The Forgiveness Classroom: Bringing Together Students from Both Sides of the Walls through Deep Listening

This essay describes a forgiveness course taught in prisons and on college campuses. The course served as a bridge for Endicott College students and inmates from the Maine Correctional Center at Windham, highlighting how deep listening may reduce violence and promote understanding

Description and evaluation of the Tennessee Extension Management Information System

This study was concerned with determining the present situation in Tennessee regarding the Tennessee Extension Management System used for reporting. Specifically the study dealt with the Weekly Activity Report which is one aspect of the total system. Data were collected from 28 selected Tennessee county Extension leaders located across the state. Interviews with the leaders were conducted using an interview schedule prepared specifically for the study. All interviews were tape recorded and transcribed into typewritten form. For the purpose of analysis, leaders\u27 responses to interview questions were coded and grouped according to pertinent aspects of weekly activity reports. The information was key punched, computerized and a computer printout retrieved. The printout showed the frequency and percentage of each response. The data were then organized into tables. Tables were classified into four basic overall areas concerning weekly activity reports. This was done in order to describe and analyze the reporting approaches and procedures used by Extension leaders. Numbers and percents were used to show responses of the leaders. Major findings of the study are briefly stated as follows: 1. The majority of Extension leaders were keeping some type of record of their daily activities. The large majority of the leaders -transferred this information to their Weekly Activity Report Form once a week, spending an hour or less on the task. 2. The majority of Extension leaders felt that the weekly activity report data were most useful for purposes of evaluating and less useful for planning and reporting. A majority of the leaders also felt that the data could show what they did, but not the effectiveness of the programs conducted. 3. The majority of Extension leaders recommended no significant changes in the report form. They felt that the numbers recorded in Field N, Number in the Audience, and Field 0, Time Expended, were not accurate. 4. The majority of the Extension leaders felt that the fields on the report form that were most difficult and least accurate were Subject Codes, Field L, and Purpose Codes, Field I. Implications and recommendations were also include

The stoichiometry of P2X2/6 receptor heteromers depends on relative subunit expression levels

Fast synaptic transmission involves the operation of ionotropic receptors, which are often composed of at least two types of subunit. We have developed a method, based on atomic force microscopy imaging to determine the stoichiometry and subunit arrangement within ionotropic receptors. We showed recently that the P2X(2) receptor for ATP is expressed as a trimer but that the P2X(6) subunit is unable to oligomerize. In this study we addressed the subunit stoichiometry of heteromers containing both P2X(2) and P2X(6) subunits. We transfected tsA 201 cells with both P2X(2) and P2X(6) subunits, bearing different epitope tags. We manipulated the transfection conditions so that either P2X(2) or P2X(6) was the predominant subunit expressed. By atomic force microscopy imaging of isolated receptors decorated with antiepitope antibodies, we demonstrate that when expression of the P2X(2) subunit predominates, the receptors contain primarily 2 x P2X(2) subunits and 1 x P2X(6) subunit. In contrast, when the P2X(6) subunit predominates, the subunit stoichiometry of the receptors is reversed. Our results show that the composition of P2X receptor heteromers is plastic and dependent on the relative subunit expression levels. We suggest that this property of receptor assembly might introduce an additional layer of subtlety into P2X receptor signaling

A grounded theory exploration into the experiences of recovering alcoholic counsellors working with alcoholic clients

Many counsellors have shared trauma experience with their clients. However, there seemed to be mixed views on how this shared experience might impact on the client and therapist. Some researchers propose that shared experience offers symbiotic healing for the client and therapist, whilst other authors propose the shared wounds are detrimental to therapy process. Despite these conflicts little seems to be known about how the counsellor experiences and views the shared relationship with the client (Doukas & Cullen, 2011; Rowan & Jacobs, 2003; Wosket, 1999). This qualitative grounded theory study investigated the views and experiences of 10 Recovering Alcoholic Counsellors (RAC) who work with alcoholic clients. The findings of the current study suggested that therapy with the alcoholic client related to the therapist managing their own recovery from alcoholism, which involved processes of building a self-identity, identifying with the client and fearing relapse. The alcoholic identity was maintained and actively used in the therapy work with the client, despite the RAC claiming long term recovery. Identifying with the client appeared to activate shame and increase a fear of relapse for the RAC. These processes appeared to affect a potential dependency on the client work. These factors were reflected to be influenced by AA philosophies, which also affected a bias towards certain therapy interventions. Potential over-identification appeared evident in protective empathic enmeshment and hostile countertransference reactions. This included a possible and concerning coercive interpretation of affording tough-love to clients, potentially causing abuse to the alcoholic client. Positive reflexive practice, self-awareness and compassionate practice were also evident. Feeling deep empathy in the shared experience was suggestive of empathic enmeshment and possible symbiotic healing processes taking place. Other benefits and issues of the shared experience are explored and discussed further. Recommendations are suggested to increase safe therapy practice for counsellors working with alcoholic clients and future research direction has been proposed

Educational attendance and offending outcomes.

