Search

Family violence is becoming increasingly visible in Australia, with many state and federal governments taking on more responsibility to address family violence and its impacts on those affected. Current efforts are focused on practice frameworks, identifying and responding to risk factors, and social justice frameworks including legislating against family violence in a range of jurisdictions and addressing more broadly the structural and cultural forces that perpetuate violence and further oppress those victimised. Family violence is not unique to Australia, with prevalence rates internationally suggesting family violence occurs irrespective of country, race, age, culture, effectiveness of social policies or socioeconomic status. This paper explores relevant foundational concepts of Bowen family systems theory (BFST) as it relates to family violence and explores opportunities to evolve practice in this area. BFST offers a unique contribution towards addressing family violence, particularly in relation to the public health challenge of addressing family polyvictimisation. The paper also explores how BFST conceptualises family violence and the role of the professional in working with the family as a single emotional unit. The unique focus of BFST on observing and defining self within the emotional family unit through observation of the underlying multigenerational emotional patterns of functioning provides unique opportunities to evolve and develop both the capacity of clinicians and responses to families who are navigating the serious and challenging impacts of family violence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Given that the number of children and young people needing care keeps rising and fewer people are becoming foster carers, efforts to support carers and workers in foster caring are essential. This paper considers the experiences of carers and foster care agency workers involved in Australia's piloting of the Mockingbird Family. With a view understanding experience, data were collected via focus groups with carers and agency workers (n = 20) involved in piloting, implementation and evaluation. Deductive analysis applied the theory of experience to generate understanding of experience, as both intrinsic and extrinsic dimensions to capture strengths in the Mockingbird Family's foster caring networks. These dimensions of experience included collective passions of carers and workers; experiential change over time; collective experiences as a moving force; and experiences as transformational. Understanding of experience associated with the perceived strengths of the Mockingbird Family, including strategies to promote strong professional relationships between carers and workers, is an important element in strengthening environments of children and young people in care. Safe and stable environments are crucial for wellbeing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Dysarthria, aphasia and executive processes have been examined for their role in producing impaired communicative competence post traumatic brain injury (TBI). Less understood is the role of emotional dysregulation, that is, apathy and disinhibition, and social cognition, that is, reading and interpreting social cues. Methods & Procedures: In this study, we examined 49 adults with moderate to severe TBI and 18 neurologically healthy adults. We hypothesised that apathy and disinhibition would predict communication outcomes as would social cognition. We also predicted that apathy and disinhibition would influence social cognition. Communication outcomes were measured by the La Trobe Communication Questionnaire (LCQ) and the Social Skills Questionnaire‐TBI (SSQ‐TBI). Apathy and disinhibition were measured by the Frontal Systems Behavior Scale (FrSBe). We measured four aspects of social cognition: emotion perception and theory of mind using The Awareness of Social Inference Test (TASIT) and the Complex Audio‐Visual Evaluation of Affect Test (CAVEAT), empathy using the Questionnaire of Cognitive and Affective Empathy (QCAE) and the Balanced Emotional Empathy Scale (BEES), and alexithymia using the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS‐20) and the Bermond–Vorst Alexithymia Questionnaire. Outcomes & Results: Consistent with predictions, the LCQ and SSQ‐TBI were associated with disinhibition and the LCQ was also associated with apathy. The LCQ was associated with the full range of social cognition constructs although the SSQ‐TBI was not. Finally, apathy and disinhibition predicted a number of social cognition measures. Conclusions and Implications: These results are discussed in relation to understanding the nature of communication disorders following TBI and how they are measured, as well as the interrelation between emotion dysregulation and social cognition. What this study adds: What is already known on this subject: The role of emotional dysregulation and social cognition in producing impaired communicative competence post traumatic brain injury (TBI) is not well understood. Although most adults with severe TBI have minimal or possibly no language impairment, they often struggle with functional communication in everyday situations. Many have been reported to be overtalkative, insensitive, childish and self‐centred, displaying an inappropriate level of self‐disclosure and making tangential and irrelevant comments. Conversely, some speakers with TBI have been noted to have impoverished communication, producing little language either spontaneously or in response to the speaker's questions and prompts. What this paper adds to existing knowledge: We found that both apathy and disinhibition were strongly associated with the Latrobe Communication Questionnaire both empirically and conceptually, despite the LCQ being developed from a different, pragmatic orientation. Disinhibition was also associated with the Social Skills Questionnaire for TBI. We also found that poor social cognition scores predicted communication difficulties. Finally, we found that behavioural dysregulation itself, i.e., both apathy and disinhibition, predicted poor social cognition. What are the potential or actual clinical implications of this work?: Our findings highlight the central role that apathy and disinhibition play in both communication and social cognition. These insights point to the importance of remediation to target behavioural and autonomic dysregulation as a means to improve everyday social function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing numbers of households are impacted by disasters due to population growth, increasing development in higher risk areas, and climate change. While emergency management in Australia aims to reduce quantifiable losses, lived disaster and recovery experiences are relatively mute, with implications for mitigation and post‐disaster support. This paper draws on findings from a research project that set out to examine the role of insurance in household