Minority Stress,Parenting Styles,and Mental Health in Brazilian Homosexual Men

ABSTRACT

Homosexual men are constantly exposed to prejudice and violence in Brazil. The aim of this study was to investigate the relationship between minority stress, parenting styles, and indicators of mental health problems in a sample of homosexual men. Method: quantitative, cross-sectional, correlational, and retrospective design. Participants were 101 Brazilian men who selfidentified as homosexuals, aged between 18 and 55 years. Results: concealing sexual identity was a predictor of depression and stress. Parental responsiveness was associated with a lower incidence of enacted stigma and depression. Conclusions: the mental health of homosexual men can be negatively affected by the need to conceal their sexual orientation. Parental responsiveness is a protective factor in terms of experiencing enacted stigma and depression. The results found in the study may be useful for counselors and social workers who are working with LGBT people and their families.     

基因编辑技术背后的伦理与人权

当前基因编辑技术发展迅速,引起各国政府、学术界和企业界的广泛关注。但从近期“基因编辑婴儿”事件来看,基因编辑技术的伦理问题仍须厘清,我国现行法律尚不完善。通过保护基因编辑婴儿隐私、切实发挥伦理委员会作用、加快相关立法工作,我们或可更好地解决基因编辑技术背后的伦理和人权问题。     

How discrimination in adoptive,foster, and medical systems harms LGBTQ+ families: Research on the experiences of prospective parents

Abstract

LGBTQ+?people face multiple challenges to parenthood because of barriers such as discriminatory legislation and policies influencing foster parenting, adoption, and reproductive health services. This study documents these obstacles and examines their impact through a grounded theory analysis of interviews of LGBTQ+?prospective parents. Stressors included social isolation, unnecessary medicalization, prohibitive financial costs related to accessing social and medical services (sometimes across state lines), and being denied services, parental leave, and insurance coverage. Findings indicate that heteronormative attitudes and discrimination can lead to debilitating and enduring harm upon the economic, emotional, and relational well-being of growing LGBTQ+?families.     

Parenting and child-caretaking among black men who have sex with men and associated sexual and reproductive health factors: a brief report

Abstract

The purpose of this exploratory study was to examine the prevalence of parenting and child-caretaking among a sample of black men who have sex with men (MSM), as well as associations between parenting roles and sexual and reproductive health (SRH) factors. Parenting and SRH data were derived from a survey of 199 black MSM. Nearly half of the sample reported being a father or father-figure (44.4%), almost a third indicated serving as caretaker of a child (29.1%), and one in five have a biological child (20.1%). Over half of the sample reported at least one of these three parenting/child-caretaking roles (52.5%). Two significant differences were observed for sexual health variables: men with biological children were significantly more likely to report using condoms inconsistently (55.0% vs. 35.7%, p = .026) and engaging in transactional sex work (36.8% vs. 21.0%, p = .041). Given the observed prevalence, parenting and child-caretaking among black MSM warrant further inquiry as factors that may influence SRH outcomes and care utilization. Services and interventions tailored to black MSM should consider these men’s potential roles and responsibilities as parents and caretakers of children.     

Decrypting cultural nuances: using drama techniques from the theatre of the oppressed to strengthen cross cultural communication in social work students

ABSTRACT

Despite widening participation in social work education in the UK, social work students from black and minority ethnic (BME) backgrounds can find that they have less positive experiences on social work courses than their counterparts. This can happen when courses do not equip students to navigate the subtle rules of communication with service users that are premised on dominant UK values. As a consequence BME students can be assessed as having poor interpersonal skills and poor skills in engaging service users. However, the issue is often more one of cultural differences and high expectations of cultural integration than one of incompetence.

This paper reports on a drama workshop using techniques from the Theatre of the Oppressed to foster awareness of the complexities of cross cultural communication that BME students may face. The workshop facilitates insight into the nuances of culturally informed values that differ from dominant UK values.

