Historicizing Slavery in West Indian Feminisms

This paper traces the evolution of a coherent feminist genre in written historical texts during and after slavery, and in relation to contemporary feminist writing in the West Indies. The paper problematizes the category ‘woman’ during slavery, arguing that femininity was itself deeply differentiated by class and race, thus leading to historical disunity in the notion of feminine identity during slavery. This gender neutrality has not been sufficiently appreciated in contemporary feminist thought leading to liberal feminist politics in the region. This has proved counter productive in the attempts of Caribbean feminist theorizing to provide alternative understandings of the construction of the nation-state as it emerged out of slavery and the role of women themselves in the shaping of modern Caribbean society.     

Irish/woman/artwork: Selective readings

This paper concentrates upon particular artworks from Irish women artists. It demonstrates that there are certain themes which recur in their artwork. These include dislocation, particularities about place and contestation around language, all of which are rooted in the lived experience of being Irish, being female and being an artist. At the same time the paper provides readings of this artwork which demonstrate that these experiences are diverse, and that the areas of representation within which the artists are working are socially produced constructs. There is therefore no romantic essentialist category of ‘Irish woman artist’, but rather the richly interplaying histories, readings and contexts of Irish/woman/artwork.     

Measuring Client Satisfaction and Engagement: The Role of a Mentor Parent Program in Family Drug Treatment Court

Parent engagement is an important intermediate outcome in Family Drug Treatment Court (FDTC) and child welfare services. This study explored the utility and reliability of a client satisfaction and engagement survey designed to measure interim outcomes of a Mentor Parent Program, operating in conjunction with a FDTC. Findings suggest the survey is a useful, parsimonious and reliable tool for measuring key dimensions of parent mentor services including client engagement; client‐centered support and empowerment; and help with systems navigation and accessing resources. The survey may be adapted for use in other FDTC or parent mentor contexts.     

The colonial context of violence: reflections on violence in the lives of native american women

This article presents an overview of the ongoing colonial context that perpetuates and supports violence against First Nations women. This context must be recognized and changed as a prerequisite to eliminating or reducing this violence. The article includes a discussion of how gender roles have changed under colonization, the extent of violence, and steps that must be taken to eradicate violence against Native American women.     

Perceived Risk for Future Intimate Partner Violence among Women in a Domestic Violence Shelter

Research investigating women’s risk assessments for intimate partner violence (IPV) shows that women can predict future violence with relative accuracy. Limited research has investigated factors that are associated with perceived risk and the potential behavioral consequences of victim risk perception. Results from a survey of women in a domestic violence shelter (N = 56) indicated that women perceive lower risk of future violence if the abusive relationship were to end and higher risk of violence if it were to continue. Certain abuse experiences were related to elevated perceptions of personal risk for future violence. Further, perceived personal risk predicted the women’s intention to terminate their relationship upon leaving shelter. Results are discussed as they may inform interventions preventing IPV.

Caregiver and Youth Agreement Regarding Youths’ Trauma Histories: Implications for Youths’ Functioning After Exposure to Trauma