recovery after the 2013 Blue Mountains bushfires in New South Wales. Among the 19 interview participants, prioritisation of the needs of children was found to hinder personal recovery. Drawing on this key finding, this paper focuses on parents' emotion work and emotions surrounding home. Innate desires to provide good care monopolised parents' emotions and emotional outlets, as they worked to conceal threats and (re)establish a sense of normalcy. Emotion work drained parents, as did threats to, and the loss of, "home" created through "dwelling." When homes burnt, so too did memories of children embodied in that home – memories that had permeated the material space. This sense of loss intensified when informing children about losses – an act that breached parents' protective instincts and necessitated additional emotional care. Emotions escalated as capacities for care were challenged or eroded in the absence of home contents that normally would have anchored daily routines and provided stability. Replacing such items dominated parents' recovery efforts – efforts encumbered by competing recovery demands, yet facilitated to some degree by insurance safety‐nets. These emotions impacted parents' mental and physical wellbeing in the four years that separated the bushfires and the interviews. While there is considerable literature outlining parents' role in lessening disaster impacts on children, few studies examine parents' capacity to do so. In addressing this gap, this paper highlights avenues to improve psychosocial aspects of disaster recovery. Parenting is challenging at the best of times, let alone in disasters. Focusing on the 2013 Blue Mountains bushfires in Australia, this paper explores the emotions involved in caring for children while surviving and recovering from a disaster. Insights from "emotion work" and the loss of "home" – structures bound with memories and resources for good care – highlight both demands on parents and avenues to improve post‐disaster wellbeing for families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper will explore the clinical application of tracking sequences in family therapy with a particular focus on Bowen family systems theory. It considers how sequences can be used to track the emotional process occurring in relationship interactions, and the similarities and differences of a Bowen theory‐informed approach compared with dialectical behaviour therapy and both classic and contemporary family therapy models. Case examples are utilised from the author's clinical practice to raise ideas about the therapist joining the client as a co‐researcher in this exercise and facilitating a process that helps assist the client develop their own self‐awareness and problem‐solving resources in the context of their relationships. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper contributes to geographical perspectives on energy justice by arguing for the concept of "spaces of energy well‐being." We build on the concepts of capabilities, home, and emotional embodiment to offer an understanding of the spatiality of well‐being. The paper draws on empirical material from a study conducted with social housing tenants in Port Kembla, Australia, following recent energy price increases. Interviews illustrate that social housing tenants engaged in reducing domestic energy consumption occupy a paradoxical space of well‐being. We argue that energy bills are lived and felt daily through bodies as anxiety, given that participants experience social housing as a therapeutic and safe place that allows possibilities to refashion the self. We better understand the dynamics of pride and shame from limiting energy use. Our analysis suggests that essential to understanding the ways social housing tenants relate to uneven access to fuel is as an emotionally embodied home making and unmaking practice. The paper canvasses for space of energy well‐being. It asks, what are the implications for energy justice when everyday energy consumption is conceived as an emotionally embodied spatial practice? The objective of the paper is to open up debate about the importance of emotions for energy justice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most of the research examining children visiting a parent in prison indicates that visits have a positive impact on children's well‐being, their connection to the imprisoned parent and the parent themselves. However, the COVID‐19 pandemic brought about a significant change to prison visits worldwide, with limits or bans on face‐to‐face contact. Understanding the experiences and needs of children during this period remains limited. This paper presents the findings of a survey of 84 carers of 184 children across Australia, investigating children's experiences of contact with their imprisoned parent both before and during COVID‐19 restrictions. Although most carers reported maintaining contact during restrictions, a range of difficulties were noted: reduced availability; the effect of prison‐based issues, including lockdowns; and the suitability of video/telephone visits for young children. Some described the benefits of videoconferencing, including reduced travel time and cost, and not needing to take children into a prison environment. Despite this, respondents typically described the negative impact of restrictions, and lack of physical contact, on children's emotional well‐being. Our findings suggest that, for video visiting to be successful, it should be complementary to in‐person visits, tailored to the needs of children, with support offered to families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: Background: The nature of interactions between health care professionals and families may have a significant impact on families' experience and outcomes of critical illness. The value of encouraging positive relationships with families is well documented; however, it is argued that the lack of theoretical frameworks to guide practice in this area may be a barrier to improving patient‐ and family‐centred care. Aims: The study on which this paper is based aimed to understand families' experiences of their interactions when a relative is admitted unexpectedly to an Australian intensive care unit and to generate a substantive theory that represents families' interactions that can be used to guide critical care nursing practice when caring for patients' families in this context. Design and Methods: A grounded theory methodology was adopted for the study. Data were collected between 2009 and 2013 using in‐depth interviews with 25 family members of 21 critically ill patients admitted to a metropolitan, tertiary‐level intensive care unit (ICU) in Australia. Findings: A core category of regaining control has been generated from our study. This paper focuses on Disconnectedness, which leads to increased emotional vulnerability and is also a barrier to families' regaining control. Families feel disconnected when staff emotionally and physically disengage from them, when staff interact insensitively and in a manner that offers families limited hope. Conclusion: Our findings offer an in‐depth understanding of staff engagement with families and its impact on the families' ability to regain control. Although some themes have been previously identified in the literature in isolation, the interrelationships of the categories within a theoretical framework to represent family resilience in the context of an ICU situated in the Australian health care system are a novel finding. Relevance to Clinical Practice: The findings can be used to support patient‐ and family‐centred care interventions in the ICU. