Hearing the Voices of Lesbian Women Having Children

Whether single, or in the context of a lesbian relationship, lesbian women are choosing to become mothers, often through adoption. The path of lesbian women choosing motherhood is fraught with challenges and often disappointments (Martin, 1993, Oswald, 2002, Perrin, 2002, Stacey, 1996). In the United States, women are still very much socialized to want to be mothers and the desire to be a mother is not contradicted by sexual orientation (DiLapi, 1989; Dalton & Bielby, 2000). However, lesbian women receive messages that they should not want to be mothers and that they cannot be adequate mothers (DiLapi. 1989; Pies, 1990). Women who self identify as lesbian must negotiate the norms and expectations of a heterocentric and homophobic culture. Thus, for lesbian women, choosing motherhood requires careful consideration and much planning (Dunne, 2000). Thus, one can assume that for lesbian women, the decision making journey, wherever it leads, is challenging and unique. Hearing the voices of lesbian women, as they make the decision to have, or not have, a child is the focus of this work

Using Balanced Learning Course Design to Reduce Resistance to Diversity Curricula

Diversity content is often met with covert and overt resistance in the classroom. Utilisation of a balanced learning model may address classroom resistance. Balanced learning models require ‘backwards’ course planning, equal attention to course content and class process, and a strategic use of cyclical course design to include introduction of new materiel, experience, followed by personal reflection. Using a balanced learning model moves classroom instruction beyond active learning strategies in the classroom, but can present unique challenges for instructors. While not without challenges, utilising a balanced learning model proves useful during course design and delivery of a graduate course on diversity. The article describes balanced learning models emergence, define the benefits of such models, and ultimately demonstrate how using a balance learning model is a useful course design tool to reduce resistance to diversity content in the classroom

Tracking the Development of Muscular Myoglobin Stores in Mysticete Calves

For marine mammals, the ability to tolerate apnea and make extended dives is a defining adaptive trait, facilitating the exploitation of marine food resources. Elevated levels of myoglobin within the muscles are a consistent hallmark of this trait, allowing oxygen collected at the surface to be stored in the muscles and subsequently used to support extended dives. In mysticetes, the largest of marine predators, details on muscular myoglobin levels are limited. The developmental trajectory of muscular myoglobin stores has yet to be documented and any physiological links between early behavior and the development of muscular myoglobin stores remain unknown. In this study, we used muscle tissue samples from stranded mysticetes to investigate these issues. Samples from three different age cohorts and three species of mysticetes were included (total sample size = 18). Results indicate that in mysticete calves, muscle myoglobin stores comprise only a small percentage (17–23%) of conspecific adult myoglobin complements. Development of elevated myoglobin levels is protracted over the course of extended maturation in mysticetes. Additionally, comparisons of myoglobin levels between and within muscles, along with details of interspecific differences in rates of accumulation of myoglobin in very young mysticetes, suggest that levels of exercise may influence the rate of development of myoglobin stores in young mysticetes. This new information infers a close interplay between the physiology, ontogeny and early life history of young mysticetes and provides new insight into the pressures that may shape adaptive strategies in migratory mysticetes. Furthermore, the study highlights the vulnerability of specific age cohorts to impending changes in the availability of foraging habitat and marine resources

Better Together: Expanding Rural Partnerships to Support Families

Chronic shortages of health, social service, and mental health professionals in rural areas necessitate creative partnerships in support of families. Cooperative extension professionals in Family and Consumer Sciences and community health nurses are introduced as trusted professionals in rural communities who can bring critical skills to human services teams. Multidisciplinary prevention programs offer particularly good contexts for county extension educators and community health nurses to work in collaboration with social workers. The case of grandparents raising grandchildren illustrates the critical roles that can be filled by professionals in these two fields to extend the reach of family support programs

Testing the “Learning Journey” of MSW Students in a Rural Program

Using a quasi-experimental one-group, pretest–posttest design with non-random convenience sampling, the researchers assessed 61 advanced standing MSW students who matriculated at a rural intermountain Northwest school of social work. Changes in students\u27 knowledge and attitudes toward lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) people were measured using subscales of the LGB-KASH scale and include knowledge of LGB history, religious conflict, internalized affirmation of LGB people and issues, hatred and violence toward LGB people, and knowledge and attitudes toward extension and exclusion of civil rights for LGB people. Completion of required, highly experiential bridge course content regarding LGB history and experience appears to be significant in reducing religious conflict, increasing knowledge of LGB issues, and enhancing internalized affirmation of LGB individuals

Working with Lesbian-Headed Families: What Social Workers Need to Know

More gay men and lesbian women are choosing parenthood. One common challenge facing lesbian-headed families is how to navigate interactions with societies that are largely homophobic, heterocentric, or unaware of how to embrace non-traditional families. Systems may struggle to adjust services to meet the needs of modern family structures, including families led by lesbian women. The following are three areas of intervention (knowledge, creating affirmative space, and ways to incorporate inclusive language), informed by current literature, that allow social workers to create successful working relationships with members of lesbian-headed families

Lesbians’ Perceived Readiness to Parent

Women who self-identify as lesbian are choosing to be mothers; such pursuit is full of challenges. Still many lesbian women are making deliberate choices to pursue motherhood. Thus, they are negotiating that choice within a culture which is both heterocentric and homophobic. This article explores the ways women are prioritizing factors influencing their decision to pursue motherhood utilizing phenomenological methods. Findings suggest lesbian women feel perceived parenting readiness is the paramount indicator of parenting readiness. Further, readiness is characterized by emotional and financial readiness, relationship stability, and having adequate sources of support