Deviant (M)others: The construction of teenage motherhood in contemporary discourse

Paradoxically, the focus on teen motherhood as an object of concern in the West has coincided with declining rates of teen birth. This suggests that the view of teenage motherhood as problematic is underpinned by changing social and political imperatives regarding the role of, women in these countries. This article examines the literature surrounding teenage motherhood from the United States, United Kingdom and New Zealand, and explores the way in which normative perceptions of motherhood have shifted over the past few decades to position teenage mothers as stigmatised and marginalised. Two specific discourses - those of welfare dependency and social exclusion - are highlighted, and their mediation through scientific discourses examined. The increasing trend to evidence-based policy development has masked the ideological basis of much policy in this area and highlights the importance of critical valuation of the discourses surrounding teenage motherhood. A critical examination of the literature suggests that teenage mothers are vilified, not because the evidence of poor outcomes for teen mothers and their children is particularly compelling, but because these young women resist the typical life trajectory of their middle-class peers which conforms to the current governmental objectives of economic growth through higher education and increased female workforce participation

Taking the private into the public

A thesis submitted to the University of Bedfordshire, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Professional Doctorate in Systemic PracticeThis document is an invite to join me on a journey that follows the path of bereaved children, adolescents and their families who attended seven bereavement groups within a mental health setting. This thesis sets out to illustrate how families hold and maintain grief within the family system and how effective a bereavement group is as a form of therapeutic intervention. The bereavement group is a platform where families bring their private stories into a public domain and talk about the concerns that they have seen in their families since the bereavement. As an insider/outsider researcher I am of the opinion that by talking, listening and sharing their stories with other families with similar experiences within the groups, families can begin to think about what could be done differently if they want something to change within their family system. By sharing, families learn how to go with their grief without their loved ones and begin to create new narratives about the next part of their journey. The group can provide an opportunity for families to hear the ‘Untold’ stories and begin to create new narratives within their family system. The bereavement group also acts as a lens that allows me to look into my practice as a family therapist within a social constructionist framework and make new meaning of the stories that families bring within the bereavement groups. A tapestry is created from the complex diverse stories of grief that are interwoven with each family that attends the bereavement group. Each family brings their own pattern of bereavement and creates new patterns as their experience is shared with other families. Data is taken from the conversations at the assessment, treatment and follow up stages to highlight what difficulties the families have when there is bereavement. This is to ascertain what factors may be contributing to holding and maintaining the grief in the family and whether a bereavement group is effective in bringing the issues out for all family members to discuss. Different methods are used to deconstruct the different themes and unpick the ‘Told’ stories. At the end of this journey my hope is that there is more awareness about the effect of bereavement and how it shows itself in children’s mental health and how the family system can be affected

Late-Adolescents’ Perceptions of the Affects of Alcohol Use on Level of Functioning

Late adolescence is a developmental transition period in which social/cultural factors, interpersonal factors and psycho-behavioral factors may lead to the establishment and continuity of problematic alcohol use behavior from late adolescence to early adulthood. The longitudinal research suggests that problematic alcohol use during late adolescence has a negative impact on an adolescent’s level of functioning and potentially later functioning in adulthood. However, the research is limited, in part due to a limited understanding of how an adolescent’s alcohol use affects their level of functioning. The purpose of this study was to improve our understanding of the affect of alcohol use on late adolescent functioning across a range of behavioral domains. Ten adolescents completed an hour long individual interview. The interview asked participants to describe how alcohol affects level of functioning Interviews were recorded, transcribed and analyzed for emergent themes. Results and their implications for measure development will be discussed

Civil Procedure - Rule 11 Sanctions Revisited: Townsend v. Holman Consulting Corporation

This article examines the Townsend decision and its interpretation and application of Rule 11 sanctions. It further examines the development of Rule 11 sanctions in light of the liberal pleading standards introduced with the advent of the Federal Rules in 1938. Finally, the article reviews the criticisms and comments leveled at Rule 11, and speculates on its future and its impact on federal court litigation