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Couple conflict, which includes conflict over parenting practices, continues to be a topic of considerable interest to family therapists. Following parental separation, resolution or management of conflict over children has a special urgency. 'High‐conflict' cases present some of the most complex systemic and clinical challenges. In this first of two related articles in this issue of ANZJFT, we set out key ideas – some old, some new – about parental conflict from the divorce literature. We present Australian data on separated parents' reports, which found significant conflict at three different points in time after separation and consider the clinical implications. We suggest that while 'high conflict' has an intuitive feel as a descriptor for difficult post‐separation disputes, it has limited utility as a blanket term to inform research and practice. The article acts as a conceptual backdrop to an earlier paper (Smyth & Moloney, 2017), in which we consider the dynamics of enduring 'high conflict.' We suggest that these cases might be qualitatively different to those cases in which intensely felt disputes develop but then recede. We also suggest that amongst enduring 'high conflict' cases there are likely to be cases with especially challenging dynamics such as interparental hatred. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The concept of emotional labour describes the management of emotions as part of everyday work performance. Much of the research in this field has been in relation to jobs in the service sector where (mostly female) employees are required to shape their own feelings in order to make customers or clients feel at ease, comfortable or happy. There has been relatively little attention paid to the importance of emotional labour in professional occupations. This paper examines the emotional labour of magistrates in court. Magistrates must often regulate their own emotions and those of some court users, many of whom are not legally represented and who express a variety of emotions, including anger and distress, and experience social problems that may elicit emotions or emotional responses from the magistrate. The paper reports findings from interviews with over 40 magistrates throughout Australia and begins to address the significance of emotional labour for this branch of the judiciary. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Increasing interest by policy makers and educators in enhancing the non-cognitive factors that impact on the wellbeing of young people across the school years requires valid and reliable measurement scales. This paper reports the psychometric development of the Personal Responsibility Scale drawing on a preliminary 34-item measure developed using data from focus groups with secondary students in Australia. This scale was then administered to 513 students across Years 9-12. Exploratory factor analysis identified three factors, 'personal accountability', 'behavioural and emotional control', and 'cognitive control'. Structural equation modelling was used to examine the congeneric measurement models for these factors. The multidimensional nature of the personal responsibility construct was then examined through multilevel confirmatory factor analysis. These analyses supported a three-factor structure to propose a final 15-item scale. Additional validation requirements, future research possibilities, and implications of this study are addressed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Intimate relationships between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people have generally been pursued within the transactional modalities afforded by economy and kinship (e.g. Hamilton 1972; Tonkinson 1990; Redmond 2005). A parallel anthropological literature (e.g. Myers 1979; Venkatesan et al. 2011), however, has critiqued these emphases, and has instead highlighted the need to consider the emotional experiences of individuals. One of the types of individuals considered here is the stranger, a figurative character that Simmel (1950: 403) described as 'no owner of soil'. In this paper I explore the experiences of one of these strangers, 'Andrew', a non-Aboriginal man who was the partner of an Aboriginal woman and living in the remote Aboriginal town of Mornington Island in the southern Gulf of Carpentaria. In interpreting Andrew's experiences, I argue for an analytic frame based on understanding how transformative personal encounters including love can bring together and sustain relationships between those of (sometimes) vastly different socio-cultural backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Gender is a key lens for interpreting meanings and practices of home(making) in urban neighbourhoods, but while there is a rich understanding of women's experiences, there is a paucity of work on men's. To advance insights into gendered dimensions of home in urban contexts, this paper discusses men's embodied experiences of home in inner Sydney, drawing data from fieldwork with 52 men. This focus is prompted by scholarly and policy concern with men's emotional wellbeing. I seek to understand how these men deploy their homes to pursue work/life balance and how domestic activities contribute to their emotional wellbeing. I find that these men use their bodies as emotional and sensuous instruments to manage the interplay of work(place) and home(place). Moreover, I suggest that these men's embodied emotional engagements with domesticity reconfigure the gendered practices and imaginaries of homelife, and challenge persistent gender inequalities and stereotypes by providing alternatives to hegemonic masculinity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reviews the diversity in parenting values and practices amongst Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islanders. First, issues arising from the historical traumatic disruption of families' attachments are discussed. Then the contribution Indigenous parenting makes to the development of healthy and vulnerable individuals becomes the central focus. Family therapists can draw from a broad understanding of the diversity of parenting values and practices in the context of a strength-based approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]