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Godzilla certainly is an intertextual beast. Especially with the 2004 release in the United States of the uncut 1954 original, viewers must be reminded of how that film intersected with many contemporary issues and texts, ranging from the H-bomb testing in the Pacific to King Kong, thereby formulating a popular cultural reaction to the atomic bomb, America, World War II, and the cold war. Recalling such original intertexts, however, should not serve to corral and restrict readings of the film and its subsequent series. As a monster stomping over the years through a variety of cultural, political, and social contexts, Godzilla has been intertextual precisely because it has always broken free of attempts to enclose its semiotic wanderings in a single text (or to confine it on Monster Island, for that matter). There have always been other contexts that problematize efforts to fix Godzilla’s meaning, and which therefore point to complicated forms of spectatorship that might not only create alternative meanings for the giant lizard, but also celebrate this wandering textuality. Godzilla can offer one window onto what we could call the dual monsters of textuality and spectatorship in Japanese film history, offering an example of the historical struggles over what movies mean and who determines that.

Do you struggle to get your head around the application of theory and associated methods of intervention to social work practice? Making sense of theory and its application to social work practice is here to help you with a fresh approach written with the 'non-theoretician' in mind. After exploring the expectations and limits of application of theory to practice, Phil Musson sets about describing theories of explanation and their associated methods of intervention in an accessible way. He follows this by looking at theoretically driven approaches and their associated methods of intervention. One generic case study is used throughout, tweaked slightly but maintaining the same service users and issues so you can see how the theory of explanation or approach and the associated method of intervention is applied. You are also able to sharpen up your critical thinking skills as the author invites you to reflect on the theories of explanation and approaches discussed. Making Sense of Theory and its Application to Social Work Practice will be immensely valuable to both social work students and practitioners.

Electoral gender quotas remain contentious among many publics. One hurdle is the “principle-policy puzzle”: those who espouse gender egalitarianism may nevertheless oppose affirmative action measures because of disagreements about their necessity and worries about government overreach. Based on an original survey in Japan, where women’s underrepresentation is particularly pronounced, we identify two dimensions that drive attitudes toward quotas. First, modern sexism matters: those who attribute underrepresentation to women’s disinterest or who think that quotas will increase the number of unqualified women candidates are less likely to support quotas. Second, appropriateness matters: those who oppose government intervention in gender affairs are less likely to support quotas. Crucially, these differences hold even among those who desire more women in parliament. Our results suggest that public acceptance of quotas depends more on correcting misperceptions about structural gender barriers and the benign consequences of quotas (“policy”), rather than encouraging people to prefer more women in parliament (“principle”).

Many scholars investigating sexism distinguish between two related, but distinct, forms of sexism aimed at women: hostile sexism and benevolent sexism (Glick & Fiske, 1996). These sexist beliefs can seem contradictory, with hostile sexism (HS) reflecting more contempt for women and benevolent sexism (BS) offering protection and care to women, but both serve to maintain the gender status hierarchy. However, these concepts may have been created based on the white feminine ideal and may not apply to women of color. For example, expectations about female sexual purity may be different across race and may lead to differential treatment of women who violate purity norms. In the current research, participants (N = 410) read a news article about a black or white woman arrested for prostitution, and answered questions about convicting, punishing, and helping the woman. Participants high in HS and high in BS were more likely to convict and punish the sex worker than those low in HS and BS, but HS and BS did not interact with race when predicting conviction and punishment. For helping those high in HS were less likely to recommend immediate interventions and those high in BS were more likely to recommend dependency-oriented interventions, but none of the two-way interactions with sexism and race was significant. It is possible that sex work is such a strong violation of the female purity norm that punishment of women who violate this norm does not vary based on the characteristics of the woman but more intersectional research on race and sexism is needed.