Epidemiological research has demonstrated that youth are exposed to potentially traumatic events at high rates. Caregivers play an important role in youths’ successful recovery following exposures to potentially traumatic events. However, past research has documented poor caregiver–youth agreement regarding youths’ exposures to potentially traumatic events, indicating a potential lack of support for many youth exposed to such events. This study examined caregiver–youth discrepancies in the reports of youths’ lifetime exposures to potentially traumatic events, and the relationship between these reporting discrepancies and youths’ post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms, mood symptoms, and functional impairment following disclosures of sexual abuse. Participants included 114 caregiver–youth dyads participating in a family-based intervention at four Child Advocacy Centers in New York City. Standardized measures of trauma history, youth PTSD symptoms, youth mood symptoms, youth functional impairment, and caregiver PTSD symptoms were given in interview format to caregivers and youth at the time of intake into the intervention. The demographic composition of the youth sample was 86.8 % female, 13.2 % male, 32.5 % African American, 54.4 % Latino/a, 2.6 % Caucasian, 0.9 % Asian American, 8.8 % other race/ethnicity. Youth ranged in age from 7 to 16. Results demonstrated poor agreement between youth and caregivers regarding youths’ exposure to a range of potentially traumatic events and regarding youths’ PTSD symptoms, mood symptoms and functional impairment. Both caregiver–youth discrepancies regarding youths’ histories of exposures to potentially traumatic events and caregiver PTSD symptoms were significantly associated with youths’ self-reported symptoms and functional impairment. Only caregiver PTSD symptoms were related to caregivers’ reports of youths’ symptoms and functional impairment. Findings underscore the importance of family support and communication regarding exposures to potentially traumatic events and the detrimental associations of caregiver–youth disagreement about youths’ exposures to potentially traumatic events. Recommendations are provided for the assessment and treatment of families presenting in the aftermath of traumatic exposures.     

The Importance and Benefits of Supervision in Youth Work Practice

This article explores the concept of supervision and its implementation within a youth work context. The article describes and explores a process of staff development facilitated by the author which involved providing supervision training to a group of youth work practitioners at Cork YMCA in Ireland and continuing to meet them on a monthly basis over a period of a year in a mentoring capacity. These sessions provided a supportive space for supervisors and aimed to facilitate a reflective process in relation to their own supervisory practice. This article explores the opportunities and challenges of the supervision process, advocates the importance of supervision in ensuring effective youth work practice, and identifies the beneficial impact of this at a number of levels.     

Commonwealth Student Exchange 1959-2019 – Planned and Unplanned

ABSTRACT

Higher education, and international student mobility, have expanded in 60 years since the Commonwealth Education Conference of 1959. It established a Commonwealth Scholarship and Fellowship Plan which has funded and moved early-career scholars and mid-career fellows between Commonwealth member countries. It has done so in a context in which the number of students moving between Commonwealth countries has grown but this intra-Commonwealth movement has shrunk as a proportion of the total, just as the Commonwealth has lost its political and economic significance. The scholarship plan expanded up to the 1990s, with students travelling from virtually all Commonwealth countries, mainly but not entirely to Australia, Britain, Canada and New Zealand. From the 1990s the plan has shrunk with Australia and Canada ending their awards and Britain limiting them to developing countries. Its purpose has moved from one of promoting Commonwealth cohesion to one of supporting development within the south. Its history demonstrates the way in which changing political circumstances have driven student mobility and shaped its geography.     

Local adaptation policy responses to extreme weather events

Policy Sciences - At a global level, climate change is expected to result in more frequent and higher-intensity weather events, with impacts ranging from inconvenient to catastrophic. The potential...     

Some Reflections on the Relationship between Citizenship, Access to Justice, and the Reform of Legal Aid

The reflexive, reciprocally constitutive relationship between law and society makes a substantive right of access to justice pivotal to the content of citizenship. It is therefore arguable that the establishment of legal aid, however limited in practice, was fundamental to the expanded citizenship which the post-war settlement sought to achieve. However this social form of citizenship has been attenuated by the reconfiguration of the state and the neo-liberal reconstruction of the public sector. Yet at the same time, the concepts of citizenship and social exclusion have become key discursive mechanisms in this reconstruction, including in the New Labour reform of the legal aid sector. This paper considers the various meanings attributed to the concepts of citizenship, social exclusion, and access to justice through the optic of the history of policy changes in legal aid. The impact of globalization and economic restructuring on social citizenship is explored, both in terms of the experience of recipients of public goods like legal services, and the professionals who supply them. The commensurability of the New Labour Community Legal Service (CLS) model with other models of justice is discussed. The conclusion briefly returns to the theme of law's 'citizen-constitutive' role and considers the potential of the CLS for combating social exclusion.