eradicate the practice is understood by immigrant women in Australia. In doing this, I draw on research conducted with women immigrants to Australia from north Africa (the Sahel areas) and the Middle East, from countries where female genital mutilation is most common. These women are often frustrated by what they see as contradictions in hospital policy and practice that arise in response to their requests to be reinfibulated after childbirth. I tease out the dilemmas that emerge when refusal is contrasted with other permissible practices of the body, such as hymen reconstruction, and given the commodification of bodies and related issues of age and agency, the individual and the community. The perceived discrepancies suggest to these African women that rights discourse is discriminatory, racist and informed by sensational portrayals of traditional practices. I question the ethics, values and rights that inform public discourse about sexual and reproductive rights, when women’s rights and values are so discrepant from our own ideals.     

Actual Versus Perceived Generational Differences in the Preferred Working Context: An Empirical Study

ABSTRACT

This study extends generational research by delineating actual versus perceived cohort differences through a theoretically grounded model using the Social Identity Approach (SIA). Subjects rated how much they valued 15 workplace characteristics and then provided value ratings for generational cohorts based on their perceptions of said cohorts. This allowed for the determination of actual and perceived cohort differences by characteristics. Results revealed actual cohort value differences across seven characteristics; however, perceived differences exceeded actual ones. Post-hoc, an examination of cohort values by characteristics revealed generational identities and the presence of prototypical distancing between cohort in groups and out groups.     

Depoliticising literature,politicising diversity: ethno-racial boundaries in Dutch literary professionals’ aesthetic repertoires

Although still a neglected area, over the years a growing body of sociological research on the position of ethno-racial minorities in Western artistic fields has emerged. With this article we aim to contribute to this research area by focusing on ethno-racial diversity in the Dutch literary field. Through in-depth interviews, we analyse how gatekeepers mobilise specific cultural repertoires and by doing so draw ethno-racial boundaries when discussing acquisition, assessing quality and positioning themselves in the literary field. We argue that literary publishers and other professionals (selectively) employ an ‘old school’ modernist repertoire that especially values the formal aspects of literary products, by which non-white writers and publishers concerned with diversity are often positioned in an identity politics framework. Their work is said to take in a less prestigious ‘political’/’subjective’ position rather than a ‘literary’/‘universal’ one. As such, this paper informs on how gatekeepers’ practices shape the position of non-white authors in the Dutch literary field.     

Resurrected pigs,dyed foxes and beloved cows: Religious diversity and nostalgia for socialism in rural Poland

The aim of my paper is to discuss the phenomenon of nostalgia for socialism in rural Poland. More precisely, I discuss how experiences of rurality and diverse religious beliefs intertwine with nostalgia. Depicting the memories of socialism, shared with me by the inhabitants of a multi-religious rural commune in Southern Poland, I aim to demonstrate the ways in which day-to-day experiences of rural life as well as religious diversity contribute to shaping people's remembrances. In order to do so, I describe both the present situation and the historical experiences of the inhabitants of the commune. I introduce representatives of different Christian communities – Roman Catholics, Greek Catholics, Orthodox and Pentecostals – and, by presenting their life stories, I address the issue of how villagers' religious creeds interrelate with the memories and (re)evaluation of the socialist past. My aim here is twofold. Firstly I aim to deconstruct the nostalgia for socialism, showing its complexity and proving that this nostalgia means in fact longing for very concrete experiences of rural life. Secondly, I argue that the study of various religious beliefs and practices is very important for a fuller interpretation of nostalgic discourses and responses to postsocialist transformations.     

When is brokerage negatively associated with economic benefits? Ethnic diversity,competition, and common-pool resources

There is a growing body of literature positively linking dimensions of social capital to economic benefits. Yet recent research also points to a potential “dark side” of social capital, where over-embeddedness in networks and the pressures associated with brokerage are hypothesized to constrain actors, having a negative effect on economic outcomes. This dichotomy suggests that context is important, yet the overwhelming majority of existing empirical evidence stems from socially homogenous populations in corporate and organizational settings, limiting a broader understanding of when and how context matters. We advance this discourse to a socially fragmented, ethnically diverse common-pool resource system where information is highly valuable and competition is fierce. Merging several unique datasets from Hawaii's pelagic tuna fishery, we find that network prominence, i.e., being well connected locally, has a significant, positive effect on economic productivity. In contrast, we find that brokerage, defined here as ties that bridge either structurally distinct or ethnically distinct groups, has a significant, negative effect. Taken together, our results provide empirical support to widespread claims of the value of information access in common-pool resource systems, yet suggest that in ethnically diverse, competitive environments, brokers may be penalized for sharing information across social divides. Our results thus contribute to an emerging theory on the fragile nature of brokerage that recognizes its potential perils and the importance of context.     

Sexual Coercion in Marriage: Narrative Accounts of Abused Mexican-American Women

Intimate partner sexual violence (IPSV) has been relatively understudied particularly from the perspective of women of color. This study documents the experiences with partner sexual violence of ten Mexican-American women. Qualitative interviews were conducted using snowball sampling with women that had been in abusive marital relationships. A phenomenological approach was used and through a thematic analysis, participant narrative responses were synthesized into themes. All participants reported sexual coercion and violence in their marriages, yet most did not label those experiences as “rape” despite the threatening context in which these incidents occurred. Tacit, but not always explicit acceptance of machismo, patriarchy, and male dominance were common themes possibly increasing IPV risk. Results highlight the complex interaction between upholding cultural values on the one hand, and preserving individual well-being and safety, on the other, underscoring the need for more extensive culturally sensitive research, prevention and intervention efforts for abused Mexican-American women     

The dynamics of citizen sociolinguistics

The objective of this paper is to explore the dynamics of citizen science (CS) in sociolinguistics or citizen sociolinguistics, i.e. the engagement of non‐professionals in doing sociolinguistic research. Based on a CS‐study undertaken in Norway where we engaged young people as citizen scientists to explore linguistic diversity, this paper aims to clarify the definition of citizen sociolinguistics; it seeks to advance the discussion of the advantages of CS and of how CS can contribute to sociolinguistics; it also addresses the opposite: how sociolinguistics can contribute to the general field of citizen science; and it discusses the challenges of a CS‐methodology for sociolinguistic research, epistemologically and ethically, as well as in terms of recruitment, quality control and possible types of sociolinguistic tasks and topics. To meet the needs of society and societal challenges of today there is a need to develop methods and establish scientific acceptance for the relevance of public engagement in research. This paper argues that citizen sociolinguistics has the potential to advance the societal impact of sociolinguistics by constructing a dialogue between ‘the academy’ and ‘the citizens’; citizen sociolinguistics relies on and encourages participatory citizen agency, provides research experience, stimulates curiosity, further research, public understanding of science and (socio)linguistic awareness, and encourages linguistic stewardship.