Extended households and the life course of young mothers: understanding the associations using a sample of mothers with premature, low birth weight babies

This paper examined whether the greater average schooling and employment, and lower parenting competence, of young mothers who reside with adult relatives reflect preexisting differences versus potential causal mechanisms. The sample included 554 young mothers (ages 13 to 25; nearly two thirds African American) from the Infant Health and Development Program (IHDP) a random-assignment intervention study of premature, low birth weight babies followed 8 times from birth to age 3. Ordinary least squares, fixed-effects, and random-effects models indicated that young mothers of low birth weight babies sorted into extended households based on preexisting characteristics that were correlated with their lower parenting skills and knowledge. In contrast, coresidence predicted greater schooling or employment across models, with some variations for different subgroups.     

Functional Assessment to Predict Capacity for Work in a Population of School‐leavers with Disabilities

This study reports on an assessment system for school‐leavers with disabilities to identify their capacity for work and the type of transition‐to‐work programme best suited to each person. Participants were 1,556 high school students in four cohorts who left school between 1999 and 2002. Each school‐leaver was assessed by rehabilitation counsellors for functional ability and capacity for work. In a supplementary study, the 2002 cohort was assessed by special transition teachers using a short screening tool. The results demonstrate that there is a predictable hierarchy of functional acquisition among school‐leavers with disabilities and that the single best predictor of future capacity for work and need for transition‐to‐work programmes among this group of young people is the capacity to manage activities of daily living. The results also demonstrate that a short screen used by teachers, together with a behavioural assessment, is sufficient to stream school‐leavers with a disability into a range of transition‐to‐work programmes.     

Tattoo Torment

刺青是一项古老的传统,至今已有两千多年的历史。古时候,人们多用它来表明身份;现如今,它则成了张扬个性的一种手法。不过,在做刺青前一定要有充分的心理准备,如果哪天后悔了,想去掉都难!     

Coach autonomy support, basic need satisfaction, and intrinsic motivation of paralympic athletes

The purpose of the present study, grounded in self-determination theory, was to explore the relationship between Paralympic athletes' perceptions of autonomy-supportive coach behavior basic psychological needs, and intrinsic motivation to know, accomplish, and experience stimulation. One hundred thirteen Canadian Paralympic athletes completed an online survey, consisting of measures of coach autonomy support; of perceptions of autonomy, competence, and relatedness; and of intrinsic motivation. Perceived coach autonomy support was a predictor of athletes' perceptions of autonomy and relatedness. Perceived competence was a significant predictor of all three forms of intrinsic motivation, while perceived autonomy was a significant predictor of intrinsic motivation to accomplish and experience stimulation. The results highlight the important relationship between coach behavior and athlete motivation in disability sport.     

Paul Willis—Education,Cultural Production and Social Reproduction

Learning to Labour signalled a break from mechanistic ‘social reproduction’ theories within the Sociology of Education, towards a new appreciation of the role of cultural processes within school. This paper reviews the work of Paul Willis, focussing particularly on some of the unresolved themes of Learning to Labour and the development of his own thought since this study was produced. Areas which have been under emphasised in the past include Willis’ attempt to formulate a methodological and analytical base for cultural studies within education, the theoretical relationship between culture and ideology and the essentially active, transformative nature of cultural production within educational sites. This paper aims to clarify some of these issues.     

Why children tell: a model of children's disclosure of sexual abuse

OBJECTIVE: The present study investigated variables associated with delay of disclosure of child sexual abuse and tested a model of time to disclosure. METHOD: Data were obtained for 218 alleged child sexual abuse victims whose cases had been referred to District Attorneys' Offices. Five variables were posited to influence the delay between an abusive event and children's disclosure of that event to a reporting adult: child's age, gender, type of abuse experienced (intrafamilial or extrafamilial), perceived responsibility for the abuse, and fear of negative consequences of disclosure. These variables were used to create a model of factors influencing children's disclosure of sexual abuse. RESULTS: Results indicated that age, type of abuse, fear of negative consequences, and perceived responsibility all contributed to predicting time to disclosure. There was significant support for the model, suggesting that children who were older, came from incestuous families, felt greater responsibility for the abuse, and feared negative consequences of disclosure took longer to disclose. CONCLUSIONS: Children's cognitive appraisal of others' tolerance of disclosure of child sexual abuse, and their own perceptions of responsibility for the abuse, are crucial to the decision to disclose. When evaluating children for possible sexual abuse, developmental, cognitive, and socio-emotional factors need to be taken into consideration.     

Social reinstatement and open-field testing in chickens

Based on a model which holds that open-field behavior represents a combination of predator evasion tactics and attempts to reinstate contact with conspecifics, five experiments were conducted with chickens to assess the effects on them of social separation in response to being placed in a novel enclosure. As a means of independently demonstrating reinstatement tendencies, it was shown that birds would run faster down a straight alley if the goalbox contained one or more conspecifics than if it was empty or contained a guinea pig. For birds tested in pairs, the effects were different, depending on whether they had been reared in pairs or in larger groups. On the other hand, although chicks froze and remained silent longer in pairs, they seemed to be relatively insensitive to whether the pair member was a cagemate or a stranger. Finally, as predicted, reinstatement tendencies diminished and predator evasion tactics predominated with increasing age.     

‘The learning sticks’: reflections on a case study of role-playing for sustainability

Use of role-plays to develop deep student-learning has many advocates. Role-play is a powerful approach for learning that develops relevant skills in a range of disciplines and situations. In Higher Education, sustainability programmes role-play pedagogy appears to have great relevance for developing the competencies that these graduates will need. The ability of role-play pedagogy to develop these competencies was assessed through a case study of students in a first-year subject/course at an Australian university. Analysis of the students’ written comments indicate that the students were involved in significant learning, and had made substantial progress in developing five key skills for sustainability. The enjoyment and engagement they demonstrated was an added benefit of their experience and potentially of the role-play approach. While it is acknowledged that a role-play requires careful planning and support, and may be considered resource intensive, it can be argued that the student learning achieved is worth the effort.