Connecting and Strengthening Young Aboriginal Men: A Family Wellbeing Pilot Study

A significant proportion of young people in Australia are currently not being engaged in school and other social systems. This article presents the results of a mixed-methods study of a pilot Family Wellbeing intervention designed to enhance the social and emotional wellbeing (SEWB) of young Aboriginal men and improve engagement in education, employment, and other social participation. A questionnaire incorporating the Kessler Psychological Distress Scale and respondent self-assessment SEWB questions was administered to program participants pre and post intervention (N = 30) and qualitative data were collected from program organisers (N = 6). The results suggest that the Family Wellbeing intervention has the capacity to make a marked contribution to the SEWB of young Aboriginal men; participants experienced strong improvement in capacity to manage relationships, engagement in education and employment, and mental and physical health. The factors that enabled the program to be adapted to the target group and setting are documented.     

Interactive Hazards Education Program for Youth in a Low SES Community: A Quasi‐Experimental Pilot Study

A pilot study of an interactive hazards education program was carried out in Canberra (Australia), with direct input from youth participants. Effects were evaluated in relation to youths’ interest in disasters, motivation to prepare, risk awareness, knowledge indicators, perceived preparedness levels, planning and practice for emergencies, and fear and anxiety indicators. Parents also provided ratings, including of actual home‐based preparedness activities. Using a single group pretest‐posttest with benchmarking design, a sample of 20 youths and their parents from a low SES community participated. Findings indicated beneficial changes on a number of indicators. Preparedness indicators increased significantly from pre‐ to posttest on both youth (p < 0.01) and parent ratings (p < 0.01). Parent ratings reflected an increase of just under six home‐based preparedness activities. Youth knowledge about disaster mitigation also was seen to increase significantly (p < 0.001), increasing 39% from pretest levels. While personalized risk perceptions significantly increased (p < 0.01), anxiety and worry levels were seen either not to change (generalized anxiety, p > 0.05) or to reduce between pre‐ and posttest (hazards‐specific fears, worry, and distress, ps ranged from p < 0.05 to < 0.001). In terms of predictors of preparedness, a number of variables were found to predict posttest preparedness levels, including information searching done by participants between education sessions. These pilot findings are the first to reflect quasi‐experimental outcomes for a youth hazards education program carried out in a setting other than a school that focused on a sample of youth from a low SES community.     

A figurational approach to understanding school climate and peer harassment: Possibilities from Norbert Elias’s work

Although psychological approaches have been the mainstay of scholarly research on school climate, offering state-of-the-art measurements and methodologies, sociological perspectives remain essential perspectives because violence is essentially a social phenomenon. This paper offers a theoretical consideration of contributions to this field, focusing specifically on those that provide a critical historical lens. I suggest that while Foucault's approach to the disciplining of docile bodies and self-restraint offers crucial conceptual tools, Norbert Elias's work—which is scarce in scholarly research on school climate—provides a complementary but necessary framework for understanding emotional and relational aspects of peer harassment.     

Joining up the solutions: the rhetoric and practice of inter‐agency cooperation

A three‐year project placed home‐school support workers in secondary schools. The intention was that they should work closely at operational level with other agencies to provide a cohesive local authority response to the needs of disaffected and excluded youngsters. Crucial distinctions emerged between project constraints, possibilities and benefits for agency personnel in the school‐focused agencies and those external to the school. In relation to the external agencies, support workers fulfilled predominantly an information gathering and sharing role whereby they joined up the solutions of disparate agencies, whereas very effective forms of cooperation developed with the school‐focused agencies. Copyright © 2001 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Gender differences in predictors of late-life health insurance knowledge

For many older adults having access to affordable health care is a major concern. The present study's goal was to examine what factors were related to individuals' knowledge of late-life health insurance. A total of 131 women and 116 men (all aged 55-71) answered questions about private, Medicare, Medigap, and long-term care insurances. In addition, they answered demographic, personality, and health status questions. Results revealed that different factors are related to men's and women's knowledge of late-life health insurance options implying genderspecific educational interventions would be more effective than current educational interventions.     

Can Private Donations Help Public Universities Build Bridges Over Troubled Waters?: Practical Lessons for Administrators and Donors

With decreasing appropriations, some public organizations seek donations, often from large donors who may want to generate a return on investment by transforming the institution. As such, an interesting question emerges about institutions’ ability to meet donors’ expectations. Long fundraising histories, combined with a political and decentralized nature, make state universities an interesting venue to study the use of donations to create institutional change. Based on two single-state case studies, this research argues that real and perceived organizational barriers must be overcome. It concludes with implications for both administrator and donors.