Abraham Fraunce. The Shepherds’ Logic and Other Dialectical Writings. Ed. Zenón Luis-Martínez

Book revie

Heart Rate Variability Biofeedback Training as an Intervention for Chronic Pain

Millions of Americans suffer from chronic pain. Treatment costs are in the billions and some patients still do not find relief. Current effectiveness research shows positive results for biofeedback training as an intervention for headache and other types of chronic pain. The present retrospective, archival study used patient information (N=72) collected during a heart rate variability biofeedback training program to assess treatment effectiveness among patients who experience chronic pain. More specifically, the study was designed to examine six research questions focused on patient-reported levels of pain and distress, as well as catastrophizing, depression, anxiety, and somatization. It was hypothesized that after three sessions of biofeedback, the patient scores on these six variables would decrease. A significant reduction in self-reported pain and distress was found immediately after the biofeedback session, however, pain and distress scores generally returned to the pre-session baseline by the beginning of the next biofeedback session and the reductions in pain and distress were not maintained between sessions revealing a “sawtooth” pattern. On average, patients reported a decrease of more than one point on a numeric (0 to 10) rating scale when rating their pain after the biofeedback training intervention (1.21 for Session 1; 1.63 Session 2; and 1.50 for Session 3). There was a slightly greater reduction in distress ratings than pain ratings after each session of biofeedback (i.e., distress ratings decreased an average of 1.75 after Session 1, 1.67 after Session 2, and 1.74 after Session 3). Of the four symptom measures (catastrophizing, depression, anxiety, and somatization), a statistically significant reduction was found only in the case of catastrophizing scores. When comparing Session 1 and Session 3 catastrophizing, the scores decreased 3.14 points on average (SD = 7.63), t(69) = 3.45, p = .001. Catastrophizing influences one’s beliefs about his or her ability to cope with pain and how much it interferes with his or her life. This finding strengthens the existing research literature that highlights the importance of targeting physical and psychological symptoms when developing a comprehensive pain management plan

The mutagenesis enhancing activity of tumour promoting agents in cultured Chinese hamster cells.

SIGLEAvailable from British Library Document Supply Centre- DSC:D66287/86 / BLDSC - British Library Document Supply CentreGBUnited Kingdo

Civil Procedure - Rule 11 Sanctions Revisited: Townsend v. Holman Consulting Corporation

This article examines the Townsend decision and its interpretation and application of Rule 11 sanctions. It further examines the development of Rule 11 sanctions in light of the liberal pleading standards introduced with the advent of the Federal Rules in 1938. Finally, the article reviews the criticisms and comments leveled at Rule 11, and speculates on its future and its impact on federal court litigation

Book Review: African American Families by Angela J. Hattery & Earl Smith

The reading of the African American Families by Hattery and Smith is a host of actual events, occasions and mandated causes, delivered in the recording style of the African American Families book outline and chapter repeated referrals. Hartley and Smith (2007) in chapter one (1) produce the questions of social class as described by the “. . . field of sociology has had a traditional focus on the problems that face humanity: poverty, inequality, access to health care, education, and poor housing, and of course the social institution of the family” (p.4). From the Slave cabins in a west cost state to the front door of the United States family members have participated in the growing development of the country and participated in controlled and self induced sociological traditions. African Americans have actively planted and harvested food for the survival of their owners to participating in the printing of money for the elite

The primacy of client privilege: designing a statutory tax advice privilege for accredited non lawyer tax advisors

There are several types of professional groups that provide tax advice in Australia: lawyers, accountants, and financial advisors, many of whom are registered tax agents. In many cases, the type of advice provided is the same; however, currently whilst lawyers can extend to their clients a blanket legal professional privilege (“LPP”) over confidential tax advice, clients of non-lawyer tax advisors (“NLTAs”) are presently only granted an administrative concession by the Australian Taxation Office (“ATO”) and then only over a limited range of documents. This article argues in favour of the enactment of a separate statutory tax advice privilege in Australia for accredited NLTAs and suggests a framework for determining which taxation professionals should be able to offer a tax advice privilege to their clients