This is the last in a series of seven research reports on the effectiveness of Compulsory Supervision Orders where the child remains at home with their parent(s) (home CSOs). In the Children’s Hearings System, the most common legal measure made for 12 to 16 years olds is to be ‘looked after’ at home on a CSO. In 2020, home CSOs accounted for 46% of all the 8,875 CSOs in place, meaning that 4,071 children in Scotland were looked after at home. The most common reasons for these home CSOs to be made are that the child is not going to school or is committing offences. This research looked at the effectiveness of home CSOs in improving school attendance and in reducing the volume and gravity of offending. The sample comprised of 172 children from across Scotland. Data on school attendance, numbers of offences and gravity of offences were collected at three time points – pre-home CSO and one and two years after it was made - and analysed using inferential statistics. There was a significant increase in school attendance from a mean of 45% attendance before the home CSO to 57% after a year. There were no significant changes in the volume and gravity of children’s offending after their home CSOs were made. The circumstances of these children are more complex than them simply not going to school or committing offences. There were concerns for these children across all aspects of their wellbeing, some of which were about the children’s own behaviour but most related to how they were cared for and treated by others. For the children in this study, their home CSOs were made when their truancy or offending were already entrenched. That their home CSOs resulted in significant improvements in school attendance indicates that this intervention can be successful. It is more difficult to determine the efficacy of home CSOs in addressing children’s offending

Relative strangers: sibling estrangements experienced by children in out-of-home care and moving towards permanence.

Loss of sibling relationships is a common experience across international jurisdictions for children entering public care. This is the case despite statutory guidance that emphasizes the need to place siblings together when in their best interests, and increasingly robust evidence of the protective nature of sibling relationships when children face adversity. Research on the experiences and outcomes of siblings in care has thus far focused predominantly on placement and contact patterns, particularly of siblings in care concurrently. This study extends this research by comprehensively mapping sibling networks both within and outside the care system and measuring sibling estrangement (living apart and lack of contact) over time. Drawing on administrative and case file data within the Children's Hearings System in Scotland, the circumstances of 204 children and young people from 50 sibling networks were examined longitudinally. The study found very high rates of sibling estrangement with seven in 10 relationships between a child in out-of-home care and a sibling classified as estranged and half of all siblings classified as strangers (siblings having never lived together and no record of any communication or meetings between the child and sibling). Moreover, sibling estrangement increased significantly as children moved through the care system. We argue that continued effort is needed to improve the accuracy with which aspects of sibling relationships of children in care are recorded and measured in order to assess the longer-term impact of state interventions on children's lives and the capacity of child welfare agencies to meet policy goals

Seeking Asylum—Holding Patterns: The 2020 Ballina Region for Refugees Poetry Prize

Poetry provides valuable and insightful ways to explore and record social and political experiences and engagements. The plight of refugees and people seeking asylum in Australia is well known. Community groups such as the Ballina Region for Refugees provide support to refugees and asylum seekers both in Australia and offshore. To help raise awareness and validate the experience of refugees and asylum seekers, the Ballina Region for Refugees runs an annual Poetry Prize. The 2020 Ballina Region for Refugees Poetry Prize theme was Seeking Asylum—Holding Patterns. This article presents the winning and highly commended poems, along with poems by refugee and asylum seeker poets. Poems from both insider witnesses – refugees and asylum seekers – and outsider witnesses – poets who seek to express an empathy with the plight of refugees and asylum seekers – have contributed to this collection. From haunting statements of human dissolution that should strike fear into anyone’s heart, through glimpses of hope, the poems explore the trails of asylum seeking and the dysfunctionality of the aftermath.

Sibling birth order, use of statutory measures and patterns of placement for children in public care: implications for international child protection systems and research.

Public care of abused and neglected children is one important element of statutory intervention which aims to address the major global challenge of protecting children from abuse and neglect. Where a child is part of a sibling group, this introduces particular challenges with regard to meeting the needs of all those affected. This paper presents findings from one of the first studies examining birth order effects on statutory intervention patterns for looked-after siblings. The experiences and outcomes of children were compared depending on maternal birth order at the time of data collection. We found strong evidence that the length of time from first referral of a child deemed at risk to first statutory intervention is greater for first-born than for last-born children and firstborn children are significantly older than last-born children when they are first placed on statutory measures. The study concludes that first-born siblings may be particularly vulnerable to delayed statutory intervention and the cumulative effects of harm and certain routes to permanence may be less available to them. We argue for increased focus within international child welfare policy and practice on timely and intensive assessment of first-born children, where risk of maltreatment is identified, in order to address potential inequalities of access to protection. A focus on risk introduced by systemic factors within legal and welfare systems in addition to risk introduced by perpetrators of abuse is needed. We also argue for greater research attention to, and more precise measurement of, birth order as a variable in studies of the looked-after population

An exploration of ethnic minority communities' understanding and awareness of child protection and the Children's Hearings system in Scotland.

