Socio-Cultural Risk? Reporting on a Qualitative Study with Female Street-Based Sex Workers

Risk narratives are of increasing importance in contemporary social life in that they help in understanding and anticipating the shifts that characterise our late modern landscape. Our qualitative research explores risk as it relates to violence toward street-based sex workers in a suburban Australian setting. Female street-based sex workers represent a highly stigmatised and marginalised group. International studies report that they experience high levels of sexual violence perpetrated by male clients and our empirical work with street-based sex workers in Adelaide, South Australia concurs with this finding. Despite many creative and specialized skills workers reported drawing upon to minimise the risk of violence to themselves, we argue that a socio-cultural lens is vital to viewing risk in this context. We argue that in order to effect change, risk must be disembedded from increasingly individualized discourses, since it is through the personalisation of risk that violence becomes legitimised as an occupational hazard in street-based sex work.Sex Work, Prostitution, Risk, Gender, Gendered Violence, Socio-Cultural Risk Theory, Disembedding Risk

The Best Approach to Adverse Possession, and the Decline of Factual Possession

This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced version of an article accepted for publication in The Conveyancer and Property Lawyer following peer review. The definitive published version, Thomas Dunk, ‘The Best Approach to Adverse Possession, and the Decline of Factual Possession’, The Conveyance and Property Lawyer, Vol. 80 (6), November 2016, is available online from Thomson Reuters DocDel service.An article exploring the decline of factual possession since the R. (on the application of Best) v The Chief Land Registrar.Peer reviewe

Identifying as a Teacher of Reading: A Case Study of Pre-Service Teachers' Beliefs About Reading and the Teaching of Reading Over the Duration of a Required ELA Course

Teacher candidates (TCs) prior understandings and knowledge around reading instruction and reading acquisition emerge through various experiences and have the potential to contradict notions presented in the curriculum and pedagogy of English Language Arts courses. As TCs engage in coursework related to reading pedagogy, tensions and cognitive dissonance may be negotiated. This qualitative study, approached through a social constructivist framework, explored beliefs about the teaching and learning of reading held by elementary TCs. Using case study methodology, this inquiry surfaced initial and negotiated beliefs by reflecting on the following research questions: What patterns and themes in TC backgrounds appear alongside particular beliefs, held early in a required curriculum course in English Language Arts, about the nature of reading and the teaching of reading? What patterns and themes emerge in the post-course reflections of TCs regarding their ideas about reading development and reading instruction. Methods for data collection and analysis included content analysis, attribute and descriptive coding, and thematic analysis of a pre and post-survey and individual interviews. Results of this study demonstrated that early understandings held by TCs were narrow and often misaligned with current understandings of reading development and pedagogy. Post-course reflections, however, indicated negotiated beliefs, adding to previous studies that have suggested methods courses offer opportunities for revised understandings. Implications of this study relate to the importance of required reading pedagogy courses in teacher education programs as one avenue for TCs to surface, examine, and refine their understandings related to reading instruction and development

The Threat of Terrorism to Power Grids: Effects of Electromagnetic Pulses to the United States

Terrorism’s roots can be traced back to the French Revolution.[1] Since 1789 terrorism has adopted many faces and its reach stretches throughout the world. Amidst the difficulty of defining terrorism, the FBI has given us the following definition, “…the unlawful use of…violence against persons…to intimidate or coerce a government, the civilian population, or any segment thereof, in furtherance of political or social objectives.” (Gaines & Miller, 2013, p. 539).[2] Bombing, hijacking, arson, assault, kidnapping, and hostage-taking are just a few of the attack tactics utilized throughout terrorist organization. However, with continuing advancements in technology nations need to consider possible terror attacks including cyber and electromagnetic pulses (EMP).[3] Throughout this paper threats to power grids, caused by High-Altitude EMPS (HEMP), in the United States and abroad will be investigated. Ultimately the United States’ preparedness and vulnerabilities will be discussed throughout the following pages

Understanding Everyday Relationship Work: The Development of a Relationship Maintenance Scale

Relationship maintenance behaviors contribute to the longevity of intimate relationships, yet existing scales are limited. Available measurement tools are primarily constrained to the Relationship Maintenance Strategy Measure (RMSM) and its further revisions. Covering a number of domains, conceptual overlap with other aspects of an intimate relationship (e.g., household division of labor) may exist. Our cross-sectional exploratory study included participants from 60 countries (n=8,162) who completed an online survey. Participants were diverse in their relationship status, age, sexual orientation, and race/ethnicity. From their responses, we developed a parsimonious and brief measure of relationship maintenance (8 items) through exploratory and then confirmatory factor analyses. Results indicated that the Relationship Maintenance Scale (RMS) shows initial evidence of reliability and validity. The RMS may have utility in working with couples and families. Future research should seek to re-test its use with varied samples, such as couples seeking relationship support

The Other Cheek

Typescript article by Pfc. Thomas E. Dunk, telling Jacob DeShazer\u27s story from his army days to his arrival in Japan as a missionary

Diabetes Education Tailored Towards English Speaking Caribbean Immigrants

The prevalence of diabetes is increasing among persons of Caribbean ancestry in the United States, yet there is little research on the differences in the health and nutrition patterns of diabetics from this population. This study created a culturally-sensitive diabetes education program for the staff of an internal medicine practice that treated patients from the English-speaking Caribbean. The project was guided by the health belief model, as well as Leininger\u27s theory of transcultural nursing. Methodology of project had a quality improvement focus. The comprehensive curriculum included diabetes medications, physical activity, culturally-tailored medical nutrition therapy, complications, self-care behavior, problem solving, and goals. Tools incorporated into the program included DVD, self-learning power point modules, and staff and patient education materials. The diabetes education program was introduced to 16 members of the internal medicine staff, chosen by the physician. A question and answer session was included, during which medical personnel articulated satisfaction with the program. Also verbalized was their increased understanding of diabetes education, and medical nutrition therapy tailored towards English-speaking Caribbean diabetics. The implication for social change indicates that in order for patients of the target population to receive quality, culturally-specific diabetes education, medical personnel must receive structured culturally-tailored diabetes education. Education translated into evidence-based patient education and practices. Program evaluation can be undertaken by monitoring staff and patient satisfaction, and improved patients\u27 hemoglobin A1C

Applying KAM Theory to Highly Eccentric Orbits

This research applies KAM theory to highly eccentric orbits for earth orbiting satellites by using spectral methods to find the three basis frequencies resulting from earth\u27s geopotential. Once a torus is created from these frequencies, its dynamics data can be compared to the position data of an integrated data set over multiple orbit types, specifically, orbits with varying eccentricity. The analysis shows that many eccentric orbits are actually KAM tori when the only perturbation is the earth\u27s geopotential. The residuals agree to 10s of meters in most cases. This research also outlines many of the limitations of the current method and gives recommendations for further study and real-world applications. Applications focus on space debris and non-operational satellites