Adolescents Conceived through Donor Insemination in Mother‐Headed Families: A Qualitative Study of Motivations and Experiences of Contacting and Meeting Same‐donor Offspring

This study interviewed adolescents conceived using sperm donation to examine their experiences of contacting and meeting ‘same‐donor offspring’ (i.e. donor‐conceived offspring raised in different families who share the same donor), their motivations for this contact, and how they make meaning of these relationships. This in‐depth qualitative study involved semi‐structured interviews with 23 young people aged 12–19 years (mean = 14 years). Interviewees were motivated by curiosity about their biological relations and by wanting to extend their family. Contact with same‐donor offspring was described as being either normal/neutral or as a unique experience that was integrated into their identity. This study highlights the importance of contact between same donor offspring, particularly during adolescence, a developmental stage associated with identity formation. The findings have important policy implications as they suggest that donor‐conceived individuals may benefit from contact with others conceived using the same donor prior to the age of 18 years.     

Parenting perceptions among college students: A qualitative examination

This study assessed the knowledge and attitudes of young adults without children in regard to discipline and parenting practices. A qualitative design was utilized (n?=?26) with semistructured focus groups. Results indicated participants believed discipline is important, with spanking and loss of privileges being the most effective strategy for behavior change. The majority of participants reported plans to discipline future children the way in which they were disciplined, suggesting a high percentage intend to utilize spanking. Findings suggest that personal experiences shape parenting beliefs, attitudes, and knowledge. Results inform efforts at educating future parents on appropriate parenting practices and indicate the need for protocols for young adults to educate about practices that may diverge from their personal experiences.     

Identity processes and the positive youth development of African Americans: an explanatory framework

This chapter presents Spencer's phenomenological variant of ecological systems theory, or PVEST (1995), as a conceptual framework for examining positive youth development. Contextual factors affecting racial and gender identity of African American youth are discussed, with the focus on the influence of schools and religious institutions.     

Time diary and questionnaire assessment of factors associated with academic and personal success among university undergraduates

OBJECTIVE AND PARTICIPANTS: A sample of 231 students attending a private liberal arts university in central Alberta, Canada, completed a 5-day time diary and a 71-item questionnaire assessing the influence of personal, cognitive, and attitudinal factors on success. METHODS: The authors used 3 success measures: cumulative grade point average (GPA), Personal Success--each participant's rating of congruence between stated goals and progress toward those goals--and Total Success--a measure that weighted GPA and Personal Success equally. RESULTS: The greatest predictors of GPA were time-management skills, intelligence, time spent studying, computer ownership, less time spent in passive leisure, and a healthy diet. Predictors of Personal Success scores were clearly defined goals, overall health, personal spirituality, and time-management skills. Predictors of Total Success scores were clearly defined goals, time-management skills, less time spent in passive leisure, healthy diet, waking up early, computer ownership, and less time spent sleeping. CONCLUSIONS: Results suggest alternatives to traditional predictors of academic success.     

Hearing the voices of Generation Y employees: a hermeneutic phenomenological study

There is a need to study and better understand the organizational impact of Generation Y and how they perceive their experiences of work. This article presents findings from a hermeneutic phenomenological study that was conducted to understand the meaning of work for five Generation Y individuals and provide a deeper, richer understanding of their lived experiences. Ten essential themes were constructed, including the meaning of work is: influenced by education, influenced by the economy, the opportunity to do work that is meaningful, balance, a reflection of who we are, working for an organization that functions well, influenced by our social networks, considering and exploring all opportunities, the importance of social relationships, and completing tasks and being compensated to meet our basic needs. Based on these findings, theoretical contributions are provided as well as recommendations for future HRD practice and research.     

An Outcome Study of Career Decision Self‐Efficacy and Indecision in an Undergraduate Constructivist Career Course

This study explored outcomes in a constructivist career course. Using a pretest‐ posttest design, the authors assessed the empowerment (operationalized as career decision self‐efficacy) and career indecision of 82 culturally diverse college students at a large, midwestern university. Data were analyzed using a multivariate analysis of variance. Results indicated that students reported significant increases in empowerment with no commensurate decreases in career indecision. In addition to shedding light on the nuanced relationship between empowerment or career decision self‐efficacy and indecision, results indicate the potential constructivist career development has to empower culturally diverse college students.     

The Case for Insurance Reimbursement of Couple Therapy

A case is made for why it may now be in the best interest of insurance companies to reimburse for marital therapy to treat marital distress. Relevant literature is reviewed with a considerable focus on the reasons that insurance companies would benefit from reimbursing marital therapy – the high costs of marital distress, the growing link between marital distress and a host of related physical and mental health problems, as well as the availability of empirically supported treatments for marital distress. This is followed by a focus on the major reasons insurance companies cite for not reimbursing marital therapy, along with a discussion of advances in several growing bodies of research to address these concerns. Main arguments include the direct medical offset costs of couple and family therapy (including for high utilizers of health insurance), and the fact that insurance companies already find it cost effective to reimburse for prevention of other health and psychological problems. This is followed by implications for practitioners and researchers.     

Ethno-Religious Identity and Urban Malays in Malaysia

This article explores the forging of ethnic identity by urban Malays in Malaysia around a dialectic between being Islamic and being Malay. I introduce Pierre Bourdieu's concept of habitus and Anthony Giddens's notion of reflexivity to argue that the Islamic subject in Malaysia engages in different types of interaction which demand varying degrees of reflexivity. While Bourdieu's concept of habitus importantly reveals the actor to be a cultural agent, it denies the individual the meaningful agency that the increasing reflexivity of modernity demands. I suggest that Bourdieu's assertion that the dispositions of habitus are less than conscious does not hold true in a highly reflexive modernity. In this context, the individual is sufficiently conscious of his/her identity to be able to construct it in ways that allow it to be employed as a political weapon.     

‘What Does Donor Mean to a Four‐Year‐Old?’: Initial Insights into Young Children's Perspectives in Solo Mother Families

This study reports on the questions, thoughts and feelings of children aged 4–9 conceived by donor insemination to single mothers. Fifty‐one mothers and 47 children from the same families were each administered a semi‐structured interview. Mothers generally reported that while children either lack understanding, or have not yet been told, about their donor conception, they may be thinking and talking about the absence of a father. Most children did not mention either donor conception or father absence and reported positive feelings about their families and friendships. Possible explanations for the discrepancy between mothers’ and children's reports are discussed.