Psychiatric Non-institutionalisation: Whose Needs are Served?

This article outlines the social problems experienced by persons with a chronic psychiatric disability, and their families. The disabled person's lifestyle is characterised by poor social and vocational skills, poverty, inadequate accommodation and alienation. Many of these problems increase the dependence of the disabled person, emotionally and financially, on their family of origin. The author suggests that these social problems will only be ameliorated if family members are provided with active support and information, and if hospital and community services are integrated and complementary. The disabled person's quality of life can only be improved by accessible intensive social and vocational rehabilitation programs. As these issues are not being comprehensively addressed at the present time family self-help organisations such as the Association of Relatives and Friends of the Mentally III (ARAFMI) will need to politicise their plight.     

More present than absent: Men who use domestic violence and their fathering

An earlier article referred to the “absent presence” of the perpetrator in the lives of children and their mothers who have lived with domestic violence. It identified the ways in which the shadow of the perpetrator continued and was evidenced in the “symptoms of abuse” that both women and children experienced in spite of his absence. The current article argues that fathers who use violence are actually more present than absent in the lives of children (and women), even following separation. A mixed method approach surveyed men in Men's Behaviour Change Programs (N = 101), and interviewed women who had experienced violence (N = 50). The studies reported that the majority of men in both the quantitative men's study (80%) and the qualitative women's study (77%) had substantial contact with children. The women's interviews highlight the problematic fathering that many of their children experienced, both before and after separation. They reported very high levels of child abuse and poor attitudes to both women and children. The article concludes that the family violence and child welfare systems are poorly configured to address fathers who use violence and continue to hold substantial parenting roles, including following separation.     

Views of euthanasia from an east Texas university

Euthanasia has become a subject of public debate and concern. Here we examine the views of euthanasia among students at an east Texas university. Roughly three-fourths are in favor of euthanasia -similar to the general public. Because the university is located in a conservative geographical area, this result suggests growing approval of the various forms of euthanasia and doctor assisted death. While no significant differences were found between the three student major groups -Liberal Arts, Science and Business, some demographic differences were found within the groups. Mainly, African American female Science majors are the most opposed to euthanasia whereas Caucasian male Science majors are the most in favor and the most likely to use a scientific definition of death. The views of the latter group contrast notably with practicing doctors who lag behind the public in their approval of euthanasia. Student views might reflect a cohort difference, a lack of professional experience, or a growing trend among medical practitioners. Liberal Arts majors are the most conservative of the three groups, indicating nonscientific reasons for opposition. Resistance to euthanasia is apparently associated with demographics and nonscientific reasoning.     

Insights on medical tourism: markets as networks and the role of strong ties

Despite a huge amount of speculation and expectation surrounding medical tourism, hard empirical evidence is only now beginning to emerge. This paper widens the focus of discussion by contrasting two country experiences (UK and Korea) which on the surface illustrate the diversity of medical tourism and little else. However, considered more comparatively, the accounts contribute toward wider, albeit tentative, theoretical understandings, and insights. The paper is drawn from two broad programs of empirical study conducted over three years in UK and Korea, respectively. The article is structured in three parts: first, a brief overview of policy, legislative, and accreditation frameworks that exist to govern medical tourist flows. Second, we present evidence around flows, demographics, treatment, and medical tourism for Korea and UK (both for supply and demand). Third, we examine conceptual and theoretical implications of this evidence. We argue that viewing medical tourism as a global market is problematic; some medical tourist markets are best viewed as networks with long-term exchange relationships; some specific areas of activity do function more strongly as price-related; decision making around medical tourism frequently involves a range of information and social networks (economic action as embedded social structure); and medical tourism is a function of globalization.     

Hierarchy of Gambling Choices: A Framework for Examining EGM Gambling Environment Preferences

This paper presents the Hierarchy of Gambling Choices (HGC), which is a consumer-oriented framework for understanding the key environmental and contextual features that influence peoples’ selections of online and venue-based electronic gaming machines (EGMs). The HGC framework proposes that EGM gamblers make choices in selection of EGM gambling experiences utilising Tversky’s (Psychol Rev 79(4):281–299, 1972). Elimination-by-Aspects model, and organise their choice in a hierarchical manner by virtue of EGMs being an “experience good” (Nelson in J Polit Econ 78(2):311–329, 1970). EGM features are divided into three levels: the platform—including, online, mobile or land-based; the provider or specific venue in which the gambling occurs; and the game or machine characteristics, such as graphical themes and bonus features. This framework will contribute to the gambling field by providing a manner in which to systematically explore the environment surrounding EGM gambling and how it affects behaviour.     

The effect of urban ground covers on arthropods: An experiment

Changes to the ground layer in urban areas are extensive, but the effects on arthropod fauna are poorly understood. We undertook a manipulative experiment to examine the response of arthropods to small-scale variation in ground covers commonly found in urban parks and gardens in Australia. The ground covers tested were bare ground, leaf litter, woodchips and grass, with plot sizes of 3.6 m². Epigeic arthropods were sampled with pitfall traps and Tullgren funnels over 12 months following establishment of the treatments. All epigeic arthropods were sorted to order and the ants (Hymenoptera: Formicidae), beetles (Coleoptera), millipedes (Diplopoda) and slaters (Isopoda: Oniscidea) were examined at lower taxonomic levels. Diverse arthropods rapidly colonised previously cleared plots in all four treatments and were most abundant in grass plots. The diversity of ants and beetles was significantly different in different ground covers and tended to be most diverse in grass plots. Despite the treatments providing very different microclimates, the fauna studied did not show strong selection for a particular cover type overall. The abundance of grass cover in the surrounding area may have led to the grass plots having the greatest abundance of arthropods. These results have important implications for developing effective small-scale conservation efforts for arthropods in anthropogenically modified landscapes, especially for species with poor dispersal abilities.     

From Clinic to Community: The Evolution of a Group for Women with Postpartum Mental Illness

Since 1980, national and international research knowledge on carers and care-giving has been accumulating. However, the theoretical bases of this research are usually unstated and implicit. Theory is vital in shaping social work research programs and types of social work intervention. This paper examines and critiques the social work theories influencing published social work research on care-giving. A search of key social work journals from 1980 to 2001 identified a total of 102 research articles about care-giving. The perspectives informing these articles fall into four groupings: positivist; interpretivist; systems; and feminist/radical. Building on the model developed by Howe (1987), which differentiates theories of radical change from those concerned with social regulation, each perspective is critically analysed for its underlying assumptions, level of analysis, research methodology and implications for policy and practice. Our review indicated that research on care-giving is dominated by a positivist approach that focuses on stress-coping and social support theories. These approaches are essentially individualistic, focus on the burden of care and prescribe interventions that assist carers to adjust to or cope with the care-giving role. Future social work research on care-giving should be informed by critical social work theories offering deeper structural analysis. This would be more consistent with our discipline's concern for social change and social justice.     

Blurring reality with fiction: Exploring the stories of women,madness, and infanticide

Problem

Often, there is a sense of shock and disbelief when a mother murders her child.