"Dangerous" Sexual Consciousness: A Reflection on the Sex Education for Disabled Institutionalized Children in China

This ethnographic study investigates how childcare workers view and react to behaviors of disabled institutionalized children which they consider sexual in a Chinese orphanage. Presuming them primarily as “asexual” or “sexually immature” subjects based on a biomedical understanding of disability and childhood, the childcare workers are anxious to find signs of sexual consciousness in some of these children. Labelled as either “dangerous” or “abnormal”, the sexually conscious candidates are subject to physical punishment and denied access to sex information. In spite of this, they continue to have sexual feelings and engage in sexual behaviors, and some may even develop specific strategies to fulfill their own needs. The interactions between childcare workers and disabled children exemplify the tensions between a disapproving environment for sexual and the sexual agency of disabled people in China. The findings may have wide policy implications for the state, as well as organizations of children’s rights and disability rights, to promote ideas and measures that enable disabled institutionalized children to develop into sexually expressive and fulfilled persons.     

Background levels of body fluids and DNA on the shaft of the penis and associated underpants in the absence of sexual activity

This study examines the background of blood, saliva, semen and autosomal DNA on penile swabs and underpants from males in the absence of recent sexual activity. Based on the data collected by the AFSP Body Fluid Forum, the results of this study show that; there is a very low expectation of detecting blood on penile swabs and male underpants; a low expectation of detecting saliva on penile swabs and male underpants; and spermatozoa would be expected in less than a quarter of penile swabs and three quarters of male underpants. As none of the samples had detectable levels of DNA which were suitable for meaningful comparison that did not match the donor or their partner, the expectation of detecting a DNA profile from the cellular background on penile swabs or underpants from a male who has not been involved in recent sexual intercourse is very low. The results of this study are extremely informative when evaluating the significance of blood, saliva, semen and DNA detected on the penile swabs and underpants of males in cases of alleged sexual assault.     

The role of authentic leadership on healthcare Street-Level Bureaucrats’ well-being during the pandemic

This study uses Conservation of Resources Theory, to explain Street-Level Bureaucrats’ (SLBs) workplace behavioural responses to threats to their well-being. We examine whether authentic leadership within street-level organisations positively impacts employee well-being by increasing SLBs’ perception of personal resources, and reducing their perceptions of work harassment. The research design comprises a survey that solicited quantitative and qualitative data from 163 healthcare SLBs working in Australian hospitals during the pandemic in April 2020. Analysis of the means indicates low levels of satisfaction with leadership and low levels of well-being for SLBs. The structural equation modelling findings show that poor leadership is associated with higher levels of work harassment and lower levels of employee well-being. Qualitative data support these findings. As healthcare workers were already listed as over-represented in the stress-related workers compensation statistics, one strategy may be to improve the level of organisational support by upskilling managers in authentic leadership behaviours with the aim of increasing their perception of support so as to increase employee well-being. This will benefit employees and their families, and the community they service.

Points for practitioners

• Street-Level Bureaucrats (SLBs) have been increasingly experiencing the public sector gap (demand outstripping supply of resources) because of the dominance of the austerity-driven managerialist paradigm.
• The recent COVID-19 crisis amplified the severity and impact of the public sector gap causing increased perceptions of work harassment and reductions in SLBs’ well-being.
• However, SLBs with high levels of Psychological Capital had a natural buffer in place to protect their well-being, and as such, they perceived less work harassment and erosion of their well-being.
• The way forward is to complement the austerity-driven managerialist paradigm in management decision-making with authentic leadership behaviours focused on maximising the well-being of SLBs and the public.