Protection of children at risk of abuse and promotion of their rights continues to be at the forefront of policy and legislative developments in Scotland. Organisations such as the Scottish Children’s Reporter Administration (SCRA) have both legal and ethical duties to protect the well-being and rights of children in Scotland, particularly the most vulnerable. The increasing ethnic diversity among Scotland’s children raises the question of how effectively SCRA and its partner organisations can identify risks and effectively intervene to protect children of all ethnic backgrounds. However, there has been little research in Scotland on ethnic minorities and their involvement in child protection services. This research aimed to explore with agencies and third sector bodies working with ethnic minority groups in Scotland: a) their service users’ understanding of child protection and children’s rights; and b) what SCRA and its partner agencies could do to make the Children’s Hearings System more responsive and accessible to families from Scotland’s ethnic minorities and raise awareness of child protection and the role of the Hearings System within these communities. The research comprised of: 1) A review of the published literature on barriers to engaging ethnic minority communities in child protection. 2) An electronic survey of 182 professionals working universal services on their views of what factors might affect ethnic minority children and families accessing child protection services. 3) Interviews and focus groups with 31 individuals from ten organisations working directly with children and families from Scotland’s ethnic minorities. Findings: The barriers to services engaging with ethnic minority families in Scotland were found to be: a) Language and communication barriers, and linked to this concerns about confidentiality and poor quality of translation. b) Fear and distrust of services, and likelihood that services may underestimate the extent that ethnic minority community members fear them. c) Lack of knowledge of services and child protection, and that this may have wider implications for minority communities’ integration and participation in Scottish society. d) Culture-specific parenting in terms of lack of understanding of abuse and neglect, and differences in concepts of good parenting and protecting their child. e) That child welfare is the concern of the family rather than the state, and lack of understanding of children’s (and adults) rights. f) The perception that services are racist or culturally insensitive was the barrier rated lowest, although it was acknowledged to exist. The more significant barrier to services intervening to protect a child were difficulties in finding out when a child was at risk due to the insular nature of some communities. Marginalised communities – many of the barriers above faced by ethnic minority families are very similar to those experienced by marginalised white Scottish families. It may be that poverty and social exclusion are more important barriers rather than ethnic background, and that SCRA and its partner organisations should focus their activity on engagement with marginalised communities from across Scottish society and not solely on ethnic minorities. Recommendations: Improve cultural awareness: 1) All Children’s Hearings Improvement Partnership (CHIP) member organisations – to raise awareness amongst their staff on the extent that families from marginalised communities fear involvement with services, and how this may impact on their engagement with them. Raising awareness of child protection and the Hearings System: a) CHIP to produce information materials for children young people and parents who have none or very little knowledge of the Hearings System and law related to child protection and children’s rights in Scotland. These materials to be circulated via libraries, schools, colleges, nurseries, religious organisations, third sector organisations, hospitals, etc.; and to be in different languages, in formats suitable for those with limited literacy, and age appropriate. To do this will require dedicated resources

Attempts to develop a simple, objective test for oestrus in sows

To evaluate the accuracy of various techniques for determining the sexual state of sows, four multiparous Landrace sows were housed in stalls 2-5 weeks after weaning. Catheters were inserted under anaesthetic into a prominent ear vein on each sow. Four days later blood and urine sampling commenced, along with other measurements to assess the oestrous state of the animals. Oestrus was detected in all four sows and so were corresponding oestradiol·17β peaks (22-49 pg/ml) in serum of the three sows from which blood was successfully sampled during the complete 25·day collection period. Serum progesterone concentrations were highest between days — 5 and — 12 (day 0 = 1st day of standing heat) (peak values of 33·1-58·2 ng/ml), with values of 3·55 ng/ml or less on day 0. Urinary oestrogen was less well correlated with oestrous state than were serum hormone concentrations, but progesterone derivatives in urine corresponded well to serum progesterone with peaks between days —5 and —9. Vulval redness, vulval size, social interest and the occurrence of flehmen were markedly greater during the oestrous period than at other times in the cycle. Body temperature, vaginal pH, the presence of vaginal mucus and behavioural manifestations of oestrus (with the exception of back pressure test) were less well correlated with sexual state. A combination of vulval colour and size, back pressure test, a more detailed study of behaviour and possibly with urinary progesterone derivatives, should give the best indication of the incidence of oestrus in sow