‘Would it not be better to get someone out workin?’: ‘Safe prejudice’ against Polish workers

One recurring criticism of immigrant groups is their alleged failure to be employed and contribute to the host society. Here we examine how speakers mobilise a criticism that has attracted less research attention: that through their economic activity immigrant groups usurp others’ employment entitlements. Discourse analysis of data from seven focus group discussions about pre-Brexit Polish immigration into the UK, involving 31 UK nationals, shows that participants accomplish exclusionary outcomes in two divergent ways. The first attributes qualities to Polish workers but also makes explicit the consequences of these attributions for UK nationals, rendering speakers’ investment in such claims visible. The second relies on the production of category pairs, within which claims can be made for the category that excludes Polish workers. This use of categories comprises ‘safe prejudice’, a form of prejudice not previously identified but which is less open to challenge than other forms of prejudiced talk.     

Examining Trends in Muslim Self‐Identification and Mosque Attendance Among People of Turkish and Moroccan Descent in the Netherlands, 1997–2009

This study examines the extent to which Muslim self‐identification and mosque attendance have changed in the period 1997–2009 among people of Turkish and Moroccan descent in the Netherlands. Mainly trendless fluctuations are found. Overall, Muslim self‐identification seems to very slightly increase and mosque attendance seems to very slightly decrease. We examined the extent to which factors that are important according to theories and previous research explain or enlarge these differences over time. The factors about which we hypothesize are largely unable to explain differences over time in Muslim self‐identification and mosque attendance.     

Aversive-Nonaversive Issue: Tip of the Iceberg

ABSTRACT

This article addresses the lack of communication between child behavior analysis (CBA) and what has been referred to as “mainstream clinical child psychology” (MCCP). It is suggested that the emotionality of the aversive-nonaversive debate is attributable in part to a lack of information exchange among these two sub-specialties. Distinct contributions of CBA and MCCP are examined in each of the following four areas: population, assessment, research, and treatment. Recommendations are made for enhancing child clinical psychology by (a) promoting constructive communication, and (b) integrating components of the two approaches.     

Condom Use and Contraception Non-Use Amongst 16-19 Year Olds: A Within Subjects Comparison

Abstract

The present study used a within subject design to examine which situation specific factors discriminated between the use of condoms and non-use of contraception in the context of preventing unwanted pregnancy. Adapting the methodology of Gold et al (1991, 1992), 215 16 to 19 year olds completed a questionnaire concerning the most recent time they had experienced sexual intercourse without using contraception (the “without contraception” encounter) and me most recent time they had experienced sexual intercourse using a condom (the “with a condom” encounter). The results showed that although past behaviour did not differentiate between the two encounters, situational factors relating to preparation for action, affect and interpersonal interaction were important. However, when analysed for men and women separately most of the differences were only found for women. In particular, the results suggest that women report non-contraception use as associated with feeling more guilty, having a partner who is less motivated to use contraception than they are, with neither themselves nor their partner raising the desire to use contraception, not expecting to have sex and not discussing contraception and not having contraception available. In contrast, for men, only the availability of contraception appeared to differentiate between the two encounters. The results are discussed in terms of the usefulness of the methodology and the associated shift in emphasis from users and non-users of contraception to use and non-use. The implications of the results in terms of health education interventions are also considered.     