Drawing on student workshop evaluations, the authors highlight the positive use of techniques from the Theatre of the Oppressed as a pro-active pedagogical approach to equipping BME students with insight and skill to circumnavigate cross cultural communication in practice and develop awareness of empowering strategies to combat negative paradigms about BME cultures.     

Dynamic inference for non-Markov transition probabilities under random right censoring

The main contribution of this article is the verification of weak convergence of a general non-Markov (NM) state transition probability estimator by Titman, which has not yet been done for any other general NM estimator. A similar theorem is shown for the bootstrap, yielding resampling-based inference methods for statistical functionals. Formulas of the involved covariance functions are presented in detail. Particular applications include the conditional expected length of stay in a specific state, given occupation of another state in the past, and the construction of time-simultaneous confidence bands for the transition probabilities. The expected lengths of stay in a two-sample liver cirrhosis dataset are compared and confidence intervals for their difference are constructed. With borderline significance and in comparison to the placebo group, the treatment group has an elevated expected length of stay in the healthy state given an earlier disease state occupation. In contrast, the Aalen-Johansen (AJ) estimator-based confidence interval, which relies on a Markov assumption, leads to a drastically different conclusion. Also, graphical illustrations of confidence bands for the transition probabilities demonstrate the biasedness of the AJ estimator in this data example. The reliability of these results is assessed in a simulation study.     

农房确权的制度设计与政策建议

农民住房财产权的确认(简称农房确权)有助于维护农民财产权利,为下一步农村改革创造 前置条件和法律依据。然而,实践中农房确权面临着甄别、处置、配合和实施等各种难题。建议在制度 设计上按照“房地一体,先地后房”的原则,对农房进行分类处理,通过收取宅基地有偿使用费、明确确权 操作流程等措施予以完善。在此基础上,地方政府利用农房确权契机鼓励农村集约节约用地,通过规划 指导和建房监管确保新建农房达到确权要求,中央政府推进宅基地流转和农房财产权抵押担保制度改 革,使农房确权更具实质意义。     

公平与效率如何可能:社会哲学的分析

关于公平与效率之关系的争论 ,不能仅限于概念的界定和所谓适用范围的讨论 ,尽管这是必要的。公平与效率本质上不是一个语言与逻辑的问题 ,而是一个社会历史问题 ,进言之它们是由人类活动衍生出来 ,并由人类活动的目的所决定的。当人们弄清公平与效率是什么以后 ,必然要进到它们是何以可能与如何可能的阶段上来。前者决定于人类活动的目的 ,后者决定于社会结构与社会制度的合理化。只有从人类活动以及活动的规范化形式即社会制度入手 ,才能真正说明公平与效率的关系及其实现的机制 ,这是一种社会哲学的分析范式     

Profiles of Housing Cost Burden in the United States

In this study, the ordered logistic regression model indicates that renters suffer a greater housing cost burden than homeowners and that the lower the income of the household, the larger the portion of income that is spent for housing. Further, the model also shows that the burden of high housing costs falls disproportionately on certain groups of American households. Compared to the reference group, two single-risk groups (Asian-American households and households with three or more children) and two dual-risk groups (female-headed households with three or more children and minority households with three or more children) tend to have a higher risk of excessive housing costs. Elderly households and three elderly-related groups (female-headed elderly households, minority elderly households, and female-headed minority elderly households), however, tend to have a lower risk of housing cost burden than other households. The housing cost burden of the reference group is comparable to the housing cost burden of each of the following groups: for single female-headed households; Black households; Hispanic households; and female-headed minority households. The policy implications of these findings are discussed in the paper.     

规范财政转移支付制度的构想

本文从协调地区经济、实现社会主义本质、优化资源配置等角度,论述了规范财政转移支付制度的必要性。深入分析了现行财政转移支付制度中出现的诸如财力不足、转移支付方式和数量工具具有随意性、财权与事权不相适应等问题。提出了立足于我国国情,规范财政转移支付制度的现实方案