‘Not a good person’: family stigma of mental illness from the perspectives of young siblings

The purpose of this paper is to critically examine family stigma as one form of the stigma of mental illness in child and youth mental health. Presented are the outcomes of a thematic content analysis of in‐depth, semi‐structured interviews conducted with seven (n = 7) young siblings, ages 13 to 21 years old, with a brother or sister identified as having a mental‐health issue. The focus of the interviews was on the ways the siblings experienced their other sibling's mental health and how those experiences shaped their sense of self and family. From the analysis, young siblings had predominately negative experiences, struggled with making sense of their brother or sister and the family as ‘flawed’ against the mental illness as ‘bad’ and experienced considerable family stress and overt family stigma. Current practice theories fail to consider the complexity of these factors and, in doing so, fail to adequately explain the nature and extent to which stigmatization occurs for immediate family members. The importance of peer support and understanding stigma in social work practice with children and their families is discussed.     

Research Review: Engaging men: a multi‐level model to support father engagement

While there is a growing body of work on using fatherhood as an opportunity to engage men in strategies to prevent child maltreatment and further acts of domestic violence, there is limited research on engaging fathers in strategies to prevent domestic violence from occurring. To fill this gap in the literature, this paper explores existing father engagement frameworks used in child and family services and supports a multi‐level model of father engagement for domestic violence primary prevention. Drawing together evidence about father engagement from a range of studies, including the more general parenting literature, we describe factors that influence father engagement based on an analysis of the literature. These factors include accessibility, staff attitudes and behaviours, programme marketing and the format of service provision.     

Emotional intelligence competences of three different ethnic groups in Indonesia

This study attempts to provide a portrayal of emotional intelligence (EI) of the Indonesians, one of the fourth most populous countries and multiethnic societies in the world, specifically across the 404 Bataks, 430 Minangkabau, and 479 Javanese ethnics. The result indicated that the Indonesian version of the EQ-i is invariant across the three ethnic groups. The findings also showed that the three ethnic groups have some shared characteristics in terms of interpersonal, assertiveness, empathy, social responsibility, flexibility, and problem-solving competences. We found significant main effects of ethnicity and gender as well as the interaction effect on EI competences. Cross-ethnic comparison showed that the Minangkabau assessed in this study are the most underdeveloped group in terms of social and emotional capabilities. We recommend replications of this study for other Indonesian ethnic groups to draw a more valid conclusion and to support the development of society.     

Let’s go out for a drink after work! The relation between leisure time spent with colleagues and employees’ life satisfaction

Despite the tremendous research studying the factors that influence employees’ well-being, the effect of what happens when leisure time is spent with colleagues remains yet unexamined. Building on the Conversation of Resource Theory, we propose that leisure time spent with colleagues could be understood as a resource, especially for those individuals who have few friends at their workplace. In a cross-sectional design, 136 university employees provided information about the number of friends they have at work, the amount of leisure time spent with befriended colleagues, and their life satisfaction. Results suggest that a larger network of friends at work is positively associated with life satisfaction. Furthermore, the effect of the number of friends at work on life satisfaction is moderated by the amount of leisure time spent with befriended colleagues. Employees who have few friends at work report more life satisfaction, if they spend more leisure time with befriended colleagues, whereas such an effect was not found for employees with a large friend network at work. These results are placed into the context of current discussions about work-life-blending.     

Grandparenting and support from adult children: Does children’s international migration make a difference for Chinese older adults?

ABSTRACT

Guided by social exchange theory, this study investigates the association between grandparenting and support from adult children, and the role of children’s international migration in moderating such association. Data were derived from a 2012 survey of older adults in Beijing, China (478 adult children nested in 300 older parents). The results of independent cluster logistic and linear regressions showed that regardless of children’s migration status, grandparenting was significantly associated with a greater likelihood of receiving household help and personal care, but not with emotional or financial support from children. Children’s migration status moderated the associations between grandparenting and receiving support from children. Theoretical implications for research and practical implications for services and policies are discussed.     

Examining the effects of social networks formed in a senior-oriented online community on older participants’ subjective well-being in China

In recent decades, the dramatic socioeconomic changes that have occurred in China have increasingly affected the social lives of older Chinese adults. The purpose of this study is to determine whether the social networks developed in an online community contributed to the subjective well-being of this age group. The underlying mechanism of this effect was examined by investigating a senior-oriented online community (OldKids). An online survey was administered to participants in the OldKids network. The results showed that the proposed theoretical model was effective in demonstrating that their participation in the OldKids network improved the participants’ subjective well-being through the mediation of perceived social support and feelings of social connectedness. The theoretical and practical implications of the results are discussed in this paper.     

Support for new mothers and fertility in the United Kingdom: Not all support is equal in the decision to have a second child

Low fertility across Europe highlights the need to understand reproductive decisions in high-income countries better. Availability of support may be one factor influencing reproductive decisions, though within high-income countries availability varies between environments, including socio-economic environments. We test whether receiving higher levels of support, from different sources (informal and formal) and of different types (practical and emotional), is positively correlated with second births in the United Kingdom (UK) Millennium Cohort Study, and whether these relationships differ by socio-economic position (SEP). Our hypothesis is only partially supported: receiving emotional support correlates with higher likelihood of second birth, but the opposite is true for practical support. Availability of different types of support varies across SEP, but relationships between support and fertility are similar, with one exception: kin-provided childcare increases the likelihood of birth only among lower-SEP women. Our results highlight that not all support is equal in the decision to have a second child.     

Psychological abuse in Spanish same-sex couples: prevalence and relationship between victims and perpetrators

This study investigates the prevalence of psychological abuse victimization in same-sex couples and the relationship between being a victim and a perpetrator of these negative behaviours. The final sample consisted of 107 adults residing in Spain who identified themselves as lesbian women and gay men, and who had been involved in a conflictive same-sex relationship. Participants were asked how frequently they would label their experience of psychological abuse and three different estimation methods were used. Furthermore, the relationship between being a victim and being a perpetrator of psychological abuse behaviours was calculated through the behavioural estimation method using a questionnaire. The results showed that the prevalence rates varied from 11.3% to 56.6%, depending on the estimation method, and they revealed that there was no correlation between receiving and enacting psychological abuse behaviours. The variation in prevalence rates highlights methodological differences that limit the extent to which comparisons can be made across studies. Three estimation methods are introduced to stimulate future research on this issue.     

家庭冷暴力的立法思考

当前我国没有对家庭冷暴力进行法律规制,随着实践中家庭暴力形式的变化,我国应该将它纳入到反家庭暴力法的立法范畴,在法律上对之进行明确界定,并通过建立家庭冷暴力案件举证责任倒置制度、家庭暴力婚内损害赔偿制度和建立专门的法律援助机构等使得对家庭冷暴力的法律规制得以实现。     

国际金融危机背景下完善中小企业技术创新扶持制度的立法思考——以江苏为例的研究

中小企业是我国社会主义市场经济的主体,为我国国民经济的快速发展作出了巨大贡献,而江苏的中小企业在江苏的经济发展中更是扮演着重要角色。然而,在当前国际金融危机背景下,江苏中小企业的生存与发展面临着严峻的挑战,企业缺少技术创新的痼疾暴露无疑,同时江苏中小企业技术创新的法律缺位也日益突显。本文认为,应变国际金融危机为契机,完善中小企业技术创新扶持制度,使中小企业在未来发展中显现更强的竞争力和生命力。