Young women’s construction of their post-cancer fertility

Younger women diagnosed with cancer often face compromised fertility as a result of their treatment. However, previous research has adopted a biomedical model of fertility and utilised hypothetico-deductive research methods which have not allowed for full exploration of women’s subjectivity. This study explored younger women’s construction of their fertility post-cancer, and their discussions of fertility with healthcare professionals, from a social constructionist epistemology. Semi-structured one-to-one interviews were conducted with eight women aged 18–26, across a variety of cancer types. Foucaultian Discourse Analysis identified three subject positions associated with fertility concerns: ‘Inadequate woman: Accepting the motherhood mandate’; ‘Adequate woman: Resisting the motherhood mandate’; and ‘Survival of the fittest: Woman as genetically defective’. Implications of these subject positions included feelings of inadequacy, fear and devastation; feeling undesirable to romantic partners; and concern about passing on cancer-positive genes. In describing healthcare professional interactions, women adopted positions of ‘Satisfied patient’; ‘Passive recipient patient’; or ‘Resisting the passive patient position’. Accounts of inadequate information provision were associated with anger and frustration, whereas feeling adequately informed was associated with satisfaction at making decisions about fertility preservation. These results suggest that fertility is of importance to young women cancer survivors, and that compromised fertility can negatively impact subjectivity.     

Sport,Girls, Trouble and Humour: Black and Indian Boys Negotiating Gender,Race and Class in a Formerly White Single Sex School in South Africa

This article reports on an interview study conducted by Deevia Bhana and Rob Pattman of Grade 11 (16–17 year old) boys attending different kinds of public schools in the Durban, South Africa. It investigated their accounts personal lives and identities as young men and women in and outside their schools. We conducted semi-structured interviews with the participants to determine how they experienced school and how they presented themselves in the interviews, their interests, aspirations, relations with other boys and girls in and out of school, and the kinds of identifications they made. The data for this are from two interviews conducted with black and Indian boys at Elmsdale, a formerly white boys' high school near Durban with an excellent academic and sporting reputation. We analyzed the data using narrative and discourse analysis. Concerns about being marginalised in school were expressed by both the black and the Indian boys. Issues of gender, race, class, sexuality and power were prominent in the interviews, notably when the boys were discussing sport, trouble, being funny and girls.     

Intercultural Therapy with Latino Immigrants and White Partners

SUMMARY

Interethnic and interracial marriages of Latinos and White Americans are on the rise and will continue to reshape the identities of individuals, couples, families, and communities. Clinicians working with these intercultural couples find no systematic training to address what is becoming a significant segment of our society. Couple therapists, however, cannot be culturally competent and effective based solely on knowledge of some dimensions of a couple's cultural backgrounds. Using clinical and theoretical ideas, the author defines clinical work with these couples as an explicit intercultural exchange. Our task as clinicians requires a rethinking of our conversations with these couples. It involves a caring therapeutic approach that is sustained on relational and systemic levels, and intercultural conversational skills inspired by clinical and other literatures that are explicitly dedicated to work with cultural difference and the “other.”     

Book review of Joining and leaving religion: research perspectives Leslie J. Francis and Yaacov J. Katz (Eds) Leominster,Herefordshire, Gracewing, 2000, 336 pp. £20.00 ( pb) ISBN 0 85244 517 2

Children and young people have the capacity to conjure feelings of faith and hope when experiencing emotional and psychological distress. World myths, legends and fairy stories as part of early child development offer a rich source of material to draw from and enlist in the therapeutic endeavour. Fairies often act in a healing capacity in mythology, or they appear as agents between the world of human affairs and the invisible forces of nature. Mythological beings also possess helping powers in advance of mortals achieving superhuman tasks, but they can also when used as metaphor, frighten children and potentially cause psychological harm. This paper suggests that mental health practitioners can utilise such powerful narratives therapeutically and in a culturally respectful and spiritually innovative way. Harnessing the child's imagination can be a powerful vehicle for a transforming experience at the psychic level with consequent positive benefits for emotional well-being.     

Religiosity of young adults: does childhood maltreatment make a difference?

Previous research on the association between maltreatment in childhood and later religious beliefs and behaviours suggests that maltreatment may have either negative or positive influences on religiosity. However, methodological limitations of previous studies may limit their generalisability. The present study attempted to address these limitations. We examined associations between childhood physical, sexual, and emotional abuse and several dimensions of adult religiosity in a large sample of college students (N = 763). Associations between child maltreatment and religiosity were weak (rs ≤ 0.09). After controlling for possible demographic confounds, the only significant association was between childhood emotional abuse and religious questing.