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What does a great artist who is also a mother look like? What does it mean to create, not in "a room of one's own," but in a domestic space? In The Baby on the Fire Escape, biographer Julie Phillips traverses the shifting terrain where motherhood and creativity converge. With fierce empathy, Phillips evokes the intimate and varied struggles of brilliant artists and writers of the twentieth century. Ursula K. Le Guin found productive stability in family life, and Audre Lorde's queer, polyamorous union allowed her to raise children on her own terms. Susan Sontag became a mother at nineteen, Angela Carter at forty-three. These mothers had one child, or five, or seven. They worked in a studio, in the kitchen, in the car, on the bed, at a desk, with a baby carrier beside them. They faced judgement for pursuing their creative work Doris Lessing was said to have abandoned her children, and Alice Neel's in-laws falsely claimed that she once, to finish a painting, left her baby on the fire escape of her New York apartment. As she threads together vivid portraits of these pathbreaking women, Phillips argues that creative motherhood is a question of keeping the baby on that apocryphal fire escape: work and care held in a constantly renegotiated, provisional, productive tension. A meditation on maternal identity and artistic greatness, The Baby on the Fire Escape illuminates some of the most pressing conflicts in contemporary life

Julie Phillips argues that preparation is the most important element in running successful groups, and explores the issues that practitioners should address. She demonstrates how to prepare effectively, drawing on eight extended case studies with a variety of groups ranging from a positive parenting group to an anger management group.

AbstractUsing pooled cross-sectional time-series data for the 50 U.S. states over a 25-year period, this article examines how well four conceptual groups of social correlates—demographic, economic, social, and cultural factors—are associated with the 1976–2000 patterns in overall suicide rates and suicide by firearms and other means. Unlike past research that typically considers only one dimension, this analysis differentiates between spatial and temporal variation in suicide rates to determine whether and how social correlates operate differently in these two contexts. Results indicate that suicide rates correspond closely to social correlates. Within U.S. states, lower overall suicide rates between 1976 and 2000 were associated with demographic change (e.g., larger numbers of foreign-born) as well as with fewer numbers of Episcopalians. Across U.S. states, variation in overall suicide rates over the period was related to demographic (percentage male), economic (per capita income), social (percentage divorced), and cultural (alcohol consumption and gun ownership) factors. However, findings differ importantly by type of suicide, and across time and space. Reasons for these distinct patterns are discussed.

Using 1990 data for 222 metropolitan areas, this study extends the traditional variables examined in models of homicide and uses regression analysis to test the viability of three alternative theories that may explain high rates of African‐American homicide victimization. The first approach examines the extent to which weak forms of social control have contributed to high homicide rates. The second approach tests the notion that discrimination and inequality have increased levels of absolute and relative deprivation for blacks, which in turn engender frustration and contribute to higher levels of violence. The third approach posits that engagement in violent activity may be a rational act for young African‐American males faced with the reality of highly limited economic opportunities. While all three approaches contribute to explaining high African‐American homicide, this study shows the greatest support for the social control explanation.

ObjectivesThis study examines individual characteristics associated with suicide acceptability in the United States and how (1) effects of these characteristics on attitudes have changed over time and (2) the degree to which shifts in attitudes are explained by changes in population characteristics.MethodsWe use General Social Survey (GSS) data from the 1980s (n = 4,840) and 2010s (n = 5,607) and conduct an Oaxaca decomposition.ResultsAlthough Americans remain largely unaccepting of suicide, except in the case of incurable disease, a greater percentage found suicide to be acceptable in 2010s than in 1980s. Individuals who are male, white, more educated, less religious, and more politically liberal find suicide more acceptable. Changes over time in population composition (e.g., rising education levels and declines in religion) account for about 50 percent of the rise in suicide acceptability between 1980s and 2010s.ConclusionsResults hint at shifting societal patterns, but the causal direction between attitudes and behavior cannot be determined.

Opioid addiction is no longer a primarily urban problem. As dependence on heroin and prescription pain relievers has become a significant issue in rural areas, the need for effective treatment of opioid-dependent pregnant women and their neonates has grown accordingly. In addition to the adverse perinatal outcomes associated with opioid addiction in pregnant women, the high costs of caring for these mothers and their babies motivate efforts to develop appropriate treatment models. We found that integration and coordination of services that promote maternal recovery and ability to parent are key requirements for treatment of opioid dependence during pregnancy. Unfortunately, lack of experience and resources make such coordination a real challenge in rural areas. In this review, we discuss how we managed the challenges of developing a comprehensive program for treatment of opioid dependence during pregnancy. In addition, we outline our approach for facilitating the development of community-based programs to help these patients and families in rural regions of Vermont. Close relationships between our tertiary care center, local hospitals, community health care infrastructure, and legislators bolstered our efforts. In particular, appreciation for the severity and importance of the opioid-dependence problem in Vermont among health care providers and state legislators was paramount for our success in developing a state-wide treatment program. This approach can inform similar efforts in other rural regions of the United States, and has great potential to improve both access and quality of care for women struggling with opioid dependence.