What role do children play in education and stratification? Are they merely passive recipients of unequal opportunities that schools and parents create for them? Or do they actively shape their own opportunities? Through a longitudinal, ethnographic study of one socioeconomically diverse, public elementary school, I show that children's social-class backgrounds affect when and how they seek help in the classroom. Compared to their working-class peers, middle-class children request more help from teachers and do so using different strategies. Rather than wait for assistance, they call out or approach teachers directly, even interrupting to make requests. In doing so, middle-class children receive more help from teachers, spend less time waiting, and are better able to complete assignments. By demonstrating these skills and strategies, middle-class children create their own advantages and contribute to inequalities in the classroom. These findings have implications for theories of cultural capital, stratification, and social reproduction.
Abstract. Background: There is evidence for low rates of help-seeking among problem gamblers. Identifying reasons for and barriers to seeking help is essential for improving help supply and gamblers' treatment utilisation. The present study examines treatment utilisation of problem or pathological gamblers and reviews the evidence related to motives for and barriers to seeking help. Methods: The databases Medline, PsycInfo, and PubMed were searched for English-, Swedish- and German-language studies published between 2000 and 2017. Furthermore relevant references of included studies were analysed. Results: After exclusion of non-relevant publications 34 journal articles and seven reports covering the prevalence of help-seeking among gamblers or self-reported reasons for/barriers to help-seeking were maintained. The proportion of problem gamblers seeking help was less than 10 % in most studies. Problem severity was found positively associated with treatment attendance. Financial issues, negative emotions and crises were identified as main motives for seeking treatment. Main barriers to seeking treatment were shame, problem denial and lack of treatment availability. The results were similar across the examined studies. Conclusion: Low rates of treatment utilisation by problem gamblers strongly indicate that treatment providers and the society should strive to eliminate structural barriers that hinder gamblers to seek help. To better match problem gamblers´ needs, low-threshold early intervention, increasing knowledge of treatment options and efforts to reduce stigmatisation are important strategies to enhance access to help offers.
• Summary: Japanese gender roles are usually constructed according to tradition, and men are assumed to possess a traditional masculine identity. This article examines the aspects of gender role identity and the socio-demographic factors that predict help-seeking attitudes among Japanese men. Data on 265 Japanese males were measured using the GRCS and ATSPPH-S scales.• Findings: In general, the participants showed a moderate level adherence to traditional gender roles. They were sceptical about the efficacy of professional help and did not actively seek or welcome professional assistance. The findings support the argument that men's orientation towards success, power and competition, and their restricted emotionality have a significant impact on their likelihood to seek professional help.• Application: The implications of these findings on psychological and counselling practices in Japanese society are also discussed.
Background – Northern Ireland (NI) veterans are a particularly hard to reach population. The Troubles' legacy has caused many to self-marginalise, therefore, it is difficult to understand or support them as a population. NI as a nation has particularly poor rates of mental health, that is linked back to living with exacerbated, conflict-related trauma. There is a great likelihood that NI veterans have a large unmet mental health need, which is partly driven by elevated traumatic exposure, poor support services and a reluctance to seek support. This thesis set out to explore the relationship between trauma, mental health, alcohol and help-seeking for NI veterans. Method – The thesis adopted a sequential (quant, qual), integrated mixed methods approach. Ecological systems theory was used to frame and consider the findings across each study. Secondary NIVHWS data of 609 participants was used for the quant portion. The qual element consisted of primary data collection and IPA analysis from six participants. Quant - latent class analyses (LCA) was applied to endorsements of 16 trauma types and, separately, to six measures of mental health. LCA was assessing classes of comorbidity. Multivariate modelling was used to explore two relationships: the link between trauma class and mental health class; the link between mental health class and help-seeking. Other variables were included during modelling such as age, whether they were NI home-serve and attitudes towards help-seeking. Qual - a series of open-ended interviews were conducted with NI veteran residents, where questions focused on experience. Findings – The LCA of trauma exposure produced three classes; all classes had particularly high rates of conflict/combat related trauma. The mental health LCA elicited four classes, indicating nuance within the NI veteran community. Almost 40% had comorbid mental health and excessive alcohol use was associated with every class, suggesting risky drinking is not necessarily linked to poor mental health. Trauma class did not predict mental health class, which could have been due to uneven latent class sizes. Mental health class did predict help-seeking. The NI population tended to prefer medication over therapy. The interview data found two superordinate themes of "a lack of…" and "an abundance of…", which were not polar as the sub-themes related to different concepts. The sub-themes found that NI veterans 'lack' mental health literacy/awareness, have poor expectation of official support and a low sense of inward-facing appreciation. NI veterans had 'abundant' exposure to a range of extreme environments, many examples of navigating and challenging systemic 'rules' and a great deal of local support engagement. Ecological systems theory found that trauma, mental health and help-seeking was heavily impacted by systematic factors, with negative and positive influence sitting within different 'systems'. Exo and macro systems leaned towards the negative whereas micro and meso had positive associations. Conclusion – NI veteran mental health and alcohol behaviour is dynamic. Poor mental health may not have local causes whereas excessive alcohol is more likely a reflection of NI and military culture. Support services are lacking in quantity and quality for NI veterans. The avoidance of therapy is driven by the wish to remain hidden and the need for non-self-disclosure, to avoid a trauma thereat. Yet many have engaged support seeking out of functional impairment and need. There was considerable anger towards those who officially arrange and administrate veteran support which has been partly buffered by the many local veteran support organisations. The utility of local support may be linked to taking a more 'person centred' approach. Several unique contributions were made via this thesis in respect of methods adopted and findings produced. The overall message was that more local support is needed but engaging with a self-marginalised population, to create and deliver appropriate assistance, is challenging.
Abstract Background Research suggests that men are less likely to seek help for depression, substance abuse, and stressful life events due to negative perceptions of asking for and receiving help. This may be exacerbated in male military cadets who exhibit higher levels of gender role conflict because of military culture. Methods This exploratory study examined the perceptions of 78 male military cadets toward help-seeking behaviors. Cadets completed the 31-item Barriers to Help Seeking Scale (BHSS) and a component factor analysis was used to generate five composite variables and compare to validated factors. Perceptual mapping and vector modeling, which produce 3-dimensional models of a group's perceptions, were then used to model how they conceptualize help-seeking. Results Factor analysis showed slightly different groupings than the BHSS, perhaps attributed to different characteristics of respondents, who are situated in a military school compared to general university males. Perceptual maps show that cadets perceive trust of doctors closest to them and help-seeking farthest, supporting the concept that these males have rigid beliefs about having control and its relationship to health seeking. Differences were seen when comparing maps of White and non-White cadets. White cadets positioned themselves far away from all variables, while non-White cadets were closest to "emotional control". Conclusion To move these cadets toward help-seeking, vector modeling suggests that interventions should focus on their general trust of doctors, accepting lack of control, and decreasing feelings of weakness when asking for help. For non-White cadets a focus on self-reliance may also need to be emphasized. Use of these unique methods resulted in articulation of specific barriers that if addressed early, may have lasting effects on help-seeking behavior as these young men become adults. Future studies are needed to develop and test specific interventions to promote help-seeking among military cadets.
