Equality in Health: An Annotated Bibliography With Resources on Health Disparities and Cultural and Linguistic Competency

Provides citations for articles, reports, books, and online resources on racial/ethnic disparities in health and health care, strategies to reduce them, assessment tools for cultural and linguistic competency, training and education, and other issues

Computational Sociolinguistics: A Survey

Language is a social phenomenon and variation is inherent to its social nature. Recently, there has been a surge of interest within the computational linguistics (CL) community in the social dimension of language. In this article we present a survey of the emerging field of "Computational Sociolinguistics" that reflects this increased interest. We aim to provide a comprehensive overview of CL research on sociolinguistic themes, featuring topics such as the relation between language and social identity, language use in social interaction and multilingual communication. Moreover, we demonstrate the potential for synergy between the research communities involved, by showing how the large-scale data-driven methods that are widely used in CL can complement existing sociolinguistic studies, and how sociolinguistics can inform and challenge the methods and assumptions employed in CL studies. We hope to convey the possible benefits of a closer collaboration between the two communities and conclude with a discussion of open challenges.Comment: To appear in Computational Linguistics. Accepted for publication: 18th February, 201

Family at the Center

To better understand how family engagement supports school readiness in Los Angeles County, The David and Lucile Packard Foundation and the LA Partnership for Early Childhood Investment convened an advisory group of early childhood leaders and stakeholders to provide advice and explore opportunities to strengthen parent engagement. This report summarizes key insights and recommendations that emerged through these discussions and additional research about parent engagement programs and practices

The national plan to reduce violence against women and their children 2010 – 2022

Released in 2011, this 12-year national plan was an COAG initiative supported by Commonwealth, state and territory governments working with the community and includeds the first three-year action plan. Over 12 years the National Plan aims to achieve: A significant and sustained reduction in violence against women and their children. The National Plan focuses on the two main types of violent crimes that have a major impact on women in Australia–domestic and family violence and sexual assault. Research shows there is a strong link between violence against women and their children and how people view the roles of women and men. The National Plan focuses on stopping violence before it happens in the first place, supporting women who have experienced violence, stopping men from committing violence, and building the evidence base so that we learn more about ‘what works’ in reducing domestic and family violence and sexual assault. These changes take time, which is why we need a long-term plan. Each of the four Action Plans build on each other over 12 years, and are designed so that we can look back at what has been achieved and refocus on what actions will make the most difference in the future

Not hearing us: An exploration of the experience of deaf prisoners in English and Welsh prisons

This research explores the experiences of profoundly deaf prisoners in England and Wales. It analyses current provisions for deaf prisoners and uses interviews and case studies to investigate the manner in which provision is delivered in order to make a set of recommendations for improving the treatment of deaf people in prison

National mental health policy 2008

The vision of the National Mental Health Policy 2008 is for a mental health system that: enables recovery prevents and detects mental illness early ensures that all Australians with a mental illness can access effective and appropriate treatment and community support to enable them to participate fully in the community. The National Mental Health Policy 2008 provides a strategic vision for further whole-of-government mental health reform in Australia.The aims of the National Mental Health Policy 2008 are to: promote the mental health and well-being of the Australian community  and, where possible, prevent the development of mental health problems  and mental illness reduce the impact of mental health problems and mental illness, including  the effects of stigma on individuals, families and the community promote recovery from mental health problems and mental illness assure the rights of people with mental health problems and mental illness, and enable them to participate meaningfully in society

Asylum seekers and refugees in Indonesia: Problems and potentials

Asylum seekers and refugees in Indonesia increasingly experience protracted waiting times for permanent settlement in other countries. They have few, if any, legal rights, coupled with extremely limited financial resources and no access to government provided services. In response to the prospect of living for many years in this difficult and liminal space, a small community of refugees in the West Java town of Cisarua has built relationships, skills and confidence among themselves and with host Indonesians to respond to identified needs. This paper outlines the main political and policy frameworks affecting the lives of refugees in Indonesia and then draws on research interviews and participant observation to illustrate the resilience and agency utilised by the community to mitigate uncertain futures. The major focus is on education for asylum seeker/refugee children.  

Changing the way we think about change: shifting boundaries changing lives

The 2012 Australian and New Zealand Critical Criminology Conference was held in Hobart over two days from 12 - 13 July.   This conference was organised around the theme of ‘Changing the Way We Think about Change – Shifting Boundaries, Changing Lives’. There were five general plenaries, including speakers from Australia, Canada, the United Kingdom, France and the United States, and the conference featured early career as well as experienced researchers. The plenaries included sessions on gender and imprisonment; the pursuit of truth and justice; Indigenous legal needs and justice reinvestment; policing and vulnerability; and migration and global security issues. This publication provides a sample of some of the presentations delivered at the 2012 Critical Criminology Conference

The Language of Mental Illness

This paper surveys some philosophical issues with the language surrounding mental illness, but is especially focused on pejoratives relating to mental illness. I argue that though 'crazy' and similar mental illness-based epithets (MI-epithets) are not best understood as slurs, they do function to isolate, exclude, and marginalize members of the targeted group in ways similar to the harmfulness of slurs more generally. While they do not generally express the hate/contempt characteristic of weaponized uses of slurs, MI-epithets perpetuate epistemic injustice by portraying sufferers of mental illness as deserving minimal credibility. After outlining the ways in which these epithets can cause harm, I examine available legal and social remedies, and suggest that the best path going forward is to pursue a reclamation project rather than aiming to censure the use of MI-epithets