American High School Students’ Perceptions of Determinants of Life Satisfaction

Life satisfaction can be assessed either globally or with regard to satisfaction with specific domains of life. The latter multidimensional approach presumes science has delineated with confidence the specific domains most relevant to evaluating whether the criteria for a good life have been met. This paper shares results of a qualitative study of the perceived determinants of life satisfaction among 30 high school students who were diverse in terms of mental health; 6–10 participants were classified as complete mental health, vulnerable, symptomatic but content, or troubled at two time points separated by a year. Thematic analyses of transcribed individual interviews suggested eight themes that capture the domains of life adolescents perceive influence their happiness. These themes are compared and contrasted to domains included in existing multi-dimensional measures of youth life satisfaction. The factors likely to be particularly salient to students with different levels of mental health are noted.

     

Access to justice for Aboriginal People in the Northern Territory

This article discusses research in the Northern Territory on Aboriginal civil and family law needs. It is based on focus group discussions and interviews with legal services providers and other associated organisations. The article argues that key areas of legal need involve discrimination, housing, child protection, social security, credit/debt and consumer law problems. It further argues that welfare conditionality, particularly as embodied in the NT Intervention and subsequent Stronger Futures policies, has exacerbated the need for legal assistance and advocacy for Aboriginal people.     

Physick and the Family: Health,Medicine and Care in Wales, 1600–1750

Steven Ozment, The Age of Reform 1250–1550. An Intellectual and Religious History of Late Medieval and Reformation Europe (1980), xii+458 (Yale University Press, New Haven and London, £15.75).

Ian Maclean, The Renaissance Notion of Woman. A Study in the Fortunes of Scholasticism and Medical Science in European Intellectual Life (1980), viii+119 (Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, £7.50).

Edward Royle, Radicals, Secularists and Republicans: Popular Freethought in Britain, 1866–1915 (1980), xii+380 (Manchester University Press, Manchester, £19.50).

Gail Braybon, Women Workers in the First World War (1981), 244 (Croom Helm, £11.95).

Eric Cahm and Vladimir Claude Fisera (eds), Socialism and Nationalism, 3 vols (1978–1980), 116+132+132 (Spokesman, Nottingham, £2.50 each).

Harold Perkin, The Structured Crowd, Essays in English Social History (1981), xii+230 (Harvester, Brighton, £20.00).     

Understanding child neglect in Aboriginal families and communities in the context of trauma

Child neglect is a significant concern for Aboriginal families and communities both in Australia and internationally. Service responses to child neglect are largely informed by child neglect theories, which explain the nature and causes of child neglect. However, child neglect is a problem that is worsening for Aboriginal children, suggesting that these theories are not appropriate. This paper argues that to meet the needs of Aboriginal families and communities where there is child neglect, policy and practice needs to acknowledge and address the impact of trauma in shaping the lived experiences of Aboriginal people. International literature discusses the impact and consequence of historical trauma within Indigenous families and communities, and separately, child maltreatment theorists have discussed the ecological nature of child neglect. However, the literature and evidence‐base linking the two, child neglect and historical trauma in Indigenous contexts, are very scant. This paper aims to fill this gap and emphasize the importance of addressing child neglect within Aboriginal families and communities in the context of historical trauma. Although this paper focuses on the post‐colonial experiences of Aboriginal people in Australia, the arguments can extend to many Indigenous cultures universally where child welfare interventions have resulted in significant and ongoing trauma.     

Level of choice in older women’s decisions to retire or continue working and associated well-being

Retirement is a complex life transition. Women’s retirement, like their work lives, may be further complicated, for example, by family or financial obligations; they may feel forced to retire or to continue working or feel they have the choice to do so. This study examines the role of voluntary versus involuntary retirement or continued work participation among retirement-age women; specifically, the relationships between choice, work status, and well-being. Compared to women forced to retire, women who chose retirement or continuing to work had higher levels of life satisfaction. Findings highlight the importance of examining retirement within the life course context.     

Disparities in Healthcare Utilization Among Adults with Obesity in the United States,Findings from the NHIS: 2006–2015

Population Research and Policy Review - Few studies of disparities consider logistical hurdles faced by adults with obesity in obtaining needed healthcare. This study compared adults with obesity...     

Footprints in the Sand: Personal,Psychological, and Relational Profiles of Religious,Spiritual, and Atheist LGB Individuals

The present study offers a comparison of the demographic features and lived experiences of lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) individuals with religious, spiritual, or atheist (R/S/A) belief systems. In this sample of 212 participants, the relationship of participants’ R/S/A beliefs to personal variables (e.g., age, gender, race), mental health variables (e.g., life satisfaction, psychological distress, internalized heterosexism, self-esteem), and relational variables (e.g., outness, connection to LGBTQ communities) were assessed. Correlational analyses indicated that level of R/S/A belief was unrelated to self-esteem, life satisfaction, or psychological distress; however, greater religious belief was correlated positively and significantly with internalized heterosexism and outness as LGB. To test the interactions of R/S/A beliefs and categorical variables of interest (e.g., race), log-linear analyses with follow-up chi-square tests were conducted. Findings suggested more similarities than differences for LGB people across R/S/A systems of belief. Limitations and implications for future research are discussed.     

Best Practice Principles for Community Indicator Systems and a Case Study Analysis: How Community Indicators Victoria is Creating Impact and Bridging Policy,Practice and Research

Numerous community indicator projects have been developed over the past 30 years and are now present in many countries including the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Europe, Australia, New Zealand and South America. However, creating influence and action using community indicators requires long-term effort strengthened by partnership, policy applications, training and research. This paper provides a reflective case study analysis that reviews the development of the community indicator system of Community Indicators Victoria in Australia. The analysis includes a review of best practice indicator principles guiding the development of current and future community indicator systems and describes how these factors influenced the development, establishment, and expansion of the Community Indicators Victoria system.     

Lesbian women and household labor division: A systematic review of scholarly research from 2000 to 2015

ABSTRACT

Recent studies have begun to attend to distribution of household labor within same-gender couples compared to heterosexual couples, yet much of the available research with lesbian couples has attempted to superimpose division of household labor frameworks developed with heterosexual couples (e.g., gender role socialization, exchange bargaining theories) to fit the experiences of same-gender couples. Using two academic search databases, the present article provides a systematic review of the available 28 peer-reviewed articles published from 2000–2015 about lesbian partnerships and household labor divisions. Results indicate that lesbian couples engage in a more equal distribution of household labor than heterosexual couples, and that lesbian women often opt to eschew traditional gendered divisions of chores in favor of other factors such as quality of task or ability. The systematic review uncovered notable constraints in the demography of participants (e.g., race, socioeconomic status, geographic location) across studies. Strategies for deepening the depth and breadth of this line of work for future researchers, and implications for relationship satisfaction are also discussed.