Sexist ideologies and attitudes perpetuate gender inequalities in both private and public contexts. Traditional views of sexism emphasize hostility, but the phenomenon is more complex, involving interdependent power relations between men and women. The Ambivalent Sexism Theory identifies two forms: hostile sexism (HS) and benevolent sexism (BS). This study aimed to measure the levels of HS and BS among men in a northern Italian town, examining sociodemographic factors associated with elevated sexism scores. A paper questionnaire was administered by a volunteer organization and the Local Health Authority to male individuals over 18 in Cesena from February to April 2023. The convenience sample was recruited from diverse settings, including universities, companies, cafes, and hospitals. The Ambivalent Sexism Inventory (Glick & Fiske) was translated into Italian and used for data collection. A total of 275 participants were included. The mean age was 44.4 years, with a diverse educational background. Regression analyses revealed that higher education levels were associated with lower HS scores with a high school education and a bachelor’s degree or higher showing statistically significant coefficients of −5.33 (SE = 2.26, p = 0.019, and 95% CI: −9.78–−0.88) and −8.64 (SE = 2.51, p = 0.001, and 95% CI: −13.58–−3.69), respectively, if compared to individuals with middle school education or less. Age was a significant predictor of BS, with older individuals showing higher BS scores (Coeff. = 0.20, SE = 0.05, p < 0.001, and 95% CI: 0.10–0.31). Healthcare professionals had higher HS scores, while unionists had both lower HS and BS scores. This study highlighted the levels of both HS and BS in various professional and social contexts. Education appears to be a critical factor in reducing HS, while age influences BS.

Las actitudes sexistas son un factor de riesgo tradicionalmente asociado a la violencia contra la mujer, siendo los adolescentes infractores varones un colectivo diana de cara a la prevención. El objetivo principal del presente trabajo fue evaluar la efectividad del “Programa de intervención para promover las relaciones igualitarias”, dirigido a reducir las actitudes sexistas en adolescentes infractores varones. Se llevó a cabo un estudio preexperimental en el que participaron 104 adolescentes varones con edades entre 14 y 21 años (M = 17.35; ± 0.16) que cumplían una medida judicial de internamiento. Se recogieron datos sobre las actitudes sexistas antes y después de participar en el programa de intervención, utilizando la Escala de Detección de Sexismo en Adolescentes (DSA). Los resultados mostraron una reducción significativa de las actitudes sexistas hostiles y benévolas solo en aquellos participantes con altos niveles iniciales de sexismo. Por el contrario, los participantes con un nivel bajo de sexismo antes de la intervención experimentaron un ligero incremento de las actitudes sexistas hostiles. Los resultados mostraron la utilidad de implementar programas dirigidos a reducir las actitudes sexistas en adolescentes infractores, destacando la necesidad de ajustar las intervenciones al nivel de riesgo presentado para maximizar su efectividad. 

The Routledge Handbook on Financial Social Work explicates the financial needs, issues, and interventions within populations and theoretical approaches, and it assists clinician practitioners in intervening expertly and comprehensively. This book covers a range of issues in populations seeking services around complex financial needs and struggles, including those in the child welfare system; those with housing issues or facing homelessness; those coping with chronic and acute medical and psychiatric illnesses; those recovering from interpersonal violence; those facing recovery from incarceration; children and families involved in the child welfare system; and much more. In addition, policies will be woven in to inform the work. This book thoroughly explores research and evidence-based interventions around each population, and teaches clinicians to understand and treat financial distress holistically and empathically. This handbook will explain why understanding financial capability in these populations is so critical and how clinicians can step up their practices to meet those needs. Professionals from multiple disciplines ranging from financial therapists to social workers to financial coaches to financial planners will find this handbook eminently useful.

This paper presents a framework for brief, intensive psychotherapeutic intervention for acute distress, manifested by feelings of depression, anxiety or anger, isolation and loneliness, that arise when crises provoke unconscious conflict. This therapy uses a technique to develop a \"benevolent transference\" for symptom relief and as a groundwork for gaining insight. Interventions to facilitate this process will be illustrated with case illustrations.

Agreement on which democratic regime types are prone to use diversionary force has yet to materialize in the embryonic empirical literature on the subject. Nor has consensus emerged on the theoretical approach that best explains the diversionary tendencies of different democratic political systems. By separating out benevolent and belligerent diversionary military missions, we begin to offer some clarity to this mixed empirical literature. In zero-inflated Poisson estimates of fifty-six democracies from 1950 to 2004, we find compelling evidence that a theoretical framework emphasizing leader accountability best explains democratic diversionary behavior. More accountable democratic executives (leaders of majoritarian, weak-party majority, and minority governments) appear significantly more likely to use diversionary force than counterparts with less accountability (especially in coalition governments). Democratic leaders also seem to use benevolent military force for diversionary purposes more often than belligerent force, though they still use the latter in specific contexts.