Parenting and families in Australia

Using Wave 1 of the Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC) dataset, this paper examines parenting styles and family functioning; factors influencing parents\u27 feelings and perceptions about the way they parent their children; the roles and contributions of parents who do not live with their children; feelings of stress and sources of social support for parents; and the relationship of parenting practices to child outcomes

The Relevance of Evolutionary Science For Economic Theory and Policy

NSF’s “Dear Colleague Letter” reflects the widely perceived need to go beyond current economic theory in the formulation of public policy. At the same time, there is a profound lack of unity among the disciplines that comprise the behavioral, social, and economic sciences. This white paper emphasizes the relevance of evolutionary science as a way to integrate the SBE sciences, similar to the integration that is more advanced in the biological sciences. Modern evolutionary science is broadly construed to include cultural in addition to biological evolution and the study of neural and psychological mechanisms (proximate causation) in addition to the environmental factors that brought the mechanisms into existence and result in the expression of specific behaviors (ultimate causation). It provides an exceptionally useful set of theoretical and empirical tools for integrating the many disciplines in the biological and SBE sciences required to formulate economic theory and public policy for the 21st century. The task of integration is already in progress and can be applied to the formulation of public policy without a long academic time lag. We therefore call for integration across disciplines and evolutionary science as an integrative framework to be recognized as a funding priority by NSF.

Parent abuse: Can law be the answer?

© Cambridge University Press 2012This article reviews the different forms of legal interventions which may be available to address parent abuse. It seeks to examine the evidence as to which are actually used currently and the problems which are inherent in them. We do this both by examining the statutory basis of the existing potential legal remedies and reported cases relating to those provisions, and by drawing on evidence from a small-scale study of relevant professional workers in one city. We conclude that while recourse to the police, and hence potentially the criminal justice system, is most frequent in practice, the criminal justice system is not suited to tackling the issue. Other interventions, such as anti-social behaviour orders and injunctions, also reveal problems. Law struggles to find an effective response to such a complex problem. Notwithstanding the acknowledged limits of law in changing behaviour, we argue that law could be used more effectively to reduce the incidence and impact of parent abuse

Values and cultural issues in social work

This article examines issues of culture in English social work, with particular reference to current policy and practice in the treatment of Black and Minority Ethnic (BME), migrant and minority faith groups in England within the child protection and Youth Justice Systems. Several themes are explored: · cultural differences and the effects of policies and attitudes towards such differences · the types and scale of discrimination due to such differences · the role played by professional decision makers and · the overall impact lack of appreciation of cultural issues has on policies and practices. It moves on to consider our understanding of the role that ethnicity cultural factors and the theory of ‘Otherness’ play in the structures and outcomes of child protection and youth justice systems, and subsequent issues arising for professionals within their work roles. The article sets out how social workers have an ethical duty to understand these issues, and how to work positively with such difference in order to avoid unfair discrimination against such culturally different groupsPeer reviewedSubmitted Versio

Sex, Gender, Sexuality and the Law: social and legal issues facing individuals, couples and families

In the past decade, people whose bodies, genders or sexualities differ from socially expected norms have become more visible and have been granted greater recognition within the law. Yet despite this, many service providers do not have a strong understanding of the social and legal issues that continue to have a significant impact on these diverse groups of people and their relationships and families. In order to address this knowledge gap, this book brings together research findings from often disparate disciplines into an accessible and useful form for practitioners, as well as for researchers, academics, students, and the general public. Part one defines key terms, and addresses the psychosocial and legal issues faced by trans or gender diverse, intersex, and/or non-heterosexual individuals. Part two looks at the psychosocial and legal aspects of couple relationships. Part three considers parenting and families. Part four discusses practical tips for professionals working with this client group, including specific content for lawyers and mediators. As a whole, this book both questions the presumed neutrality of the law, yet insists that it is possible for the law to play a key role in challenging cisgenderism and heterosexism

Recruiting, retaining and engaging men in social interventions: lessons for implementation focusing on a prison based parenting intervention for young incarcerated fathers

Recruiting, retaining and engaging men in social interventions can be challenging. The focus of this paper is the successful implementation of a parenting programme for incarcerated fathers, delivered in a Young Offender Institution (YOI) in Scotland. Reasons for high levels of recruitment, retention and engagement are explored, with barriers identified. A qualitative design was employed using ethnographic approaches including participant observation of the programme, informal interactions, and formal interviews with programme participants, the facilitators and others involved in managing the programme. Framework analysis was conducted on the integrated data set. The prison as the setting for programme delivery was both an opportunity and a challenge. It enabled easy access to participants and required low levels of effort on their part to attend. The creation of a nurturing and safe environment within the prison classroom facilitated engagement: relationships between the facilitators and participants, and between the participants themselves were key to understanding high levels of retention and engagement. The most fundamental challenge to high engagement levels arose from clashes in embedded institutional ways of working, between the host institution and the organisation experienced in delivering such intervention work. This threatened to compromise trust between the participants and the facilitators. Whilst adding specifically to the very sparse literature on reaching incarcerated young fathers and engaging them in parenting work, the findings have transferability to other under-researched areas: the implementation of social interventions generally in the prison setting, and engaging marginalised fathers in parenting/family work in community settings. The paper highlights ways of overcoming some of the challenges faced