Search

Equality for marriage and reproduction has become a major policy agenda worldwide. Opportunities for sexual minority individuals to pursue planned parenthood through assisted reproductive technologies, adoption or surrogacy emerged only recently. Perhaps due to socio-cultural and structural barriers, sexual minority individuals consistently report lower parenthood desires and intentions than heterosexual individuals. Using a cross-sectional online survey, we examined the relationship between parenthood desire and demographic and psychosocial characteristics in a sample of 1,395 gay and bisexual men in Taiwan. Results showed that sexual orientation, relationship status, psychosocial well-being and cultural factors such as filial piety are significant predictors of parenthood desire. Implications for social work practice are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper is to critically examine the social work profession's enactment of classifying a group of people as sexual minorities on the basis of the essentialist paradigm along with the Western-centred legacy of scholarship. To enhance epistemological acuity for social workers, the historical backdrop of, theoretical applications concerning, and the ongoing debate between essentialist and social constructionist approaches to sexuality are reviewed. We also conduct a transnational analysis of sexuality discourses by juxtaposing their development in the Western and Taiwanese academic scholarships to indicate the dynamics of colonisation/resistance in a non-Western context and the emerging trend of hybridity. Therefore, we underline social workers' epistemological reflexivity in practice, and further argue that an active engagement with history and alternative discursive lenses concerning sexual minority populations can lead social work practitioners and researchers to extend respect to this marginalised group in the global context. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A variety of risk factors have been identified as able to engender adolescent vulnerability to depressed mood. Recently, the social work profession has started to validate spirituality as integral to individual well-being, and as a protective factor of one's poor adjustment outcome. The present study aims to investigate spirituality as a protective factor for depressed mood among Taiwanese adolescents. Risk factors examined include family economic strains, parent-adolescent conflict, negative peer relationships and academic expectation stress. Using a cross-sectional quantitative research design, we utilised the multi-stage, random cluster sampling method to select respondents. A total of 1,325 Taiwanese students from grades 10 to 12 were recruited to complete the self-reported questionnaires. Results of multiple linear regression analyses indicated that controlling for gender and age, family economic strains, pa rent-adolescent conflict, negative peer relationships and academic expectation stress were positively associated with depressed mood. Spirituality was found to be negatively associated with depressed mood, and to partially moderate the association between negative peer relationships and depressed mood. Findings suggest that the culturally specific concern of spirituality should be incorporated into helping depressed adolescents. Spirituality should be examined cross-culturally in social work research, education and practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]